After President Rutherford B. Hayes declined to seek re-election in 1880 , several candidates vied for the presidential nomination at the 1880 Republican National Convention . The convention dead-locked between supporters of former President Ulysses S. Grant and Senator James G. Blaine , resulting in the nomination of a dark horse candidate , James A. Garfield . Hoping to unite the Republican Party behind his candidacy , Garfield decided to select a follower of New York Senator Roscoe Conkling , a leader of the party 's Stalwart faction , as his running mate . Garfield settled on Arthur , a former Collector of the Port of New York who was closely allied with Conkling . The Garfield-Arthur ticket won the 1880 presidential election , but after taking office , Garfield clashed with Conkling over appointments and other issues . Arthur 's continued loyalty to Conkling marginalized him within the Garfield administration and , after the Senate went into recess in May 1881 , Arthur returned to his home state of New York . On July 2 , 1881 , Arthur learned that Garfield had been badly wounded in a shooting . The shooter , Charles J. Guiteau , was a deranged office-seeker who believed that Garfield 's successor would appoint him to a patronage job . Though he had barely known Guiteau , Arthur had to allay suspicions that he had been behind the assassination . He was reluctant to be seen acting as president while Garfield lived , and in the months after the shooting , with Garfield near death and Arthur still in New York , there was a void of authority in the executive office . Many worried about the prospect of an Arthur presidency ; the '' New York Times '' , which had supported Arthur earlier in his career , wrote " Arthur is about the last man who would be considered eligible for the position . " Garfield died on September 19 , and Judge John R. Brady of the New York Supreme Court administered the oath of office to Arthur in the latter 's New York City home at 2:15 a.m. on September 20 . Before leaving New York , Arthur ensured the presidential line of succession by preparing and mailing to the White House a proclamation calling for a Senate special session , thus ensuring that the Senate could select a president pro tempore , who would be first in the presidential line of succession
1880 Republican National Convention
1880 Republican National Convention
Presidency of Chester A. Arthur