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<mask> (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. Previously the 20th vice president, he succeeded to the presidency upon the death of President James A. Garfield in September 1881, two months after Garfield was shot by an assassin. <mask> was born in Fairfield, Vermont, grew up in upstate New York and practiced law in New York City. He served as quartermaster general of the New York Militia during the American Civil War. Following the war, he devoted more time to New York Republican politics and quickly rose in Senator Roscoe Conkling's political organization. President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him to the post of Collector of the Port of New York in 1871, and he was an important supporter of Conkling and the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party. In 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes fired <mask> as part of a plan to reform the federal patronage system in New York.Garfield won the Republican nomination for president in 1880, and <mask> was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket as an Eastern Stalwart. Four months into his term, Garfield was shot by an assassin; he died 11 weeks later, and <mask> assumed the presidency. At the outset, <mask> struggled to overcome a negative reputation as a Stalwart and product of Conkling's organization. To the surprise of reformers, he advocated and enforced the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. He presided over the rebirth of the US Navy, but he was criticized for failing to alleviate the federal budget surplus which had been accumulating since the end of the Civil War. <mask> vetoed the first version of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, arguing that its twenty-year ban on Chinese immigrants to the United States violated the Burlingame Treaty, but he signed a second version, which included a ten-year ban. Suffering from poor health, <mask> made only a limited effort to secure the Republican Party's nomination in 1884, and he retired at the end of his term.Journalist <mask> wrote, "No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted as <mask> <mask>, and no one ever retired ... more generally respected, alike by political friend and foe." <mask>'s failing health and political temperament combined to make his administration less active than a modern presidency, yet he earned praise among contemporaries for his solid performance in office. The New York World summed up <mask>'s presidency at his death in 1886: "No duty was neglected in his administration, and no adventurous project alarmed the nation." Mark Twain wrote of him, "It would be hard indeed to better President <mask>'s administration." Despite this, modern historians generally rank <mask> as a mediocre president, as well as the least memorable. Early life

Birth and family

<mask> <mask> was born in Fairfield, Vermont. <mask>'s mother, Malvina Stone was born in Berkshire, Vermont, the daughter of George Washington Stone and Judith Stevens.Her family was primarily of English and Welsh descent, and her paternal grandfather, Uriah Stone, had served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. <mask>'s father, <mask>, was born in 1796 in Dreen, Cullybackey, County Antrim, Ireland to a Presbyterian family of Scots-Irish descent. William's mother was born Eliza McHarg and she married <mask>. William graduated from college in Belfast and immigrated to the Province of Lower Canada in 1819 or 1820. Malvina Stone met <mask> when <mask> was teaching school in Dunham, Quebec, near the Vermont border. They married in Dunham on April 12, 1821, soon after meeting. The <mask>s moved to Vermont after the birth of their first child, Regina.They quickly moved from Burlington to Jericho, and finally to Waterville, as William received positions teaching at different schools. <mask> also spent a brief time studying law, but while still in Waterville, he departed from both his legal studies and his Presbyterian upbringing to join the Free Will Baptists; he spent the rest of his life as a minister in that sect. <mask> became an outspoken abolitionist, which often made him unpopular with some members of his congregations and contributed to the family's frequent moves. In 1828, the family moved again, to Fairfield, where <mask> <mask> was born the following year; he was the fifth of nine children. He was named "<mask>" after <mask>, the physician and family friend who assisted in his birth, and "<mask>" for his paternal grandfather. The family remained in Fairfield until 1832, when <mask>'s profession took them to churches in several towns in Vermont and upstate New York. The family finally settled in the Schenectady, New York area.<mask> had seven siblings who lived to adulthood:
 Regina (1822–1910), the wife of William G. Caw, a grocer, banker, and community leader of Cohoes, New York who served as town supervisor and village trustee
 Jane (1824–1842)
 Almeda (1825–1899), the wife of James H. Masten who served as postmaster of Cohoes and publisher of the Cohoes Cataract newspaper
 <mask> (1828–1915), a career educator who taught school in New York and worked in South Carolina in the years immediately before and after the Civil War. Malvina (1832–1920), the wife of Henry J. Haynesworth who was an official of the Confederate government and a merchant in Albany, New York before being appointed as a captain and assistant quartermaster in the U.S. Army during <mask>'s presidency
 William (1834–1915), a medical school graduate who became a career Army officer and paymaster, he was wounded during his Civil War service. <mask> retired in 1898 with the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel, and permanent rank of major. George (1836–1838)
 Mary (1841–1917), the wife of John E. McElroy, an Albany businessman and insurance executive, and <mask>'s official White House hostess during his presidency

The family's frequent moves later spawned accusations that <mask> was not a native-born citizen of the United States. When <mask> was nominated for vice president in 1880, a New York attorney and political opponent, <mask>. Hinman, initially speculated that <mask> was born in Ireland and did not come to the United States until he was fourteen years old. Had that been true, opponents might have argued that <mask> was ineligible for the vice presidency under the United States Constitution's natural-born-citizen clause. When Hinman's original story did not take root, he spread a new rumor that <mask> was born in Canada.This claim, too, failed to gain credence. Education
<mask> spent some of his childhood years living in the New York towns of York, Perry, Greenwich, Lansingburgh, Schenectady, and Hoosick. One of his first teachers said <mask> was a boy "frank and open in manners and genial in disposition." During his time at school, he gained his first political inclinations and supported the Whig Party. He joined other young Whigs in support of Henry Clay, even participating in a brawl against students who supported James K. Polk during the 1844 United States presidential election. <mask> also supported the Fenian Brotherhood, an Irish republican organization founded in America; he showed this support by wearing a green coat. After completing his college preparation at the Lyceum of Union Village (now Greenwich) and a grammar school in Schenectady, <mask> enrolled at Schenectady's Union College in 1845, where he studied the traditional classical curriculum.As a senior, he was president of the debate society and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During his winter breaks, <mask> served as a teacher at a school in Schaghticoke. After graduating in 1848, <mask> returned to Schaghticoke and became a full-time teacher, and soon began to pursue an education in law. While studying law, he continued teaching, moving closer to home by taking a job at a school in North Pownal, Vermont. Coincidentally, future president James A. Garfield taught penmanship at the same school three years later, but the two did not cross paths during their teaching careers. In 1852, <mask> moved again, to Cohoes, New York, to become the principal of a school at which his sister, Malvina, was a teacher. In 1853, after studying at State and National Law School in Ballston Spa, New York, and then saving enough money to relocate, <mask> moved to New York City to read law at the office of Erastus D. Culver, an abolitionist lawyer and family friend.When <mask> was admitted to the New York bar in 1854, he joined Culver's firm, which was subsequently renamed Culver, Parker, and Arthur. Early career

New York lawyer

When <mask> joined the firm, Culver and New York attorney John Jay (the grandson of the Founding Father John Jay) were pursuing a habeas corpus action against Jonathan Lemmon, a Virginia slaveholder who was passing through New York with his eight slaves. In Lemmon v. New York, Culver argued that, as New York law did not permit slavery, any slave arriving in New York was automatically freed. The argument was successful, and after several appeals was upheld by the New York Court of Appeals in 1860. Campaign biographers would later give <mask> much of the credit for the victory; in fact his role was minor, although he was certainly an active participant in the case. In another civil rights case in 1854, <mask> was the lead attorney representing Elizabeth Jennings Graham after she was denied a seat on a streetcar because she was black. He won the case, and the verdict led to the desegregation of the New York City streetcar lines.In 1856, <mask> courted Ellen Herndon, the daughter of William Lewis Herndon, a Virginia naval officer. The two were soon engaged to be married. Later that year, he started a new law partnership with a friend, Henry D. Gardiner, and traveled with him to Kansas to consider purchasing land and setting up a law practice there. At that time, the state was the scene of a brutal struggle between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces, and <mask> lined up firmly with the latter. The rough frontier life did not agree with the genteel New Yorkers; after three or four months the two young lawyers returned to New York City, where <mask> comforted his fiancée after her father was lost at sea in the wreck of the SS Central America. In 1859, they were married at Calvary Episcopal Church in Manhattan. The couple had three children:

 William Lewis <mask> (December 10, 1860 – July 7, 1863), died of "convulsions"
 <mask> <mask> (July 25, 1864 – July 18, 1937), married Myra Townsend, then Rowena Graves, father of <mask>
 Ellen Hansbrough Herndon "Nell<mask> Pinkerton (November 21, 1871 – September 6, 1915), married Charles Pinkerton

After his marriage, <mask> devoted his efforts to building his law practice, but also found time to engage in Republican party politics.In addition, he indulged his military interest by becoming Judge Advocate General for the Second Brigade of the New York Militia. Civil War
In 1861, <mask> was appointed to the military staff of Governor Edwin D. Morgan as engineer-in-chief. The office was a patronage appointment of minor importance until the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, when New York and the other northern states were faced with raising and equipping armies of a size never before seen in American history. <mask> was commissioned as a brigadier general and assigned to the state militia's quartermaster department. He was so efficient at housing and outfitting the troops that poured into New York City that he was promoted to inspector general of the state militia in March 1862, and then to quartermaster general that July. He had an opportunity to serve at the front when the 9th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment elected him commander with the rank of colonel early in the war, but at Governor Morgan's request, he turned it down to remain at his post in New York. He also turned down command of four New York City regiments organized as the Metropolitan Brigade, again at Morgan's request.The closest <mask> came to the front was when he traveled south to inspect New York troops near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in May 1862, shortly after forces under Major General Irvin McDowell seized the town during the Peninsula Campaign. That summer, he and other representatives of northern governors met with Secretary of State William H. Seward in New York to coordinate the raising of additional troops, and he spent the next few months helping to enlist New York's quota of 120,000 men. <mask> received plaudits for his work, but his post was a political appointment, and he was relieved of his militia duties in January 1863 when Governor Horatio Seymour, a Democrat, took office. When Reuben Fenton won the 1864 election for governor, <mask> requested reappointment; Fenton and <mask> were from different factions of the Republican Party, and Fenton had already committed to appointing another candidate, so <mask> did not return to military service. <mask> returned to practicing law, and with the help of additional contacts made in the military, he and the firm of Arthur & Gardiner flourished. Even as his professional life improved, however, <mask> and his wife experienced a personal tragedy as their only child, William, died suddenly that year at the age of two. The couple took their son's death hard, and when they had another son, <mask> Jr., in 1864, they lavished attention on him.They also had a daughter, Ellen, in 1871. Both children survived to adulthood. <mask>'s political prospects improved along with his law practice when his patron, ex-Governor Morgan, was elected to the United States Senate. He was hired by Thomas Murphy, a Republican politician, but also a friend of William M. Tweed, the boss of the Tammany Hall Democratic organization. Murphy was also a hatter who sold goods to the Union Army, and <mask> represented him in Washington. The two became associates within New York Republican party circles, eventually rising in the ranks of the conservative branch of the party dominated by Thurlow Weed. In the presidential election of 1864, <mask> and Murphy raised funds from Republicans in New York, and they attended the second inauguration of <mask> in 1865.New York politician

Conkling's machine

The end of the Civil War meant new opportunities for the men in Morgan's Republican machine, including <mask>. Morgan leaned toward the conservative wing of the New York Republican party, as did the men who worked with him in the organization, including Weed, Seward (who continued in office under President <mask>), and Roscoe Conkling (an eloquent Utica Congressman and rising star in the party). <mask> rarely articulated his own political ideas during his time as a part of the machine; as was common at the time, loyalty and hard work on the machine's behalf was more important than actual political positions. At the time, U.S. custom houses were managed by political appointees who served as Collector, Naval Officer, and Surveyor. In 1866, <mask> unsuccessfully attempted to secure the position of Naval Officer at the New York Custom House, a lucrative job subordinate only to the Collector. He continued his law practice (now a solo practice after Gardiner's death) and his role in politics, becoming a member of the prestigious Century Club in 1867. Conkling, elected to the United States Senate in 1867, noticed <mask> and facilitated his rise in the party, and <mask> became chairman of the New York City Republican executive committee in 1868.His ascent in the party hierarchy kept him busy most nights, and his wife resented his continual absence from the family home on party business. Conkling succeeded to leadership of the conservative wing of New York's Republicans by 1868 as Morgan concentrated more time and effort on national politics, including serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee. The Conkling machine was solidly behind General Ulysses S. Grant's candidacy for president, and <mask> raised funds for Grant's election in 1868. The opposing Democratic machine in New York City, known as Tammany Hall, worked for Grant's opponent, former New York Governor Horatio Seymour; while Grant was victorious in the national vote, Seymour narrowly carried the state of New York. <mask> began to devote more of his time to politics and less to law, and in 1869 he became counsel to the New York City Tax Commission, appointed when Republicans controlled the state legislature. He remained at the job until 1870 at a salary of $10,000 a year. <mask> resigned after Democrats controlled by William M. Tweed of Tammany Hall won a legislative majority, which meant they could name their own appointee.In 1871, Grant offered to name <mask> as Commissioner of Internal Revenue, replacing <mask>; <mask> declined the appointment. In 1870, President Grant gave Conkling control over New York patronage, including the Custom House at the Port of New York. Having become friendly with Murphy over their shared love of horses during summer vacations on the Jersey Shore, in July of that year, Grant appointed him to the Collector's position. Murphy's reputation as a war profiteer and his association with Tammany Hall made him unacceptable to many of his own party, but Conkling convinced the Senate to confirm him. The Collector was responsible for hiring hundreds of workers to collect the tariffs due at the United States' busiest port. Typically, these jobs were dispensed to adherents of the political machine responsible for appointing the Collector. Employees were required to make political contributions (known as "assessments") back to the machine, which made the job a highly coveted political plum.Murphy's unpopularity only increased as he replaced workers loyal to Senator Reuben Fenton's faction of the Republican party with those loyal to Conkling's. Eventually, the pressure to replace Murphy grew too great, and Grant asked for his resignation in December 1871. Grant offered the position to <mask> Griswold and William Orton, each of whom declined and recommended <mask>. Grant then nominated <mask>, with the New York Times commenting, "his name very seldom rises to the surface of metropolitan life and yet moving like a mighty undercurrent this man during the last 10 years has done more to mold the course of the Republican Party in this state than any other one man in the country." The Senate confirmed <mask>'s appointment; as Collector he controlled nearly a thousand jobs and received compensation as great as any federal officeholder. <mask>'s salary was initially $6,500, but senior customs employees were compensated additionally by the "moiety" system, which awarded them a percentage of the cargoes seized and fines levied on importers who attempted to evade the tariff. In total, his income came to more than $50,000—more than the president's salary, and more than enough for him to enjoy fashionable clothes and a lavish lifestyle.Among those who dealt with the Custom House, <mask> was one of the era's more popular collectors. He got along with his subordinates and, since Murphy had already filled the staff with Conkling's adherents, he had few occasions to fire anyone. He was also popular within the Republican party as he efficiently collected campaign assessments from the staff and placed party leaders' friends in jobs as positions became available. <mask> had a better reputation than Murphy, but reformers still criticized the patronage structure and the moiety

masks:
Chester Alan Arthur
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Gavin Arthur
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Abraham Lincoln
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Alfred Pleasonton
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John Augustus
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 system as corrupt. A rising tide of reform within the party caused <mask> to rename the financial extractions from employees as "voluntary contributions" in 1872, but the concept remained, and the party reaped the benefit of controlling government jobs. In that year, reform-minded Republicans formed the Liberal Republican party and voted against Grant, but he was re-elected in spite of their opposition. Nevertheless, the movement for civil service reform continued to chip away at Conkling's patronage machine; in 1874 Custom House employees were found to have improperly assessed fines against an importing company as a way to increase their own incomes, and Congress reacted, repealing the moiety system and putting the staff, including <mask>, on regular salaries.As a result, his income dropped to $12,000 a year—more than his nominal boss, the Secretary of the Treasury, but far less than what he had previously received. Clash with Hayes

<mask>'s four-year term as Collector expired on December 10, 1875, and Conkling, then among the most powerful politicians in Washington, arranged his protégé's reappointment by President Grant. By 1876, Conkling was considering a run for the presidency himself, but the selection of reformer Rutherford B. Hayes by the 1876 Republican National Convention preempted the machine boss. <mask> and the machine gathered campaign funds with their usual zeal, but Conkling limited his own campaign activities to a few speeches. Hayes's opponent, New York Governor Samuel J. Tilden, carried New York and won the popular vote nationwide, but after the resolution of several months of disputes over twenty electoral votes (from the states of Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, and South Carolina), he lost the presidency. Hayes entered office with a pledge to reform the patronage system; in 1877, he and Treasury Secretary John Sherman made Conkling's machine the primary target. Sherman ordered a commission led by John Jay to investigate the New York Custom House.Jay, with whom <mask> had collaborated in the Lemmon case two decades earlier, suggested that the Custom House was overstaffed with political appointments, and that 20% of the employees were expendable. Sherman was less enthusiastic about the reforms than Hayes and Jay, but he approved the commission's report and ordered <mask> to make the personnel reductions. <mask> appointed a committee of Custom House workers to determine where the cuts were to be made and, after a written protest, carried them out. Notwithstanding his cooperation, the Jay Commission issued a second report critical of <mask> and other Custom House employees, and subsequent reports urging a complete reorganization. Hayes further struck at the heart of the spoils system by issuing an executive order that forbade assessments, and barred federal office holders from "...tak[ing] part in the management of political organizations, caucuses, conventions, or election campaigns." <mask> and his subordinates, Naval Officer <mask> B. Cornell and Surveyor George H. Sharpe, refused to obey the president's order; Sherman encouraged <mask> to resign, offering him appointment by Hayes to the consulship in Paris in exchange, but <mask> refused. In September 1877, Hayes demanded the three men's resignations, which they refused to give.Hayes then submitted the appointment of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., L. Bradford Prince, and Edwin Merritt (all supporters of Conkling's rival William M. Evarts) to the Senate for confirmation as their replacements. The Senate's Commerce Committee, chaired by Conkling, unanimously rejected all the nominees; the full Senate rejected Roosevelt by a vote of 31–25 and similarly turned down the nomination of Prince by the same margin, later confirming Merritt only because Sharpe's term had expired. <mask>'s job was spared only until July 1878, when Hayes took advantage of a Congressional recess to fire him and Cornell, replacing them with the recess appointment of Merritt and Silas W. Burt. Hayes again offered <mask> the position of consul general in Paris as a face-saving consolation; <mask> again declined, as Hayes knew he probably would. Conkling opposed the confirmation of Merritt and Burt when the Senate reconvened in February 1879, but Merritt was approved by a vote of 31–25, as was Burt by 31–19, giving Hayes his most significant civil service reform victory. <mask> immediately took advantage of the resulting free time to work for the election of Edward Cooper as New York City's next mayor. In September 1879 <mask> became Chairman of the New York State Republican Executive Committee, a post in which he served until October 1881.In the state elections of 1879, he and Conkling worked to ensure that the Republican nominees for state offices would be men of Conkling's faction, who had become known as Stalwarts. They were successful, but narrowly, as Cornell was nominated for governor by a vote of 234–216. <mask> and Conkling campaigned vigorously for the Stalwart ticket and, owing partly to a splintering of the Democratic vote, were victorious. <mask> and the machine had rebuked Hayes and their intra-party rivals, but <mask> had only a few days to enjoy his triumph when, on January 12, 1880, his wife died suddenly while he was in Albany organizing the political agenda for the coming year. <mask> felt devastated, and perhaps guilty, and never remarried. Election of 1880

Conkling and his fellow Stalwarts, including <mask>, wished to follow up their 1879 success at the 1880 Republican National Convention by securing the nomination for their ally, ex-President Grant. Their opponents in the Republican party, known as Half-Breeds, concentrated their efforts on James G. Blaine, a Senator from Maine who was more amenable to civil service reform.Neither candidate commanded a majority of delegates and, deadlocked after thirty-six ballots, the convention turned to a dark horse, James A. Garfield, an Ohio Congressman and Civil War general who was neither Stalwart nor Half-Breed. Garfield and his supporters knew they would face a difficult election without the support of the New York Stalwarts and decided to offer one of them the vice presidential nomination. Levi P. Morton, the first choice of Garfield's supporters, consulted with Conkling, who advised him to decline, which he did. They next approached <mask>, and Conkling advised him to also reject the nomination, believing the Republicans would lose. <mask> thought otherwise and accepted. According to a purported eyewitness account by journalist William C. Hudson, Conkling and <mask> argued, with <mask> telling Conkling, "The office of the Vice-President is a greater honor than I ever dreamed of attaining." Conkling eventually relented, and campaigned for the ticket.As expected, the election was close. The Democratic nominee, General Winfield Scott Hancock was popular and having avoided taking definitive positions on most issues of the day, he had not offended any pivotal constituencies. As Republicans had done since the end of the Civil War, Garfield and <mask> initially focused their campaign on the "bloody shirt"—the idea that returning Democrats to office would undo the victory of the Civil War and reward secessionists. With the war fifteen years in the past and Union generals at the head of both tickets, the tactic was less effective than the Republicans hoped. Realizing this, they adjusted their approach to claim that Democrats would lower the country's protective tariff, which would allow cheaper manufactured goods to be imported from Europe, and thereby put thousands out of work. This argument struck home in the swing states of New York and Indiana, where many were employed in manufacturing. Hancock did not help his own cause when, in an attempt to remain neutral on the tariff, he said that "[t]he tariff question is a local question", which only made him appear uninformed about an important issue.Candidates for high office did not personally campaign in those days, but as state Republican chairman, <mask> played a part in the campaign in his usual fashion: overseeing the effort in New York and raising money. The funds were crucial in the close election, and winning his home state of New York was critical. The Republicans carried New York by 20,000 votes and, in an election with the largest turnout of qualified voters ever recorded—78.4%—they won the nationwide popular vote by just 7,018 votes. The Electoral College result was more decisive—214 to 155—and Garfield and <mask> were elected. Vice presidency (1881)

After the election, <mask> worked in vain to persuade Garfield to fill certain positions with his fellow New York Stalwarts—especially that of the Secretary of the Treasury; the Stalwart machine received a further rebuke when Garfield appointed Blaine, Conkling's arch-enemy, as Secretary of State. The running mates, never close, detached as Garfield continued to freeze out the Stalwarts from his patronage. <mask>'s status in the administration diminished when, a month before inauguration day, he gave a speech before reporters suggesting the election in Indiana, a swing state, had been won by Republicans through illegal machinations.Garfield ultimately appointed a Stalwart, Thomas Lemuel James, to be Postmaster General, but the cabinet fight and <mask>'s ill-considered speech left the President and Vice President clearly estranged when they took office on March 4, 1881. The Senate in the 47th United States Congress was divided among 37 Republicans, 37 Democrats, one independent (David Davis) who caucused with the Democrats, one Readjuster (William Mahone), and four vacancies. Immediately, the Democrats attempted to organize the Senate, knowing that the vacancies would soon be filled by Republicans. As vice president, <mask> cast tie-breaking votes in favor of the Republicans when Mahone opted to join their caucus. Even so, the Senate remained deadlocked for two months over Garfield's nominations because of Conkling's opposition to some of them. Just before going into recess in May 1881, the situation became more complicated when Conkling and the other Senator from New York, Thomas C. Platt, resigned in protest of Garfield's continuing opposition to their faction. With the Senate in recess, <mask> had no duties in Washington and returned to New York City.Once there, he traveled with Conkling to Albany, where the former Senator hoped for a quick re-election to the Senate, and with it, a defeat for the Garfield administration. The Republican majority in the state legislature was divided on the question, to Conkling and Platt's surprise, and an intense campaign in the statehouse ensued. While in Albany on July 2, <mask> learned that Garfield had been shot. The assassin, Charles J. Guiteau was a deranged office-seeker who believed that Garfield's successor would appoint him to a patronage job. He proclaimed to onlookers: "I am a Stalwart, and <mask> will be President!" Guiteau was found to be mentally unstable, and despite his claims to be a Stalwart supporter of <mask>, they had only a tenuous connection that dated from the 1880 campaign. Twenty-nine days before his execution for shooting Garfield, Guiteau composed a lengthy, unpublished poem claiming that <mask> knew the assassination had saved "our land [the United States]".Guiteau's poem also states he had (incorrectly) presumed that <mask> would pardon him for the assassination. More troubling was the lack of legal guidance on presidential succession: as Garfield lingered near death, no one was sure who, if anyone, could exercise presidential authority. Also, after Conkling's resignation, the Senate had adjourned without electing a president pro tempore, who would normally follow <mask> in the succession. <mask> was reluctant to be seen acting as president while Garfield lived, and for the next two months there was a void of authority in the executive office, with Garfield too weak to carry out his duties, and <mask> reluctant to assume them. Through the summer, <mask> refused to travel to Washington and was at his Lexington Avenue home when, on the night of September 19, he learned that Garfield had died. Judge John R. Brady of the New York Supreme Court administered the oath of office in <mask>'s home at 2:15 a.m. on September 20. Later that day he took a train to Long Branch to pay his respects to Garfield and to leave a card of sympathy for his wife, afterwards returning to New York City.On September 21, he returned to Long Branch to take part in Garfield's funeral, and then joined the funeral train to Washington. Before leaving New York, he ensured the presidential line of succession by preparing and mailing to the White House a proclamation calling for a Senate special session. This step ensured that the Senate had legal authority to convene immediately and choose a Senate president pro tempore, who would be able to assume the presidency if <mask> died. Once in Washington he destroyed the mailed proclamation and issued a formal call for a special session. Presidency (1881–1885)

Taking office
<mask> arrived in Washington, D.C. on September 21. On September 22, he re-took the oath of office, this time before Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite. <mask> took this step to ensure procedural compliance; there had been a lingering question about whether a state court judge (Brady) could administer a federal oath of office.He initially took up residence at the home of Senator John P. Jones, while a White House remodeling he had ordered was carried out, including addition of an elaborate fifty-foot glass screen by Louis Comfort Tiffany. <mask>'s sister, <mask> McElroy, served as White House hostess for her widowed brother; <mask> became Washington's most eligible bachelor and his social life became the subject of rumors, though romantically, he remained singularly devoted to the memory of his late wife. His son, <mask>., was then a freshman at Princeton University and his daughter, Nell, stayed in New York with a governess until 1882; when she arrived, <mask> shielded her from the intrusive press as much as he could. <mask> quickly came into conflict with Garfield's cabinet, most of whom represented his opposition within the party. He asked the cabinet members to remain until December, when Congress would reconvene, but Treasury Secretary William Windom submitted his resignation in October to enter a Senate race in his home state of Minnesota. <mask> then selected Charles J. Folger, his friend and fellow New York Stalwart as Windom's replacement. Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh was next to resign, believing that, as a reformer, he had no place in an <mask> cabinet.Despite <mask>'s personal appeal to remain, MacVeagh resigned in December 1881 and <mask> replaced him with Benjamin H. Brewster, a Philadelphia lawyer and machine politician reputed to have reformist leanings. Blaine, nemesis of the Stalwart faction, remained Secretary of State until Congress reconvened and then departed immediately. Conkling expected <mask> to appoint him in Blaine's place, but the President chose Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, a Stalwart recommended by ex-President Grant. Frelinghuysen advised <mask> not to fill any future vacancies with Stalwarts, but when Postmaster General James resigned in January 1882, <mask> selected Timothy O. Howe, a Wisconsin Stalwart. Navy Secretary William H. Hunt was next to resign, in April 1882, and <mask> attempted a more balanced approach by appointing Half-Breed William E. Chandler to the post, on Blaine's recommendation. Finally, when Interior Secretary Samuel J. Kirkwood resigned that same month, <mask> appointed Henry M. Teller, a Colorado Stalwart to the office. Of the Cabinet members <mask> had inherited from Garfield, only Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln remained for the entirety of <mask>'s term.Civil service reform

In the 1870s, a scandal was exposed, in which contractors for star postal routes were greatly overpaid for their services with the connivance of government officials (including Second Assistant Postmaster General Thomas J. Brady and former Senator Stephen Wallace Dorsey). Reformers feared <mask>, as a former supporter of the spoils system, would not commit to continuing the investigation into the scandal. But Arthur's Attorney General, Brewster, did in fact continue the investigations begun by MacVeagh, and hired notable Democratic lawyers William W. Ker and Richard T. Merrick to strengthen the prosecution team and forestall the skeptics. Although <mask> had worked closely with Dorsey before his presidency, once in office he supported the investigation and forced the resignation of officials suspected in the scandal. An 1882 trial of the ringleaders resulted in convictions for two minor conspirators and a hung jury for the rest. After a juror came forward with allegations that the defendants attempted to bribe him, the judge set aside the guilty verdicts and granted a new trial. Before the second trial began, <mask> removed five federal office holders who were sympathetic with the defense, including a former senator.The second trial began in December 1882 and lasted until July 1883 and, again, did not result in a guilty verdict. Failure to obtain a conviction tarnished the administration's image, but <mask> did succeed in putting a stop to the fraud. Garfield's assassination by a deranged office seeker amplified the public demand for civil service reform. Both Democratic and Republican leaders realized that they could attract the votes of reformers by turning against the spoils system and, by 1882, a bipartisan effort began in favor of reform. In 1880, Democratic Senator George H. Pendleton of Ohio introduced legislation that required selection of civil servants based on merit as determined by an examination. This legislation greatly expanded similar civil service reforms attempted by President Franklin Pierce 30 years earlier. In his first annual presidential address to Congress in 1881, <mask> requested civil service reform legislation and Pendleton again introduced his bill, but Congress did not pass it.Republicans lost seats in the 1882 congressional elections, in which Democrats campaigned on the reform issue. As a result, the lame-duck session of Congress was more amenable to civil service reform; the Senate approved Pendleton's bill 38–5 and the House soon concurred by a vote of 155–47. <mask> signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act into law on January 16, 1883. In just two years' time, an unrepentant Stalwart had become the president who ushered in long-awaited civil service reform. At first, the act applied only to 10% of federal jobs and, without proper implementation by the president, it could have gone no further. Even after he signed the act into law, its proponents doubted <mask>'s commitment to reform. To their surprise, he acted quickly to appoint the members of the Civil Service Commission that the law created, naming reformers Dorman Bridgman Eaton, John Milton Gregory, and Leroy D. Thoman as commissioners.The chief examiner, Silas W. Burt, was a long-time reformer who had been <mask>'s opponent when the two men worked at the New York Custom House. The commission issued its first rules in May 1883; by 1884, half of all postal officials and three-quarters of the Customs Service jobs were to be awarded by merit. That year, <mask> expressed satisfaction with the new system, praising its effectiveness "in securing

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 competent and faithful public servants and in protecting the appointing officers of the Government from the pressure of personal importunity and from the labor of examining the claims and pretensions of rival candidates for public employment." Surplus and the tariff

With high revenue held over from wartime taxes, the federal government had collected more than it spent since 1866; by 1882 the surplus reached $145 million. Opinions varied on how to balance the budget; the Democrats wished to lower tariffs, in order to reduce revenues and the cost of imported goods, while Republicans believed that high tariffs ensured high wages in manufacturing and mining. They preferred the government spend more on internal improvements and reduce excise taxes. <mask> agreed with his party, and in 1882 called for the abolition of excise taxes on everything except liquor, as well as a simplification of the complex tariff structure.In May of that year, Representative William D. Kelley of Pennsylvania introduced a bill to establish a tariff commission; the bill passed and <mask> signed it into law but appointed mostly protectionists to the committee. Republicans were pleased with the committee's make-up but were surprised when, in December 1882, they submitted a report to Congress calling for tariff cuts averaging between 20 and 25%. The commission's recommendations were ignored, however, as the House Ways and Means Committee, dominated by protectionists, provided a 10% reduction. After conference with the Senate, the bill that emerged only reduced tariffs by an average of 1.47%. The bill passed both houses narrowly on March 3, 1883, the last full day of the 47th Congress; <mask> signed the measure into law, with no effect on the surplus. Congress attempted to balance the budget from the other side of the ledger, with increased spending on the 1882 Rivers and Harbors Act in the unprecedented amount of $19 million. While <mask> was not opposed to internal improvements, the scale of the bill disturbed him, as did its narrow focus on "particular localities," rather than projects that benefited a larger part of the nation.On August 1, 1882, <mask> vetoed the bill to widespread popular acclaim; in his veto message, his principal objection was that it appropriated funds for purposes "not for the common defense or general welfare, and which do not promote commerce among the States." Congress overrode his veto the next day and the new law reduced the surplus by $19 million. Republicans considered the law a success at the time, but later concluded that it contributed to their loss of seats in the elections of 1882. Foreign affairs and immigration

During the Garfield administration, Secretary of State James G. Blaine attempted to invigorate United States diplomacy in Latin America, urging reciprocal trade agreements and offering to mediate disputes among the Latin American nations. Blaine, venturing a greater involvement in affairs south of the Rio Grande, proposed a Pan-American conference in 1882 to discuss trade and an end to the War of the Pacific being fought by Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Blaine did not remain in office long enough to see the effort through, and when Frederick T. Frelinghuysen replaced him at the end of 1881, the conference efforts lapsed. Frelinghuysen also discontinued Blaine's peace efforts in the War of the Pacific, fearing that the United States might be drawn into the conflict.<mask> and Frelinghuysen continued Blaine's efforts to encourage trade among the nations of the Western Hemisphere; a treaty with Mexico providing for reciprocal tariff reductions was signed in 1882 and approved by the Senate in 1884. Legislation required to bring the treaty into force failed in the House, however, rendering it a dead letter. Similar efforts at reciprocal trade treaties with Santo Domingo and Spain's American colonies were defeated by February 1885, and an existing reciprocity treaty with the Kingdom of Hawaii was allowed to lapse. The 47th Congress spent a great deal of time on immigration, and at times was in accord with <mask>. In July 1882 Congress easily passed a bill regulating steamships that carried immigrants to the United States. To their surprise, <mask> vetoed it and requested revisions, which they made and <mask> then approved. He also signed in August of that year the Immigration Act of 1882, which levied a 50-cent tax on immigrants to the United States, and excluded from entry the mentally ill, the intellectually disabled, criminals, or any other person potentially dependent upon public assistance.A more contentious debate materialized over the status of Chinese immigrants; in January 1868, the Senate had ratified the Burlingame Treaty with China, allowing an unrestricted flow of Chinese into the country. As the economy soured after the Panic of 1873, Chinese immigrants were blamed for depressing workmen's wages; in reaction Congress in 1879 attempted to abrogate the 1868 treaty by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act, but President Hayes vetoed it. Three years later, after China had agreed to treaty revisions, Congress tried again to exclude working class Chinese laborers; Senator John F. Miller of California introduced another Chinese Exclusion Act that blocked entry of Chinese laborers for a twenty-year period. The bill passed the Senate and House by overwhelming margins, but this as well was vetoed by <mask>, who concluded the 20-year ban to be a breach of the renegotiated treaty of 1880. That treaty allowed only a "reasonable" suspension of immigration. Eastern newspapers praised the veto, while it was condemned in the Western states. Congress was unable to override the veto, but passed a new bill reducing the immigration ban to ten years.Although he still objected to this denial of entry to Chinese laborers, <mask> acceded to the compromise measure, signing the Chinese Exclusion Act into law on May 6, 1882. The Chinese Exclusion Act attempted to stop all Chinese immigration into the United States for ten years, with exceptions for diplomats, teachers, students, merchants, and travelers. It was widely evaded. Naval reform

In the years following the Civil War, American naval power declined precipitously, shrinking from nearly 700 vessels to just 52, most of which were obsolete. The nation's military focus over the fifteen years before Garfield and <mask>'s election had been on the Indian wars in the West, rather than the high seas, but as the region was increasingly pacified, many in Congress grew concerned at the poor state of the Navy. Garfield's Secretary of the Navy, William H. Hunt advocated reform of the Navy and his successor, William E. Chandler appointed an advisory board to prepare a report on modernization. Based on the suggestions in the report, Congress appropriated funds for the construction of three steel protected cruisers (Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago) and an armed dispatch-steamer (Dolphin), collectively known as the ABCD Ships or the Squadron of Evolution.Congress also approved funds to rebuild four monitors (Puritan, Amphitrite, Monadnock, and Terror), which had lain uncompleted since 1877. The contracts to build the ABCD ships were all awarded to the low bidder, John Roach & Sons of Chester, Pennsylvania, even though Roach once employed Secretary Chandler as a lobbyist. Democrats turned against the "New Navy" projects and, when they won control of the 48th Congress, refused to appropriate funds for seven more steel warships. Even without the additional ships, the state of the Navy improved when, after several construction delays, the last of the new ships entered service in 1889. Civil rights

Like his Republican predecessors, <mask> struggled with the question of how his party was to challenge the Democrats in the South and how, if at all, to protect the civil rights of black southerners. Since the end of Reconstruction, conservative white Democrats (or "Bourbon Democrats") had regained power in the South, and the Republican party dwindled rapidly as their primary supporters in the region, blacks, were disenfranchised. One crack in the solidly Democratic South emerged with the growth of a new party, the Readjusters, in Virginia.Having won an election in that state on a platform of more education funding (for black and white schools alike) and abolition of the poll tax and the whipping post, many northern Republicans saw the Readjusters as a more viable ally in the South than the moribund southern Republican party. <mask> agreed, and directed the federal patronage in Virginia through the Readjusters rather than the Republicans. He followed the same pattern in other Southern states, forging coalitions with independents and Greenback Party members. Some black Republicans felt betrayed by the pragmatic gambit, but others (including Frederick Douglass and ex-Senator Blanche K. Bruce) endorsed the administration's actions, as the Southern independents had more liberal racial policies than the Democrats. <mask>'s coalition policy was only successful in Virginia, however, and by 1885 the Readjuster movement began to collapse with the election of a Democratic president. Other federal action on behalf of blacks was equally ineffective: when the Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 in the Civil Rights Cases (1883), <mask> expressed his disagreement with the decision in a message to Congress, but was unable to persuade Congress to pass any new legislation in its place. <mask> did, however, effectively intervene to overturn a court-martial ruling against a black West Point cadet, Johnson Whittaker, after the Judge Advocate General of the Army, David G. Swaim, found the prosecution's case against Whittaker to be illegal and based on racial bias.The administration faced a different challenge in the West, where the LDS Church was under government pressure to stop the practice of polygamy in Utah Territory. Garfield had believed polygamy was criminal behavior and was morally detrimental to family values, and <mask>'s views were, for once, in line with his predecessor's. In 1882, he signed the Edmunds Act into law; the legislation made polygamy a federal crime, barring polygamists both from public office and the right to vote. Native American policy

The <mask> administration was challenged by changing relations with western Native American tribes. The American Indian Wars were winding down, and public sentiment was shifting toward more favorable treatment of Native Americans. <mask> urged Congress to increase funding for Native American education, which it did in 1884, although not to the extent he wished. He also favored a move to the allotment system, under which individual Native Americans, rather than tribes, would own land.<mask> was unable to convince Congress to adopt the idea during his administration but, in 1887, the Dawes Act changed the law to favor such a system. The allotment system was favored by liberal reformers at the time, but eventually proved detrimental to Native Americans as most of their land was resold at low prices to white speculators. During <mask>'s presidency, settlers and cattle ranchers continued to encroach on Native American territory. <mask> initially resisted their efforts, but after Secretary of the Interior Henry M. Teller, an opponent of allotment, assured him that the lands were not protected, <mask> opened up the Crow Creek Reservation in the Dakota Territory to settlers by executive order in 1885. <mask>'s successor, Grover Cleveland, finding that title belonged to the Native Americans, revoked <mask>'s order a few months later. Health, travel, and 1884 election

Shortly after becoming president, <mask> was diagnosed with Bright's disease, a kidney ailment now referred to as nephritis. He attempted to keep his condition private, but by 1883 rumors of his illness began to circulate; he had become thinner and more aged in appearance, and struggled to keep the pace of the presidency.To rejuvenate his health outside the confines of Washington, <mask> and some political friends traveled to Florida in April 1883. The vacation had the opposite effect, and <mask> suffered from intense pain before returning to Washington. Later that year, on the advice of Missouri Senator George Graham Vest, he visited Yellowstone National Park. Reporters accompanied the presidential party, helping to publicize the new National Park system. The Yellowstone trip was more beneficial to <mask>'s health than his Florida excursion, and he returned to Washington refreshed after two months of travel. As the 1884 presidential election approached, James G. Blaine was considered the favorite for the Republican nomination, but <mask>, too, contemplated a run for a full term as president. In the months leading up to the 1884 Republican National Convention, however, <mask> began to realize that neither faction of the Republican party was prepared to give him their full support: the Half-Breeds were again solidly behind Blaine, while Stalwarts were undecided; some backed <mask>, with others considering Senator John A. Logan of Illinois.Reform-minded Republicans, friendlier to <mask> after he endorsed civil service reform, were still not certain enough of his reform credentials to back him over Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, who had long favored their cause. Business leaders supported him, as did Southern Republicans who owed their jobs to his control of the patronage, but by the time they began to rally around him, <mask> had decided against a serious campaign for the nomination. He kept up a token effort, believing that to drop out would cast doubt on his actions in office and raise questions about his health, but by the time the convention began in June, his defeat was assured. Blaine led on the first ballot, and by the fourth ballot he had a majority. <mask> telegraphed his congratulations to Blaine and accepted his defeat with equanimity. He played no role in the 1884 campaign, which Blaine would later blame for his loss that November to the Democratic nominee, Grover Cleveland. Administration and cabinet

Judicial appointments

<mask> made appointments to fill two vacancies on the United States Supreme Court.The first vacancy arose in July 1881 with the death of Associate Justice Nathan Clifford, a Democrat who had been a member of the Court since before the Civil War. <mask> nominated Horace Gray, a distinguished jurist from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to replace him, and the nomination was easily confirmed. Gray would serve on the Court for over 20 years until resigning in 1902. The second vacancy occurred when Associate Justice Ward Hunt retired in January 1882. <mask> first nominated his old political boss, Roscoe Conkling; he doubted that Conkling would accept, but felt obligated to offer a high office to his former patron. The Senate confirmed the nomination but, as expected, Conkling declined it, the last time a confirmed nominee declined an appointment. Senator George Edmunds was <mask>'s next choice, but he declined to be considered.Instead, <mask> nominated Samuel Blatchford, who had been a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for the prior four years. Blatchford accepted, and his nomination was approved by the Senate within two weeks. Blatchford served on the Court until his death in 1893. Post-presidency (1885–1886)

<mask> left office in 1885 and returned to his New York City home. Two months before the end of his term, several New York Stalwarts approached him to request that he run for United States Senate, but he declined, preferring to return to his old law practice at Arthur, Knevals & Ransom. His health limited his activity with the firm, and <mask> served only of counsel. He took on few assignments with the firm and was often too ill to leave his house.He managed a few public appearances until the end of 1885. After spending the summer of 1886 in New London, Connecticut, he returned home where he became seriously ill, and on November 16, ordered nearly all of his papers, both personal and official, burned. The next morning, <mask> suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and never regained consciousness. He died the following day, November 18, at the age of 57. On November 22, a private funeral was held at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City, attended by President Cleveland and ex-President Hayes, among other notables. <mask> was buried with his family members and ancestors in the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York. He was laid beside his wife in a sarcophagus on a large corner of the plot.In 1889, a monument was placed on <mask>'s burial plot by sculptor Ephraim Keyser of New York, consisting of a giant bronze female angel figure placing a bronze palm leaf on a granite sarcophagus. <mask>'s post-presidency was the second shortest of all presidents who lived past their presidency, after James K. Polk's brief three-month retirement before he died. Legacy
Several Grand Army of the Republic posts were named for <mask>, including Goff, Kansas, Lawrence, Nebraska, Medford, Oregon, and Ogdensburg, Wisconsin. On April 5, 1882, <mask> was elected to the District of Columbia Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) as a Third Class Companion (insignia number 02430), the honorary membership category for militia officers and civilians who made significant contributions to the war effort. Union College awarded <mask> the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1883. In 1898, the <mask> memorial statue—a , bronze figure of <mask> standing on a Barre Granite pedestal—was created by sculptor George Edwin Bissell and installed at Madison Square, in New York City.The statue was dedicated in 1899 and unveiled by <mask>'s sister, <mask> McElroy. At the dedication, Secretary of War Elihu Root described <mask> as, "...wise in statesmanship and firm and effective in administration," while acknowledging that <mask> was isolated in office and unloved by his own party. <mask>'s unpopularity in life carried over into his assessment by historians and his reputation after leaving office disappeared. By 1935, historian George F. Howe said that <mask> had achieved "an obscurity in strange contrast to his significant part in American history." By 1975, however, Thomas C. Reeves would write that <mask>'s "appointments, if unspectacular, were unusually sound; the corruption and scandal that dominated business and politics of the period did not tarnish his administration." As 2004 biographer Zachary Karabell wrote, although <mask> was "physically stretched and emotionally strained, he strove to do what was right for the country." Indeed, Howe had earlier surmised, "<mask> adopted [a code] for his own political behavior but subject to three restraints: he remained to everyone a man of his word; he kept scrupulously free from corrupt graft; he maintained a personal dignity, affable and genial though he might be.These restraints ... distinguished him sharply from the stereotype politician." <mask>'s townhouse, the Chester A. Arthur Home was sold to William Randolph Hearst. Since 1944 it has been the location of Kalustyan's Spice Emporium. See also

 List of presidents of the United States
 List of presidents of the United States by previous experience
 <mask>, ancestral home, Cullybackey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
 Julia Sand

Notes

References

Further reading

Books

 Rhodes, James

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<mask> (; born ; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre. During the Great Purge, <mask> was arrested and tortured, and then executed the next day, 2 February 1940. Life and work

Early life

<mask> was born Karl Kasimir Theodor Meierhold in Penza on 28 January o.s. (9 February n.s.) 1874 to Russian-German wine manufacturer Friedrich Emil Meierhold and his Russian-Dutch wife, Elisabeth Alvina Luitgard (née van der Neese). He was the youngest of eight children.After completing school in 1895, Meierhold studied law at Moscow University but never completed his degree. He was torn between studying theatre or a career as a violinist. However, he failed his audition to become the second violinist in the University orchestra and in 1896 joined the Moscow Philharmonic Dramatic School. On his 21st birthday, he converted from Lutheranism to Orthodox Christianity and accepted "Vsevolod" as an Orthodox Christian name (after the Russian writer Vsevolod Garshin, whose prose <mask> loved). Early career
<mask> began acting in 1896 as a student of the Moscow Philharmonic Dramatic School under the guidance of Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, co-founder with Konstantin Stanislavsky of the Moscow Art Theatre. At the MAT, <mask> played 18 roles, such as Vasiliy Shuiskiy in Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich and Ivan the Terrible in The Death of Ivan the Terrible (both by Aleksey Tolstoy). In 1898, in the first successful production of Chekhov's first play, The Seagull, <mask> played the lead male role, opposite Chekhov's future wife, Olga Knipper.After leaving the MAT in 1902, wanting to break free of the highly naturalistic 'missing fourth wall' productions of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, <mask> participated in a number of theatrical projects, as both a director and actor. Each project was an arena for experiment and creation of new staging methods. <mask> was one of the most fervent advocates of Symbolism in theatre, especially when he worked as the chief producer of the Vera Komissarzhevskaya theatre in 1906–1907. He was invited back to the MAT around this time to pursue his experimental ideas. <mask> continued theatrical innovation during the decade 1907–1917, while working with the imperial theatres in St. Petersburg. He introduced classical plays in an innovative manner, and staged works of controversial contemporary authors like Fyodor Sologub, Zinaida Gippius, and Alexander Blok. In these plays, <mask> tried to return acting to the traditions of Commedia dell'arte, rethinking them for the contemporary theatrical reality.His theoretical concepts of the "conditional theatre" were elaborated in his book On Theatre in 1913. Career under communism
On the day when the February Revolution broke out – on 25 February, under the old style calendar then used in Russia – <mask>'s production of Masquerade by Mikhail Lermontov had a dress rehearsal at the Alexandrinsky Theatre, in front of an audience that included the poet Anna Akhmatova. That evening has been described as "the last act of the tragedy of the old regime, when the Petersburg elite went to enjoy themselves at this splendidly luxurious production in the midst of the chaos and confusion.". Sergei Eisenstein, who was then a teenager but would later be a world-renowned film director, desperately wanted to see the production, having heard that it featured clowns, but having made his way across the city that was in the throes of a revolution was disappointed to discover that the Alexandrinsky was closed. <mask> was one of the first prominent Russian artists to welcome the Bolshevik Revolution – and one of only five out of 120 who accepted an invitation to meet the new People's Commissar for Enlightenment, Anatoly Lunacharsky in November 1917. (Among the others were the poets Alexander Blok and Vladimir Mayakovsky.) He joined the Bolshevik Party in 1918, narrowly escaping execution when he was caught on the wrong side of the battle lines during the civil war.He became an official of the Theatre Division (TEO) of the Commissariat of Education and Enlightenment. In 1918–1919, <mask> formed an alliance with Olga Kameneva, the head of the Division. Together, they tried to radicalize Russian theatres, effectively nationalizing them under Bolshevik control. <mask> came down with tuberculosis in May 1919 and had to leave for the south. In his absence, the head of the Commissariat, Anatoly Lunacharsky, secured Vladimir Lenin's permission to revise government policy in favor of more traditional theatres and dismissed Kameneva in June 1919. After returning to Moscow, <mask> founded his own theatre in 1920, which was known from 1923 as the Meyerhold Theatre until 1938. <mask> confronted the principles of theatrical academism, claiming that they are incapable of finding a common language with the new reality.<mask>'s methods of scenic constructivism and circus-style effects were used in his most successful works of the time. Some of these works included Nikolai Erdman's The Mandate, Mayakovsky's Mystery-Bouffe, Fernand Crommelynck's Le Cocu magnifique (The Magnanimous Cuckold) and Aleksandr Sukhovo-Kobylin's Tarelkin's Death. Mayakovsky collaborated with <mask> several times, and was said to have written The Bedbug especially for him; <mask> continued to stage Mayakovsky's productions even after the latter's suicide. Acting techniques
The actors participating in <mask>'s productions acted according to the principle of biomechanics (only distantly related to the present scientific use of the term), the system of actor training that was later taught in a special school created by <mask>. <mask>'s acting technique had fundamental principles at odds with the American method actor's conception. While method acting melded the character with the actor's own personal memories to create the character's internal motivation, <mask> connected psychological and physiological processes. He had actors focus on learning gestures and movements as a way of expressing emotion physically.Following Konstantin Stanislavski's lead, he said that the emotional state of an actor was inextricably linked to his physical state (and vice versa), and that one could call up emotions in performance by practicing and assuming poses, gestures, and movements. He developed a number of body expressions that his actors would use to portray specific emotions and characters. (Stanislavski was also at odds with Method acting, because like <mask>, his approach was psychophysical.) His influence
<mask> gave initial boosts to the stage careers of some of the most distinguished comic actors of the USSR, including Sergey Martinson, Igor Ilyinsky and Erast Garin. His landmark production of Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector (1926) was described as the following:

Energetic, mischievous, charming Ilyinsky left his post to the nervous, fragile, suddenly freezing, grotesquely anxious Garin. Energy was replaced by trance, the dynamic with the static, happy jesting humour with bitter and glum satire. <mask> also gave a start to his one time assistant of "The Queen of Spades" Matvey Dubrovin, who later created his own theater in Leningrad.In autumn 1921, <mask> was appointed head of the State Higher Theatre Workshops, in Moscow, where one of his first students was Sergei Eisenstein, who later wrote

The God-like, incomparable <mask>, I beheld him then for the first time and I was to worship him all my life. But they fell out, apparently because Eisenstein failed to treat the older man with sufficient deference, for which he was, as he put it, "expelled from the Gates of Heaven." In his films, Eisenstein used actors who worked in <mask>'s tradition. He also cast actors based on what they looked like and their expression, and followed <mask>'s stylized acting methods. In Strike, for instance, the bourgeois are always obese, drinking, eating, and smoking, whereas the workers are more athletic. For the original production of The Bedbug, in February 1929, <mask> hired the young Dmitri Shostakovich as a pianist. Many years later, Shostakovich reputedly recalled: "It's impossible to imagine now how popular <mask> was.Everyone knew him, even those who had no interest or connection with the theatre or art. In the circus, clowns always made jokes about Meyerhold. They go for instant laughs in the circus, and they wouldn't sing ditties about people the audience wouldn't recognise immediately. They even used to sell combs called Meyerhold." Repression
In the early 1930s, Joseph Stalin launched a campaign to bring Soviet artists to heel, and compel them all to observe the rules of 'socialist realism', which precluded avant-garde art and experimentation, and any art form reckoned to be 'formalist', in that the artist had paid more attention to the form of a work than to its political message. After Shostakovich had been singled out as being guilty of 'formalism', in January 1936, <mask> evidently surmised that he would soon be a target, and in March delivered a talk entitled "Meyer Against Meyerholdism" in which he said – reportedly to 'thunderous applause' – that "the path to simplicity is not an easy one. Each artist goes at his own pace, and they must not lose their distinctive way of walking...Soviet subject matter is often a smoke screen to conceal mediocrity."A year later, in April 1937, his wife, the actress Zinaida Raikh, wrote Stalin a long letter alleging that her husband was the victim of a conspiracy by Trotskyists and former members of the disbanded Russian Association of Proletarian Writers. The letter was not answered. In December 1937, Stalin's crony, Lazar Kaganovich went to a production at the Meyerhold Theatre, and walked out in disgust. The theatre was closed, by order of the Politburo, on 7 January 1938, on the grounds that 'throughout its entire existence, the Meyerhold Theatre has been unable to free itself from thoroughly bourgeois Formalist positions', his works were proclaimed antagonistic and alien to the Soviet people. Arrest and death

The ailing Stanislavsky, who was the director of an opera theatre now known as Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre, invited <mask> to be his assistant – an invitation that surprised many in Moscow, given their long standing artistic differences. Stanislavsky died soon afterwards, in August 1938. His dying wish was "Take care of <mask>; he is my sole heir in the theatre – here or anywhere else."<mask> directed his theatre for nearly a year, and was engaged with producing the premiere of Sergei Prokofiev's Semyon Kotko, when he was instructed that he was to choreograph a spectacle in Leningrad, involving 30,000 athletes. On 17 June 1939, he addressed a conference of theatre directors, in the presence of Andrey Vyshinsky, the state prosecutor who had presided over the infamous Moscow show trials. His speech was not reported in the Soviet press, giving rise to a report that he had declared, defiantly:

If what you have been doing with the Soviet theatre recently is what you call anti-formalism, if you consider what is now taking place on the stages of the best theatres in Moscow as an achievement of the Soviet theatre, then I would prefer to be what you consider a formalist... in hunting formalism, you have eliminated art. This is from a version of the speech written up later by the emigre musician Yuri Yelagin, from notes he said that he made at the conference – but its accuracy is disputed. After the speech, he returned to Leningrad, and was arrested on arrival, on 20 June 1939. Shortly afterwards, intruders broke into his flat and repeatedly stabbed his wife, Zinaida Reich, who died from her injuries. Taken to NKVD headquarters in Moscow, and placed in the hands of the notorious torturer, Lev Shvartzman, <mask> broke down and confessed to being a British and Japanese spy.In his final days, he wrote a letter to the head of the Soviet government Vyacheslav Molotov, which was retained in police files, where it was discovered after the dissolution of the USSR by the journalist Vitaly Shentalinsky. In it, he wrote:

He was sentenced to death by firing squad on 1 February 1940, and executed the next day. The Soviet Supreme Court cleared him of all charges in 1955, during the first wave of de-Stalinization. Marriage and family
<mask> married his first wife, Olga Munt, in 1896 and together they had three daughters. He later met the actress Zinaida Reich when she began studying with him. They fell in love and he divorced his wife; Reich was already divorced and had two children of her own. They married in 1922 or 1924.Bibliography
In English:

Texts by <mask>
 <mask> on Theatre,  trans. and ed. by Edward Braun, with a critical commentary, 1969. London: Methuen and New York: Hill and Wang. <mask> Speaks/Meyerhold Rehearses (Russian Theatre Archive), by V<mask>, Alexander Gladkov (ed.) and Alma Law (ed. ), Routledge, 1996
 <mask> at Work, Paul Schmidt (ed.), Applause Theatre Book Publishers, 1996

Works on Meyerhold
 Vsevolod <mask> (Routledge Performance Practitioners Series), by Jonathan Pitches, Routledge, 2003
 Meyerhold: The art of conscious theater, by Marjorie L Hoover, University of Massachusetts Press, 1974 (biography)
 Vsevolod <mask> (Directors in Perspective Series), by Robert Leach, Christopher Innes (ed. ), Cambridge University Press, 1993
 <mask>'s Theatre of the Grotesque: Post-revolutionary Productions, 1920–32, James M. Symons, 1971
 Meyerhold: A Revolution in Theatre, by Edward Braun, University of Iowa Press, 1998
 The Theatre of Meyerhold: Revolution and the Modern Stage by Edward Braun, 1995
 Stanislavsky and Meyerhold (Stage and Screen Studies, v. 3), by Robert Leach, Peter Lang, 2003
 Meyerhold the Director, by Konstantin Rudnitsky, Ardis, 1981
 Meyerhold, Eisenstein and Biomechanics: Actor Training in Revolutionary Russia by Alma H. Law, Mel Gordon, McFarland & co, 1995
 The Death of Meyerhold A play by Mark Jackson, premiered at The Shotgun Players, Berkeley, CA, December 2003. The Theater of Meyerhold and Brecht, by Katherine B. Eaton, Greenwood Press,1985
 Meyerhold and the Music Theater, by Isaak Glikman, 'Soviet Composer', Leningrad, 1989
 Vsevolod Meyerhold Annotated Bibliography, by David Roy, LTScotland, 2002
 Stanislavsky in Practice: Actor Training in Post-Soviet Russia (Artists & Issues in the Theatre, Vol.

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Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold
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Vsevolod Meyerhold
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. Meyerhold
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Admiral <mask>, 1st Baronet  (16 May 1759 – 23 July 1839) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Coffin was born in Boston and served in the navy on a number of ships during the War of Independence. He fought at Cape Henry with Arbuthnot and at St. Kitts with Hood, eventually being promoted to command a number of small ships on the American coast. Despite his rise through the ranks, he clashed occasionally with the naval hierarchy, with the first incident occurring while still a newly commissioned commander aboard . An incident over unqualified lieutenants led to his court-martial, though he was acquitted. A more serious incident occurred after the end of the war with America, when Coffin was particularly active off the Canadian coast. A charge was brought of issuing false musters, and though the practice was endemic in the navy, led to his dismissal from the ship.The First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Howe, then intervened to have him dismissed from the navy entirely, a decision that was later overturned by an inquiry, which set an important precedent. Restored to his rank, Coffin commanded several ships during the opening years of the wars with France, but the recurrence of an old injury forced him to move ashore. He spent the rest of the war commanding a number of dockyards, continuing to rise through the ranks, and being created a baronet for his good service. Retiring from active naval service towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars Coffin briefly changed his surname to Coffin-Greenly before reverting it, entered politics, and died with the rank of admiral in 1839. Family and early life
<mask> was born in Boston, Massachusetts on 16 May 1759, into what would prove to be a strong loyalist family. He was the fourth and youngest son of the paymaster of the customs in the port, Nathaniel Coffin. His father descended from Tristram Coffin, who immigrated to Massachusetts from Devon in 1642.His mother was Elizabeth, the daughter of the merchant Henry Barnes, of Boston. He attended the Boston Latin School. He first appeared on the books of the 74-gun  as an able seaman in October 1771, while Captain was at Boston under the command of Captain Thomas Symonds, and is recorded as having transferred to the brig  under Lieutenant William Hunter at Rhode Island in May 1773. However it is more likely that he did not enter the service until October 1773, joining George Montagu, captain of . Montagu was the son of Rear-Admiral John Montagu, then commander in chief on the North American station. He later followed George Montagu aboard . Coffin was commissioned lieutenant on 18 August 1776 while serving aboard the brig  under Lieutenant Edmund Dod at Halifax, but was not able to take up the rank immediately.Instead he joined the 50-gun  as a midshipman in September 1776, the Romney then being at Newfoundland. In June 1778 he moved aboard the 50-gun , still as a midshipman. He finally received a posting as a lieutenant in October 1778, aboard the cutter . He briefly served as a volunteer aboard Captain Thomas Pasley's ship , and from there moved in June 1779 to the armed ship Pincon, serving on the Labrador coast. The Pincon was wrecked in August 1779, and in November he was moved aboard the 50-gun  under Captain Gideon Johnstone as her second lieutenant. The Adamant was then being completed at Liverpool, with Coffin helping to oversee work. He was involved in a number of accidents during the final phases of work, but was able to get her ready to sail to Plymouth under a jury-rig by June 1780.He went out with Adamant to North America the following month as a convoy escort, and in February 1781 transferred to the 90-gun , flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Graves. Coffin's time aboard London was brief, and in March he moved aboard the 74-gun , under Captain Swiney. Royal Oak was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot at the Battle of Cape Henry on 16 March, and Coffin acted as Arbuthnot's signal lieutenant. Commands
Royal Oak then returned to New York, but ran aground while passing from the North to the East River, and was badly damaged. She had to sail to Halifax for repairs, after which Arbuthnot returned to England. Royal Oak set sail to return New York in July, joining the fleet, now under Admiral Graves, on her journey. Here Coffin received news of his promotion to master and commander on 3 July, and on arriving in New York, took command of the sloop HMS Avenger.He was initially based in the North River, but in December he exchanged ships with Alexander Cochrane and took command of the 14-gun sloop Pacahunter. While aboard Pacahunter he was present during a great fire in St. John's, and helped to fight it, a service that earned him the thanks of the House of Assembly. His service aboard her was shortlived, for he and the entire ship's company volunteered to join Rear-Admiral Samuel Hood's flagship, the 90-gun . Coffin was present at Hood's attack on the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse at Basseterre, the Battle of St. Kitts, on 25 January 1782. Coffin then went on to Antigua to join his ship, travelling aboard Captain Hugh Cloberry Christian's , and in company with a frigate under Captain Henry Harvey. During the voyage the two ships ran into the French ship of the line Triomphant and the frigate Braave. The French fired upon the smaller British ships, but the latter were able to escape and arrived safely at St. John's.Coffin then went on to Jamaica where his friendship with Hood led to his promotion to post-captain on 13 June 1782 and an appointment to command the 74-gun . Clash with Rodney

It was while commanding Shrewsbury at Jamaica that Coffin had the first of a number of run-ins with naval authority that was to mark his career. The commander of the fleet, Admiral George Brydges Rodney, ordered Coffin to take three lieutenants with insufficient sea time. Coffin refused, apparently unaware that the order had come from Rodney himself, arguing that as the boys had respectively only five, three and two years service, they were unqualified to serve as lieutenants. On learning that it was Rodney's express wish that the boys be taken on as lieutenants, Coffin grudgingly acceded, but Rodney came to hear of Coffin's initial refusal, and had him court-martialed on charges of disobedience and contempt. The trial was held at Port Royal on 29 July, with Coffin being acquitted of both charges, the court determining that 'the appointment of these officers by commission was irregular and contrary to the established rules of the service.' Despite the verdict, the court did not have the power to suspend appointments made by the commander in chief, and Coffin was forced to write to the Admiralty on 20 September 1782, requesting the lieutenants' commissions be suspended.The Admiralty issued the recall of the commissions on 14 December, by which time Coffin had moved from Shrewsbury to take command of the 20-gun . Coffin sailed Hydra back to England and paid her off in March 1783. Thisbe and the Magdalen Islands
Coffin was left temporarily unemployed after the end of the American War of Independence, and spent some of his time in France, where he studied the French language. He returned to service in May 1786 with an appointment to command the 28-gun . He was ordered to transport Lord Dorchester and his family to Quebec, and departed the Scilly Isles for the voyage across the Atlantic on 9 September. He arrived at the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on 10 October, and anchored at Quebec on 23 October. Coffin sailed for Halifax two days after arriving, reaching the port on 9 November, and spending the winter there.In 1787 he moved to operate in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and took a particular interest in the Magdalen Islands. He warned the governor's council that New Englanders were exploiting the fisheries in the gulf and were trading illegally with the inhabitants of the islands. Coffin, an American loyalist who had been deprived of his patrimony by the outcome of the War of Independence, was granted the islands in 1798 for his good service. His attempts to attract settlers or evict the squatters who had arrived from Saint Pierre and Miquelon were however unsuccessful. In an effort to exercise authority on his property Coffin had 1 Penny tokens made at Birmingham, England in 1815. The British government felt this was overstepping his authority and revoked his grant of the island. His long association with his estates in Canada, and his business there led to one of his obituaries noting that by the time of his death 'he had crossed the Atlantic, on service or pleasure, no less than thirty times.'Dismissal from the service
While at Halifax with Thisbe, Coffin entered four boys, including two of Lord Dorchester's sons, onto the ship's books as captain's servants. The boys did not serve on the ship, and were probably still at school. Though technically prohibited, the practice of entering boys onto ships' books as a means of giving them false sea time, was widespread throughout the service, and many naval officers began their careers in this manner. Coffin was accused of knowingly signing false musters, and brought to trial by court-martial. The charge was maliciously motivated, but the court was compelled to examine the evidence. Coffin was tried aboard  and the offence was proven. The offence technically required the defendant to be dismissed from the service, but considering the mitigating circumstances, the malicious nature of the charge and the fact that the practice was common in the navy, the court merely sentenced him to be dismissed from his ship.Coffin returned to Britain, whereupon the sentence came to the attention of the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Howe, who insisted that the full punishment required by the 31st Article of War be carried out. Coffin was duly dismissed from the navy, though he lodged an appeal against the decision. In the meantime Coffin emigrated to Flanders and travelled as a mercenary throughout Denmark, Sweden and Russia, in search of a commission. Meanwhile Coffin's case was considered by the judges of the admiralty, on the question of whether the Admiralty had the right to set aside the judgement of a court-martial. After considering the case, they recorded that though the judgement reached in the original court-martial had not been legal, ' ... the punishment directed to be inflicted ... upon persons convicted of the offence specified in the 31st Article of War ... cannot be inflicted, or judgement thereupon be pronounced, or supplied by any other authority than that of the Court Martial which tried the offender.' In other words, Howe's decision to overrule the sentence imposed by the original court-martial was ruled invalid, and Coffin was reinstated in the service, with the payment of arrears in his wages. The judgement defined the limits of Admiralty interference with courts-martial, and became a frequently cited precedent.Return to service, and French Revolutionary Wars
Coffin returned to active service during the Spanish Armament, taking command of the sixth rate  in 1790. At one point Alligator was anchored at the Nore when one of her sailors fell overboard. Coffin jumped into the water to rescue him, and succeeded in recovering the man before he drowned. Coffin experienced a serious rupture while carrying out the rescue, that would dog him in later life. From the Nore he moved to Spithead, and then to Ceuta, where Alligator briefly carried the flag of Admiral Philip Cosby. Superseded by the arrival of , Alligator was sent to cruise off Western Ireland. In 1792 Coffin returned to Canada, this time to bring Lord Dorchester home.Alligator was then paid off, and Coffin, finding himself temporarily unemployed, took the opportunity to tour parts of the continent. The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 led to Coffin returning to service in command of the 36-gun . He was initially ordered to take Lord Dorchester back to Canada, but the order was later cancelled, and Coffin was compelled to transfer most of his crew to , and then re-man Melampus. Having done so, he transported armaments and stores to Guernsey in preparation for the expedition under the Earl of Moira. He was then assigned to operate in the English Channel, departing Spithead in company with  to join Sir James Wallace. While sailing down the Channel the two British ships encountered a French squadron consisted of five frigates, a corvette and a cutter. The British ships were able to outmanoeuvre the French, and escaped.It was about this time that Coffin began to feel the effects of his rupture, and after over-exerting himself one night, was taken seriously ill and obliged to quit his ship. For the next four months he was virtually crippled, and never again had a seagoing command. Dockyard service
Coffin was appointed regulating captain at Leith in Spring 1795, and in October that year took up the post of resident commissioner of the navy at Corsica. His business took him at times to Naples, Florence and Leghorn, and after the British evacuation of the island in 1796 he went from Elba to Lisbon, where he remained for two years. Coffin was next appointed to serve as the Navy Boards resident navy commissioner at Port Mahon Dockyard, Menorca in 1798, followed by the offer of the post at Sheerness. He went out to Halifax Dockyard as its resident commissioner for six months prior to returning and taking up the post of Resident Commissioner of the Navy at Sheerness Dockyard. Both here and at Halifax Coffin seems to have acted under the belief, strongly expressed at the time by Admiral the Earl of St Vincent, that the yard officers were corrupt.Jervis was a strong proponent of the reform of the civil administration of the navy, and Coffin acted to forcefully impose Admiralty regulations. In this he was perhaps influenced by his own experiences with Admiralty law and the rigid hierarchy within the navy, but managed to undermine the efficiency of the dockyards with his overzealous application of the regulations. He was heavily criticised at a local level, but retained Jervis's confidence, and was promoted to rear-admiral on 23 April 1804. He so upset the dock workers that a threatening letter was sent after he ordered a worker to be pressed into the navy for insolence, eventually forcing him to reverse his decision. His reputation as an effective and energetic commissioner earned him the honour of being created a baronet "of the Magdelaine Islands in the Gulph of St. Lawrence, British North America" on 19 May that year, which was followed by being created admiral-superintendent at Portsmouth Dockyard. He remained at Portsmouth until being promoted to vice-admiral on 28 April 1808, at which point he retired. Family and later life

Coffin started a family during his retirement, marrying Elizabeth Browne Greenly at Titley on 3 April 1811.Elizabeth was the heiress of William Greenly, and <mask> briefly changed his surname to Coffin-Greenly on 11 February 1811, but reverted to Coffin on 13 March 1813. He was advanced to full admiral on 4 June 1814 and entered politics, being elected as Member of Parliament for Ilchester in 1818, and holding the seat until 1826. Greville recorded the result of one Parliamentary debate soon after his election:
The Opposition were very angry with Sir I.Coffin, who, with the candour of a novice, had made himself informed of the facts of the petition, and finding they were against his friends, said so in the House. Coffin was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1832. He was a personal friend of Lord Nelson, at whose 1805 funeral he was a pallbearer. He was also a friend of the Duke of Clarence (later William IV), and during the 1832 reform crisis was placed on the King's private list of those to be made peers. However, several Government ministers opposed his appointment on the grounds of his close association with his American relatives, and his name was dropped from the list.Coffin was a noted patron of charities, and a few weeks before his death donated a hundred pounds to the Royal Naval Charity, with the note that he did so 'fearful I might suddenly slip my wind, and in the hurry of my departure forget to order ... £100 to be set aside'. Elizabeth Coffin died on 27 January 1839, with Admiral Sir <mask> dying six months later on 23 July 1839, at the age of 80. He was buried at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. As he had no sons, the baronetcy became extinct upon his death. Legacy
Coffin Bay and Greenly Island in South Australia were named in honor of Sir <mask> by the British explorer Matthew Flinders in 1802. The Coffin School on Nantucket, established with funds provided by Sir <mask>, was established in 1827. Known as the Admiral Sir <mask>ffin Lancasterian School, this educational institution was funded by Coffin for the purpose of "promoting decency, good order and morality, and for giving a good English education to youth".The school educated Nantucketers throughout the 19th century. The imposing Greek Revival building in which it was housed after 1854 (and which prominently bears Sir <mask>'s name) functioned for a variety of educational purposes throughout the twentieth century and is now used to provide services to Nantucket youth. Notes

References

  (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2010. ) External links

1759 births
1839 deaths
Royal Navy admirals
American Loyalists from Massachusetts
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1818–1820
UK MPs 1820–1826
People from colonial Boston
18th-century Royal Navy personnel
Burials in Gloucestershire

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Sir Isaac Coffin
Isaac Coffin
Isaac
Isaac Coffin
Isaac Coffin
Isaac Coffin
Isaac Co
Isaac