For thread archive purposes
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*snip*
The focus on his place of birth became an issue in the 1880 presidential campaign, when Arthur was tapped to be the running mate for Garfield.
According to historical accounts, Republican bosses wanted him to provide proof of his birthplace, but he never did.
Democrats, meanwhile, hired a lawyer named Arthur Hinman who sought to discredit Arthur, claiming he was born in Dunham, Quebec, about 47 miles north of Fairfield. Hinman traveled to Vermont and Canada to research Arthur’s past, eventually concluding that Arthur was born in Canada but appropriated the birth records of a baby brother who was born in Fairfield, but died as an infant.
He later incorporated the findings into a book titled “How A British Subject Became President of the United States.”
Arthur, who served from 1881 to 1885, never publicly addressed the allegation.
Vermont officials hold fast to their claim on Arthur’s birth, but have little to back it up.
The state of Vermont didn’t begin receiving birth records until 1857, according to state archivist Gregory Sanford. The birth records at the Town of Fairfield go back no further, Town Clerk Amanda Forbes said.
Arthur biographer Thomas C. Reeves, a former University of Wisconsin history professor who wrote “Gentleman Boss” in 1975, debunked the born-in-Canada claim.
“This was a little campaign trick, in an era when politics were just as dirty as they are now,” Reeves said in an interview. “It didn’t threaten him in anyway. He was lying about his age, which complicated things. Like so many people, he just lopped a year off his life.”
But the legend lingers, like a salacious rumor too juicy not to repeat.
n 1998, the Ottawa (Ont.) Citizen newspaper published a story asserting Arthur was born in his grandparents’ home in Dunham but “probably” appropriated the birth records of the dead brother.
“The great impostor, the ultimate spoilsman, has never been defrocked. Not bad for a Canadian, eh?” said the newspaper, which called Arthur “our man in Washington.”
At the Chester A. Arthur Historic Site, which draws about 400 visitors a year despite its remote setting, the topic is the first thing on people’s lips, said caretaker Shirley Paradee.
“That’s usually pretty much the most-asked question — if he was born here or in Canada,” she said. “And I don’t really have an answer for that because there isn’t anything, any proof anywhere, where he was born.”
If anything, the display boards inside a two-room replica of the parsonage where Arthur spent some of his early years fan the controversy. One contains a quote from a “J.H. Corey” who asserted in 1881: “I am positive C.A. Arthur was born in Canada.”
Another reads, “Today, in an era when virtually every detail of a politician’s life is open to public view, there is no concrete proof of the location of President Arthur’s birthplace. Records and recollections lend strong support to the claim that Arthur was born in Fairfield, Vt.”
For his part, Dumville says Vermont is proud to call Arthur a native son. Until someone proves otherwise.
“There’s no way to prove he was not born in Vermont. It’s a little boosterism for Vermont, having a U.S. president born here,” Dumville said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/WireStory?id=8343059&page=2
Glenn Beck today — he mentioned he was expecting
some news .. and hope the phone he had set up for
tips and Refounders would ring during the show.
It rang on set.
He went thru a routine talking with the person,
asking a few questions, then did one of his
funny routines .. can’t tell if it was fake or
not .. but intimating inside info, but joshing
that it was NOT from the WH .. etc etc ..and
he mentioned Anita Dunn .. and asked: do you
know who she’s married to?
And then says how great the news was for them,
blah blah .. popping champagne corks .. but
the other in the WH don’t know? Oh, he won’t
tell .. etc etc
I know .. it’s hard to describe one of his
schticks, but the gist I’m possibly speculating
is that it could be about Greg Craig (WH Counsel/
former Clinton counsel), whose tenure at the WH
has been thrown around in the blogs, news due to
the Gitmo policy crash and burn.
SO .............. I’m wondering if that phone
call was a tip about Anita Dunn’s husband,
Robert Bauer .. DNC/Certifigate atty taking
his place.
We shall see.
~~~~~
Fate of White House Counsel Is in Doubt
By PETER BAKER
Published: October 21, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/us/politics/22craig.html?_r=1