No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted. ”A rich, New Yorker who never held an elected position in his life was thrust into the highest office in America: President of the United States. Because of his background in machine politics, the country groaned when he became president—expecting him to fail. Instead, he surprised them all by reforming deep-set corruption in The Swamp. It’s probably not the president you think it was. In Chester A. Arthur: The Accidental President (Regnery History; September 17, 2019; $29.99), John M. Pafford paints the portrait of how the unlikeliest man to become president unexpectedly rose to the occasion and lead America in its first steps to becoming a world power. There’s lots of parallels between now and then and we discuss them in depth. Probably the first in a series by John that will cover what were thought to be inconsequential POTUSES.