It is believed that President Chester Alan Arthur died from a debilitating and fatal kidney ailment known as Bright’s Disease. Some historians now suggest that the lethargy Arthur displayed as president was in fact the result of his struggle with Bright’s Disease. Also called nephritis, the disease causes the degeneration of kidney cells, swelling, high blood pressure and, eventually, kidney failure. It can be brought on by infection. (Arthur had reportedly picked up a case of malaria while vacationing in Florida in 1882.) His doctors diagnosed the disease in 1882, but kept it secret since it was not in an advanced stage.

Although he had been called an ambitious a young man, he was considered by many of his contemporaries to have been a lazy and “foppish” president. His term as president was most notable for liquor, snobbery and worse. Accordingly, Arthur served only one term as president from 1881 to 1885. He retired and returned to his home in New York. Subsequently, after his presidency, his battle with Bright’s Disease turned critical. He died on November 18, 1886. He lived to be 57 years old (from October 1829 to November 1996).

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