Silk Pants and Civil Service

In this episode of The American Presidency: Unfiltered, host Brad Pitzl unbuttons the story of Chester A. Arthur, the Gilded Age president who owned over 80 pairs of pants but only one surprising political transformation. Nicknamed "Elegant Arthur" for his lavish wardrobe and love of fine living, Arthur seemed more suited for a fashion runway than a reform movement. But when the nation demanded change, the former machine politician shocked everyone by becoming the unexpected champion of civil service reform.

Silk Pants and Civil Service dives into the paradox of a man who went from insider to iconoclast, all without scuffing his polished shoes. How did Arthur, who rose through the spoils system, become the face of merit-based government hiring? And can someone wrapped in velvet ever be taken seriously as a reformer? Brad Pitzl separates the tailored myth from the hard-pressed truth, in an episode that proves style and substance sometimes walk hand-in-hand... in very expensive trousers.