Important partly-printed DS as president, one page, 8 x 10, September 22, 1881. In full: “I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of State to cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed to my Proclamation appointing a day of humiliation and mourning dated this day, and signed by me; and for so doing this shall be his warrant.” In fine condition.
This is an absolutely remarkable document in that it was signed by President Arthur on the day he took the Oath of Office in Washington, DC, and represents the final transition of executive power in what had been an unprecedented and controversial predicament in determining presidential succession. Garfield had been shot by unstable assassin Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881, critically wounding but not killing the president. In the aftermath, President Garfield stayed alive for 80 days, suffering on his sickbed with fever, weakness, and infection before passing away on September 19, 1881. Although Garfield could not carry out his duties as president because of his ailing condition, the legalities of succession were unclear and Vice President Arthur was reluctant to assume the role, fearing it would be seen as an illegal power grab. The executive office thus remained essentially void of authority for over two months—with Congress in recess, Arthur refused to travel to Washington from his summer home until he heard that Garfield had passed. After the news of the president's death on September 19th, Arthur received the Oath of Office at his home in Manhattan from Judge John R. Brady of the New York Supreme Court, and Arthur boarded a train bound for Washington. He arrived at the White House on September 22—the same day he issued this document—where the Oath was re-administered before Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite to assure procedural compliance. The document here offered instructs Secretary of State James G. Blaine to confirm the proclamation of a day of remembrance, officially called Proclamation 250: Day of Mourning for James A. Garfield, in which Arthur said, 'it is fitting that the deep grief which fills all hearts should manifest itself with one accord toward the throne of infinite grace' and declared that 'Monday next, the 26th day of September—on which day the remains of our honored and beloved dead will be consigned to their last resting place on earth—to be observed throughout the United States as a day of humiliation and mourning.' A truly exceptional document within the broad context of American history, important in both date and content. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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