“Arthur himself lied about his birth, his fathers naturalization and he burned his records.”
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Arthur never lied about his father’s naturalization.
Apparently, it was known to Mr. Hinman, the political “hit man” who wrote the book attacking him. (Hinman tried to argue Arthur was born in Canada, not that Arthur’s father hadn’t been naturalized at Arthur’s birth.) If Arthur tried to conceal his father’s naturalization, he didn’t try very hard, since the naturalization papers were found in the archives, which would be a funny place to hide it.
Why Arthur burned his papers is speculation, but an informed guess would be that Arthur didn’t want his reputation sullied by his associations with the corrupt NY GOP machine of the 1870’s. Probably, no POTUS ever gained more in reputation during his term in office than Arthur. Going in, he was regarded as just another corrupt product of the NY GOP machine. Going out, he had gained a reputation for honesty and integrity.
“Arthur lied about his mother’s time in Canada. He lied about his father’s time in Canada. He lied about his father’s age plus where and when he got off the boat from Ireland. By obscuring his parents’ personal history he curtailed the possibility that anybody might discover he was born many years before his father had naturalized.”