🔗 Share this article

Over many years, the descendants of the 20th US president spoke proudly about his impressive career but avoided talking about his violent end. We were aware what had happened, that he was assassinated in a train station,” explains one of his modern descendants. “We read about the story in historical accounts but, in one way or another, we just skimmed through it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Overlooked Leader

This shifted in 2011 with the issuing of Destiny of the Republic, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's cut-short presidency. The publication has now led to a streaming series titled Death by Lightning, including Michael Shannon as the national leader and another skilled actor as the wanderer who shot him.

The series aims to highlight Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the presidency during the Gilded Age only to fall victim to its toxic political divisions. His presidency was truncated after only half a year not only by the gunman's shot but by medical malpractice – an tragedy now largely forgotten while the killings of President Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a legal professional, he was a preacher, he was a land worker. He was multiple professions which also influenced his personality and how he was and everything that we know about him the descendants preserve with us.”

From Humble Beginnings to the Highest Office

Garfield was the final national leader raised in rustic conditions in the Midwest in 1831. His dad perished when he was just a toddler, leaving his mother, Eliza, to raise five children in challenging conditions. An insatiable reader, Garfield worked on canal boats to make funds for an formal learning.

He studied law, was became a preacher, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he married a educational contemporary, his partner, with whom he would have seven children. An dedicated federalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a moral battle against slavery and progressed to the rank of major general.

“When I started researching him, I found it incredible. He was absolutely brilliant. He was incredibly brave. He was innovative for the era. He was caring. He was a decent human being and would have been one of our great presidents had he remained alive.”

Public Life and Shocking Selection

Garfield was persuaded by President Lincoln to depart military life when he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would work as a political representative for nearly two decades. He was ardent advocate of black suffrage, viewing it as a issue of rights and the completion of a military promise.

“His oration on the floor of Congress will move you deeply. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this issue was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the party was fundamentally fractured between the “Stalwarts”, led by an influential figure, who supported a additional presidency for military hero, and the “rival group”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a advocate of his close associate John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was stalled between Grant and Blaine, party members began searching for a middle ground. Garfield's powerful oration proposing Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a rush of supporters made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To appease the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the national vote Garfield overcame the opposing candidate to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be elected president.

Short Presidency and Government Conflicts

“What would have made Garfield great and what is very unusual and maybe special for the American presidency is he didn't want the job. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was forced into the role.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's short presidency was his disagreement with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling required power over federal patronage in New York, particularly the influential position of customs official. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the presidential authority”. He nominated a opponent of Conkling to the post.

The dispute turned into a visible struggle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his associate quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was confirmed. It was a significant win for the presidential control over the political organization and for the cause of reform over “political control”.

The Assassin and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being followed by a mentally unstable individual who represented the negative aspect of the patronage system. The assassin was a wanderer with a history of occupational setbacks, emotional issues and early life difficulties. He had not succeeded as a attorney, bill collector, minister and member of a alternative community.

“He was emotionally unstable and his particular brand of madness was delusion. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had financially a better start than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a pathway to success: politics. Carried away in the drama of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an unimportant address, and became convinced in his own mind that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau determined he had earned a important role. He journeyed to DC and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, requiring to be made the diplomatic representative — a post for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Assassination and Doctor Errors

On 2 July 1881, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he walked through the train depot, Guiteau appeared suddenly, withdrew an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his coat pocket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield exclaimed: “My God, what is this?” and fell on the waiting area. When a {police officer|law