🔗 Share this article

For generations, the family members of James Garfield discussed openly about his extraordinary achievements but rarely mentioned his untimely death. We were aware what had happened, that he was assassinated in a transportation hub,” explains one of his modern descendants. “We studied the story in publications but, for various reasons, we just glanced over it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Overlooked Leader

This transformed in 2011 with the publication of a historical book, which revived interest in Garfield's cut-short presidency. The publication has now led to a television production titled the presidential series, including a talented performer as the national leader and his co-star as the unstable individual who assassinated him.

The series promises to highlight Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the presidency during the Gilded Age only to fall victim to its bitter partisan conflicts. His presidency was truncated after only 200 days not only by the killer's weapon but by doctor errors – an event now mostly overlooked while the assassinations of the Civil War president and JFK continue to captivate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a attorney, he was a minister, he was a land worker. He was all of these things which also shaped who he was and his behavior and the complete story about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the White House

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief raised in rustic conditions in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His father died when he was very young, leaving his mother, Eliza, to support a large family in challenging conditions. An voracious learner, Garfield labored on waterways to earn money for an formal learning.

He studied law, was ordained as minister, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a former classmate, his future wife, with whom he would have seven children. An dedicated federalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a moral battle against human bondage and progressed to the rank of major general.

“During my investigation, I found it incredible. He was absolutely brilliant. He was incredibly brave. He was ahead of his time for the era. He was compassionate. He was a moral individual and would have been one of our great presidents had he survived.”

Government Service and Shocking Selection

Garfield was persuaded by Lincoln to leave army service when he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would serve as a party member for nearly two decades. He was strong supporter of black suffrage, viewing it as a issue of rights and the fulfillment of a wartime covenant.

“The address he delivered on the floor of Congress will tear your heart out. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this matter was very important to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the party was deeply divided between the “faction members”, led by an influential figure, who supported a third term for former president, and the “opposing faction”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a backer of his friend and fellow Ohioan John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began searching for a compromise. Garfield's emotional address supporting Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a attendee unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the shocking choice. To placate the Stalwart faction, another politician, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the general election Garfield beat the Democratic nominee to become the unique incumbent of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Brief Administration and Government Conflicts

“His possible achievements 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 entirely ignored the possibility but he was pushed toward it.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's brief term was his disagreement with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling demanded control over government appointments in New York, particularly the influential position of port authority. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the presidential authority”. He selected a rival of Conkling to the post.

The dispute escalated into a visible struggle but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a embarrassing loss, Conkling and his junior senator left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was ratified. It was a historic triumph for the executive authority over the political organization and for the cause of reform over “political control”.

The Assassin and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being followed by a disturbed and delusional man who embodied the problematic element of the patronage system. The gunman was a unstable individual with a background of professional failures, emotional issues and early life difficulties. He had been unsuccessful as a legal professional, financial agent, minister and member of a alternative community.

“He was emotionally unstable and his unique form of delusion was fantasy. He always believed that religious calling for importance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a route to achievement: politics. Caught up in the events of the 1880 election, he created and presented an unimportant address, and became persuaded internally that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau calculated he had merited a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, insisting to be made the US consul in Paris — a role for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination and Medical Malpractice

On that fateful day, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his college reunion. As he moved through the transportation center, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his coat pocket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield exclaimed: “What's happening?” and collapsed on the waiting area. When a {police officer|law