🔗 Share this article

Over many years, the descendants of the 20th US president shared stories about his impressive career but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. “We knew what had happened, that he was assassinated in a railway depot,” reflects one of his living relatives. “We studied the story in books but, for various reasons, we just glanced over it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Overlooked Leader

This transformed in 2011 with the release of a historical book, which generated attention in Garfield's unfinished life. This work has now inspired a streaming series titled Death by Lightning, starring Michael Shannon as the president and Matthew Macfadyen as the unstable individual who gunned him down.

The series promises to highlight Garfield, who rose from poverty to the White House during the Gilded Age only to succumb to its deep political rifts. His presidency was cut short after only half a year not only by the killer's weapon but by doctor errors – an event now frequently ignored while the assassinations of the Civil War president and John F Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a lawyer, he was a religious leader, he was a farmer. He was all of these things which also formed his character and his approach and all the information about him the family carries down with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Highest Office

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief born in a log cabin in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His father died when he was 18 months old, leaving his mother, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in challenging conditions. An voracious learner, Garfield worked on canal boats to earn money for an formal learning.

He studied law, was entered the clergy, became head of a school in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a previous schoolmate, his future wife, with whom he would have seven children. An dedicated federalist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a righteous fight against slavery and progressed to the rank of major general.

“During my investigation, I couldn't believe it. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was fearless. He was ahead of his time for the era. He was kind. He was a decent human being and would have been an outstanding leader had he lived.”

Government Service and Shocking Selection

Garfield was convinced by the wartime leader to leave army service when he was elected to the Congress, where he would work as a party member for nearly two decades. He was dedicated proponent of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a issue of rights and the fulfillment of a conflict agreement.

“The speech he gave on the floor of Congress will tear your heart out. He was an impressive communicator and this issue was very important to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the political organization was deeply divided between the “political group”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a third term for former president, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a supporter of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates began looking for a compromise. Garfield's emotional address proposing Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the national vote Garfield overcame the opposing candidate to become the unique incumbent of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Truncated Term and Power Struggles

“His possible achievements and what is very unusual and maybe special for the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was pushed toward it.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's short presidency was his disagreement with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling demanded control over political positions in New York, particularly the prestigious role of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield declined, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He proposed a rival of Conkling to the post.

The dispute turned into a visible struggle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a embarrassing loss, Conkling and his junior senator resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was ratified. It was a significant win for the presidential control over the faction system and for the improvement efforts over “machine politics”.

The Assassin and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being stalked by a psychologically troubled person who exemplified the dark side of the political appointment process. The gunman was a wanderer with a record of career disappointments, psychological problems and early life difficulties. He had been unsuccessful as a lawyer, debt recovery agent, minister and member of a alternative community.

“He was mentally ill and his specific type of insanity was fantasy. He always believed that religious calling for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a route to achievement: politics. Swept up in the events of the political contest, he prepared and gave an unimportant address, and became persuaded internally that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau determined he had merited a important role. He travelled to Washington and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, requiring to be made the US consul in Paris — a position for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Shooting and Medical Malpractice

On 2 July 1881, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his alumni event. As he passed through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, produced an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his jacket and shot the president twice in the back.

Garfield shouted: “Why is this occurring?” and fell on the waiting area. When a {police officer|law