🔗 Share this article

Over many years, the heirs of James Garfield shared stories about his extraordinary achievements but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was assassinated in a train station,” notes one of his living relatives. “We read about the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just skimmed through it.”

Revived Interest in a Historical Figure

This changed in 2011 with the publication of Destiny of the Republic, which revived interest in Garfield's truncated career. The book has now led to a Netflix drama titled the historical drama, starring Michael Shannon as the commander-in-chief and his co-star as the wanderer who gunned him down.

The series seeks to shine a light on Garfield, who rose from poverty to the highest office 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 gunman's shot but by medical malpractice – an event now mostly overlooked while the killings of the Civil War president and JFK continue to captivate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a lawyer, he was a religious leader, he was a agriculturalist. He was all of these things which also influenced his personality and how he was and all the information about him the family carries down with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Presidency

Garfield was the final national leader raised in rustic conditions 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 found employment on vessels to make funds for an schooling.

He pursued jurisprudence, was ordained as minister, became head of a school in Ohio and was a political representative. In 1858 he married a educational contemporary, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An dedicated federalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a righteous fight against slavery and advanced to the rank of major general.

“When I started researching him, I was astonished. He was absolutely brilliant. He was extremely courageous. He was very progressive for the period. He was compassionate. He was a moral individual and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he lived.”

Public Life and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was encouraged by the wartime leader to leave army service when he was selected to the House of Representatives, where he would work as a political representative for 17 years. He was dedicated proponent of black suffrage, viewing it as a issue of rights and the fulfillment of a military promise.

“The address he delivered on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an remarkable speaker and this matter was extremely significant to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the political organization was fundamentally fractured between the “Stalwarts”, led by an influential figure, who supported a additional presidency for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a supporter of his friend and fellow Ohioan John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates began seeking a solution. Garfield's impassioned speech supporting Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the extended selection process, a wave of backers made Garfield the surprise nominee. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the national vote Garfield overcame the rival politician to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Truncated Term and Government Conflicts

“His possible achievements and what is extremely rare and maybe unique to the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. 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 “patronage network”. Conkling insisted on authority over political positions in New York, particularly the influential position of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “whether the president is registering clerk of the senate or the presidential authority”. He nominated a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The dispute became a public battle but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his associate resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was ratified. It was a landmark victory for the presidential control over the political organization and for the cause of reform over “political control”.

The Gunman and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being followed by a mentally unstable individual who embodied the negative aspect of the patronage system. The assassin was a unstable individual with a record of professional failures, psychological problems and physical and psychological abuse. He had failed as a legal professional, bill collector, minister and member of a unconventional group.

“He was mentally ill and his specific type of insanity was fantasy. He always believed that divine selection for importance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield progressed and improved, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a way to accomplishment: politics. Caught up in the excitement of the political contest, he created and presented an unimportant address, and became convinced in his own mind that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau calculated he had earned a high-level government job. He went to the capital and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, requiring to be made the US consul in Paris — a position for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination and Doctor Errors

On the tragic date, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he passed through the train depot, Guiteau emerged from hiding, pulled an weapon from his coat pocket and shot the president twice in the back.

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