🔗 Share this article

For generations, the heirs of the 20th US president spoke proudly about his remarkable life but seldom discussed his violent end. “We knew what had happened, that he was shot in a railway depot,” notes one of his living relatives. “We studied the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just passed over it quickly.”

Revived Interest in a Overlooked Leader

This shifted in 2011 with the publication of a historical book, which generated attention in Garfield's truncated career. The publication has now inspired a television production titled the historical drama, starring a talented performer as the commander-in-chief and Matthew Macfadyen as the wanderer who gunned him down.

The series aims to illuminate Garfield, who rose from poverty to the White House during the economic era only to fall victim to its deep political rifts. His time in office was ended prematurely after only half a year not only by the assassin's bullet but by medical malpractice – an tragedy now frequently ignored while the killings of the Civil War president and President Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a attorney, he was a minister, he was a agriculturalist. He was multiple professions which also influenced his personality and his behavior and all the information about him the family carries down with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Highest Office

Garfield was the final national leader born in a log cabin in Ohio in 1831. His parent passed away when he was 18 months old, leaving his mom, Eliza, to raise five children in hard times. An insatiable reader, Garfield labored on waterways to generate income for an education.

He studied law, was became a preacher, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a former classmate, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a righteous fight against human bondage and progressed to the rank of major general.

“As I studied his life, I was astonished. He was remarkably smart. He was extremely courageous. He was very progressive for the time. He was kind. He was a moral individual and would have been one of our great presidents had he survived.”

Political Career and Shocking Selection

Garfield was persuaded by the wartime leader to resign his military commission when he was selected to the House of Representatives, where he would function as a party member for nearly two decades. He was strong supporter of African American voting rights, viewing it as a question of fairness and the completion of a military promise.

“The speech he gave on the House chamber will move you deeply. He was an remarkable speaker and this topic was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the party was deeply divided between the “Stalwarts”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was stalled between Grant and Blaine, delegates began searching for a compromise. Garfield's powerful oration supporting Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, representatives, 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, Chester Arthur, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the general election Garfield beat the rival politician to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Brief Administration and Power Struggles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is remarkably uncommon 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 short presidency was his confrontation with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling insisted on authority over political positions in New York, particularly the prestigious role of port authority. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He proposed a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The conflict turned into a public battle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a public failure, Conkling and his colleague quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was approved. It was a landmark victory for the power of the presidency over the party machine and for the cause of reform over “boss rule”.

The Assassin and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being followed by a disturbed and delusional man who represented the problematic element of the patronage system. The gunman was a drifter with a record of career disappointments, psychological problems and childhood trauma. He had been unsuccessful as a attorney, bill collector, preacher and member of a free-love commune.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his unique form of delusion was fantasy. He always believed that religious calling 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 eventually located a pathway to success: politics. Caught up in the excitement of the 1880 election, he created and presented an insignificant speech, and became persuaded internally that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this logic, Guiteau calculated he had merited a important role. He journeyed to DC and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, insisting to be made the foreign service officer — a position for which he had no experience. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Attack and Medical Malpractice

On 2 July 1881, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his alumni event. As he moved through the train depot, Guiteau emerged from hiding, withdrew an handgun from his jacket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield exclaimed: “What's happening?” and fell on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law