🔗 Share this article

Over many years, the heirs of the 20th US president discussed openly about his extraordinary achievements but avoided talking about his violent end. We were aware what had happened, that he was assassinated in a transportation hub,” explains one of his family members. “We learned about the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just glanced over it.”

Revived Interest in a Overlooked Leader

This changed in 2011 with the issuing of a historical book, which generated attention in Garfield's truncated career. The publication has now inspired a television production titled the presidential series, featuring Michael Shannon as the president and another skilled actor as the drifter who shot him.

The series seeks to illuminate Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the presidency during the Gilded Age only to become a casualty to its bitter partisan conflicts. His tenure was ended prematurely after only half a year not only by the gunman's shot but by doctor errors – an event now largely forgotten while the deaths of Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to intrigue the public.

“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a attorney, he was a minister, 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 relatives maintain with us.”

From Humble Beginnings to the White House

Garfield was the final national leader coming from pioneer roots in Ohio in 1831. His father died when he was just a toddler, leaving his mother, Eliza, to raise five children in challenging conditions. An insatiable reader, Garfield labored on waterways to make funds for an schooling.

He learned legal principles, was entered the clergy, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he married a previous schoolmate, his future wife, with whom he would have a large family. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a righteous fight against human bondage and rose to the officer status.

“When I started researching him, I was astonished. He was absolutely brilliant. He was extremely courageous. He was innovative for the period. He was compassionate. He was a moral individual and would have been one of our great presidents had he lived.”

Public Life and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was persuaded by Lincoln to depart military life when he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would function as a party member for 17 years. He was dedicated proponent of black suffrage, viewing it as a issue of rights and the completion of a wartime covenant.

“The address he delivered on the House chamber will tear your heart out. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this topic was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the political organization was fundamentally fractured between the “faction members”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a additional presidency for military hero, and the “rival group”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a supporter of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates began searching for a compromise. Garfield's emotional address nominating Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, delegates, 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 satisfy the Stalwart faction, another politician, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the national vote Garfield beat the rival politician to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be elected president.

Brief Administration and Power Struggles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is extremely rare and maybe special for 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 central struggle of Garfield's short presidency was his clash with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling demanded control over political positions in New York, particularly the prestigious role of customs official. Garfield declined, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He nominated a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The conflict escalated into a open fight but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his associate left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was confirmed. It was a landmark victory for the presidential control over the political organization and for the change movement over “machine politics”.

The Killer and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being followed by a psychologically troubled person who embodied the negative aspect of the spoils network. Charles Guiteau was a wanderer with a record of occupational setbacks, mental instability and early life difficulties. He had not succeeded as a lawyer, debt recovery agent, preacher and member of a alternative community.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his unique form of delusion was fantasy. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield progressed and improved, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a way to accomplishment: politics. Swept up in the excitement of the presidential race, he wrote and delivered an insignificant speech, and became certain in his thoughts that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau determined he had deserved a important role. He travelled to Washington and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, insisting to be made the diplomatic representative — a role for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a problem that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination 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 transportation center, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an weapon from his coat pocket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

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