🔗 Share this article

Throughout history, the family members of the 20th US president shared stories about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his violent end. We understood what had happened, that he was shot in a railway depot,” explains one of his family members. “We learned about the story in historical accounts but, somehow, we just passed over it quickly.”

Revived Interest in a Historical Figure

This changed in 2011 with the issuing of a presidential biography, which revived interest in Garfield's truncated career. The publication has now led to a streaming series titled the presidential series, starring a talented performer as the national leader and another skilled actor as the wanderer who assassinated him.

The series promises to highlight 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 200 days not only by the assassin's bullet but by physician mistakes – an incident now frequently ignored while the assassinations of President Lincoln and John F 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 religious leader, he was a farmer. He was so many things which also influenced his personality and his behavior and all the information about him the descendants preserve with us.”

From Humble Beginnings to the Presidency

Garfield was the final national leader coming from pioneer roots in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His parent passed away when he was just a toddler, leaving his mother, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in hard times. An dedicated student, Garfield worked on canal boats to make funds for an education.

He learned legal principles, was entered the clergy, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he married a educational contemporary, his partner, with whom he would have seven children. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a moral battle against forced servitude and advanced to the officer status.

“When I started researching him, I found it incredible. He was absolutely brilliant. He was fearless. He was ahead of his time for the era. He was caring. He was a good person and would have been one of our great presidents had he lived.”

Public Life and Shocking Selection

Garfield was convinced by the wartime leader to leave army service when he was chosen to the Congress, 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 House chamber will tear your heart out. He was an remarkable speaker and this topic was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the faction was sharply split between the “political group”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a additional presidency for former president, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates began looking for a compromise. Garfield's powerful oration supporting Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, representatives, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a rush of supporters made Garfield the surprise nominee. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, another politician, a political ally from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the national vote Garfield overcame the Democratic nominee to become the sole representative of the House ever to be elected president.

Short Presidency and Government Conflicts

“What would have made Garfield great 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 major battle of Garfield's short presidency was his confrontation with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling demanded control over political positions in New York, particularly the prestigious role of customs official. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “whether the president is 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 outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his junior senator resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was approved. It was a historic triumph for the power of the presidency over the party machine and for the change movement over “machine politics”.

The Gunman and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being pursued by a mentally unstable individual who represented the negative aspect of the spoils network. Charles Guiteau was a wanderer with a history of occupational setbacks, psychological problems and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a legal professional, bill collector, religious figure and member of a unconventional group.

“He was emotionally unstable and his specific type of insanity was false belief. He always believed that religious calling for greatness. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield progressed and improved, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a route to achievement: politics. Carried away in the excitement of the presidential race, he created and presented an minor oration, and became persuaded internally that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this logic, Guiteau determined he had earned a high-level government job. 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 no experience. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination and Doctor Errors

On that fateful day, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his alumni event. As he walked through the train depot, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an handgun from his coat pocket and shot the president twice in the back.

Garfield shouted: “Why is this occurring?” and collapsed on the station floor. When a {police officer|law