🔗 Share this article

Throughout history, the heirs of the 20th US president discussed openly about his impressive career but avoided talking about his untimely death. “We knew what had happened, that he was shot in a railway depot,” explains one of his modern descendants. “We studied the story in books but, for various reasons, we just glanced over it.”

Revived Interest in a Forgotten President

This shifted in 2011 with the issuing of Destiny of the Republic, which revived interest in Garfield's unfinished life. The publication has now led to a Netflix drama titled the presidential series, including an acclaimed actor as the president and his co-star as the drifter who assassinated him.

The series seeks to shine a light on Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the presidency during the economic era only to become a casualty to its deep political rifts. His time in office was truncated after only 200 days not only by the assassin's bullet but by doctor errors – an event now frequently ignored while the assassinations of the Civil War president and JFK continue to intrigue the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a attorney, he was a preacher, he was a farmer. He was so many things which also influenced his personality and how he was and everything that we know about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Highest Office

Garfield was the last president raised in rustic conditions in Ohio in 1831. His father died when he was just a toddler, leaving his parent, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in difficult circumstances. An insatiable reader, Garfield labored on waterways to earn money for an formal learning.

He pursued jurisprudence, was entered the clergy, became head of a school in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he married a educational contemporary, his future wife, with whom he would have seven children. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a holy crusade against slavery and advanced to the rank of major general.

“During my investigation, I was astonished. He was remarkably smart. He was extremely courageous. He was innovative for the period. He was compassionate. He was a good person and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he lived.”

Public Life and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was convinced by the wartime leader to depart military life when he was elected to the Congress, where he would function as a Republican for multiple terms. He was ardent advocate of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a issue of rights and the completion of a military promise.

“The address he delivered on the legislative arena will move you deeply. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this issue was very important to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the political organization was fundamentally fractured between the “political group”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a continued leadership for military hero, and the “opposing faction”, who supported political contender. Garfield attended as a backer of his close associate John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was stalled between Grant and Blaine, delegates began looking for a compromise. Garfield's emotional address proposing Sherman caught their attention. 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 rush of supporters made Garfield the surprise nominee. To placate the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the general election Garfield defeated the opposing candidate to become the sole representative of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Truncated Term and Government Conflicts

“His possible achievements and what is extremely rare and maybe particular about the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was forced into the role.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's limited administration was his clash with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling required power over federal patronage in New York, particularly the influential position of customs official. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “whether the president is registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He selected a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The dispute turned into a open fight but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his associate left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was ratified. It was a historic triumph for the executive authority over the faction system and for the change movement over “machine politics”.

The Gunman and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being followed by a mentally unstable individual who represented the dark side of the patronage system. The gunman was a unstable individual with a history of professional failures, mental instability and childhood trauma. He had failed as a lawyer, bill collector, minister and member of a unconventional group.

“He was mentally ill and his particular brand of madness was fantasy. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a route to achievement: politics. Carried away in the events of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an unimportant address, and became convinced in his own mind that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this logic, Guiteau calculated he had earned a prestigious position. He journeyed to DC and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, insisting to be made the diplomatic representative — a role for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a problem that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Shooting and Medical Malpractice

On 2 July 1881, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his alumni event. As he passed through the train depot, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an weapon from his coat pocket and assassinated the leader in the back.

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