Throughout history, the descendants of the 20th US president spoke proudly about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his untimely death. “We knew what had happened, that he was assassinated in a transportation hub,” explains one of his living relatives. “We learned about the story in historical accounts but, somehow, we just skimmed through it.”
This changed in 2011 with the issuing of a presidential biography, which generated attention in Garfield's unfinished life. The publication has now resulted in a streaming series titled the presidential series, including an acclaimed actor as the national leader and another skilled actor as the unstable individual who assassinated him.
The series promises to shine a light on Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the highest office during the Gilded Age only to fall victim to its deep political rifts. His tenure was ended prematurely after only several months not only by the assassin's bullet but by medical malpractice – an tragedy now frequently ignored while the deaths of Abraham Lincoln and President Kennedy continue to captivate the public.
“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a legal professional, he was a preacher, he was a farmer. He was so many things which also influenced his personality and his approach and all the information about him the relatives maintain with us.”
Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His dad perished when he was very young, leaving his parent, Eliza, to support a large family in difficult circumstances. An insatiable reader, Garfield worked on canal boats to make funds for an schooling.
He studied law, was ordained as minister, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a previous schoolmate, his partner, with whom he would have seven children. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a moral battle against slavery and rose to the officer status.
“During my investigation, I was astonished. He was remarkably smart. He was incredibly brave. He was innovative for the era. He was caring. He was a decent human being and would have been an outstanding leader had he survived.”
Garfield was convinced by President Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was selected to the House of Representatives, where he would work as a Republican for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of African American voting rights, viewing it as a issue of rights and the completion of a wartime covenant.
“His oration on the House chamber will tear your heart out. He was an impressive communicator and this matter was deeply meaningful to him.”
At the political assembly in Chicago the party was fundamentally fractured between the “political group”, led by an influential figure, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “rival group”, who supported political contender. Garfield attended as a supporter of his close associate John Sherman.
When the massive gathering was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a compromise. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, representatives, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”
On the 36th ballot, a rush of supporters made Garfield the shocking choice. To placate the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the general election Garfield beat the rival politician to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be chosen as leader.
“His possible achievements and what is very unusual and maybe special for the American presidency is he didn't want the job. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was pushed toward it.”
The central struggle of Garfield's brief term was his clash with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling demanded control over government appointments in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield declined, stating the issue was “whether the president is registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He nominated a opponent of Conkling to the post.
The dispute escalated into a visible struggle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his colleague left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was ratified. It was a landmark victory for the presidential control over the faction system and for the change movement over “political control”.
But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being stalked by a disturbed and delusional man who embodied the problematic element of the patronage system. Charles Guiteau was a drifter with a history of occupational setbacks, mental instability and physical and psychological abuse. He had been unsuccessful as a legal professional, financial agent, preacher and member of a unconventional group.
“He was emotionally unstable and his particular brand of madness was fantasy. He always believed that divine selection for greatness. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau failed at everything.”
But Guiteau believed he had finally found a way to accomplishment: politics. Caught up in the drama of the presidential race, he created and presented an insignificant speech, and became convinced in his own mind that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.
Under this logic, Guiteau calculated he had merited a prestigious position. He travelled to Washington and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, insisting to be made the foreign service officer — a role for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually banned from the White House.
On the tragic date, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his alumni event. As he moved through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his jacket and fired multiple rounds in the back.
Garfield exclaimed: “My God, what is this?” and dropped on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law
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