Throughout history, the heirs of James Garfield spoke proudly about his extraordinary achievements but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was assassinated in a transportation hub,” reflects one of his family members. “We learned about the story in publications but, somehow, we just glanced over it.”
This changed in 2011 with the release of Destiny of the Republic, which generated attention in Garfield's truncated career. The publication has now resulted in a Netflix drama titled Death by Lightning, starring a talented performer as the president and Matthew Macfadyen as the drifter who shot him.
The series promises to highlight Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the highest office during the economic era only to succumb to its deep political rifts. His time in office was cut short after only half a year not only by the killer's weapon but by medical malpractice – an event now mostly overlooked while the assassinations of the Civil War president and John F Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.
“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a lawyer, he was a religious leader, he was a farmer. He was multiple professions which also formed his character and his approach and the complete story about him the relatives maintain with us.”
Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin in Ohio in 1831. His father died when he was just a toddler, leaving his mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in challenging conditions. An voracious learner, Garfield found employment on vessels to make funds for an schooling.
He learned legal principles, was entered the clergy, became head of a school in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a educational contemporary, his future wife, with whom he would have a large family. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a righteous fight against human bondage and advanced to the rank of major general.
“As I studied his life, I found it incredible. He was remarkably smart. He was extremely courageous. He was ahead of his time for the time. He was kind. He was a good person and would have been one of our great presidents had he remained alive.”
Garfield was encouraged by the wartime leader to resign his military commission when he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would function as a party member for multiple terms. He was ardent advocate of African American voting rights, viewing it as a issue of rights and the fulfillment of a conflict agreement.
“His oration on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an remarkable speaker and this matter was very important to him.”
At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the political organization was sharply split between the “faction members”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “rival group”, who supported political contender. Garfield attended as a advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.
When the massive gathering was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates began seeking a compromise. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman impressed them. 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 multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the surprise nominee. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the general election Garfield beat the Democratic nominee to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be chosen as leader.
“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 completely dismissed it but he was pushed toward it.”
The central struggle of Garfield's limited administration was his disagreement with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling demanded control over federal patronage in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of port authority. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “whether the president is registering clerk of the senate or the presidential authority”. He nominated a opponent of Conkling to the post.
The dispute became a public battle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his associate left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was approved. It was a significant win for the executive authority over the political organization and for the improvement efforts over “political control”.
But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being followed by a disturbed and delusional man who represented the negative aspect of the patronage system. The assassin was a wanderer with a background of professional failures, mental instability and early life difficulties. He had been unsuccessful as a lawyer, financial agent, 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 divine selection for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”
But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a pathway to success: politics. Carried away in the events of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an insignificant speech, and became persuaded internally that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.
Under this thinking, Guiteau determined he had deserved a high-level government job. He went to the capital and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, requiring to be made the foreign service officer — a role for which he had no experience. He became such a problem that he was eventually banned from the White House.
On 2 July 1881, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his college reunion. As he moved through the transportation center, Guiteau appeared suddenly, withdrew an weapon from his jacket and assassinated the leader in the back.
Garfield cried out: “Why is this occurring?” and collapsed on the station floor. When a {police officer|law
