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Throughout history, the family members of James Garfield shared stories about his impressive career but avoided talking about his violent end. “We knew what had happened, that he was shot in a railway depot,” explains one of his family members. “We learned about the story in books but, for various reasons, we just skimmed through it.”

Revived Interest in a Forgotten President

This shifted in 2011 with the release of Destiny of the Republic, which revived interest in Garfield's unfinished life. The book has now led to a streaming series titled the presidential series, featuring an acclaimed actor as the president and Matthew Macfadyen as the wanderer who assassinated him.

The series aims to illuminate Garfield, who rose from poverty to the highest office during the Gilded Age only to become a casualty to its deep political rifts. His presidency was cut short after only half a year not only by the assassin's bullet but by medical malpractice – an tragedy now mostly overlooked while the killings of the Civil War president and John F Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a lawyer, he was a minister, he was a farmer. He was all of these things which also formed his character and his behavior and the complete story about him the relatives maintain with us.”

From Humble Beginnings to the White House

Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His father died when he was just a toddler, leaving his mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in difficult circumstances. An voracious learner, Garfield found employment on vessels to make funds for an education.

He pursued jurisprudence, was became a preacher, became president of Hiram College 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 civil war as a righteous fight against human bondage and progressed to the rank of major general.

“As I studied his life, I found it incredible. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was fearless. He was very progressive for the time. He was compassionate. He was a decent human being and would have been one of our great presidents had he survived.”

Political Career and Shocking Selection

Garfield was persuaded by the wartime leader to leave army service when he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would work as a Republican for nearly two decades. He was ardent advocate of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a matter of justice and the completion of a wartime covenant.

“His oration on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an impressive communicator and this topic was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the party was deeply divided between the “political group”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a continued leadership for former president, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a backer of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates began searching for a compromise. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, representatives, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a wave of backers made Garfield the shocking choice. To appease the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the general election Garfield overcame the opposing candidate to become the unique incumbent of the House ever to be elected president.

Truncated Term and Government Conflicts

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is remarkably uncommon and maybe special for the American presidency is he wasn't seeking the position. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was thrust into it.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's limited administration was his disagreement with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling insisted on authority over federal patronage in New York, particularly the influential position of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield rejected, 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 turned into a public battle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a public failure, Conkling and his junior senator quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was approved. It was a landmark victory for the executive authority over the faction system and for the improvement efforts over “machine politics”.

The Assassin and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being stalked by a mentally unstable individual who exemplified the problematic element of the political appointment process. The assassin was a wanderer with a record of occupational setbacks, mental instability and childhood trauma. He had been unsuccessful as a legal professional, financial agent, preacher and member of a unconventional group.

“He was mentally ill 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 achieved and rose, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a way to accomplishment: politics. Carried away in the excitement of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an unimportant address, and became persuaded internally that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this logic, Guiteau reckoned he had deserved a important role. He travelled to Washington and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other officials, requiring to be made the US consul in Paris — a post for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a problem that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Shooting and Physician Mistakes

On that fateful day, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his alumni event. As he walked through the transportation center, Guiteau appeared suddenly, withdrew an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his jacket and shot the president twice in the back.

Garfield exclaimed: “My God, what is this?” and collapsed on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law