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Over many years, the heirs of President Garfield spoke proudly about his remarkable life but rarely mentioned his violent end. “We knew what had happened, that he was gunned down in a train station,” reflects one of his family members. “We studied the story in books but, for various reasons, we just glanced over it.”

Revived Interest in a Overlooked Leader

This changed in 2011 with the release of a historical book, which generated attention in Garfield's cut-short presidency. The book has now inspired a television production titled the presidential series, including an acclaimed actor as the president and his co-star as the unstable individual who gunned him down.

The series aims to highlight Garfield, who rose from poverty to the presidency during the Gilded Age only to become a casualty to its deep political rifts. His presidency was truncated after only several months not only by the assassin's bullet but by physician mistakes – an incident now largely forgotten while the assassinations of the Civil War president and JFK continue to intrigue the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a lawyer, he was a religious leader, he was a agriculturalist. He was all of these things which also formed his character and how he was and everything that we know about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the White House

Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His dad perished when he was 18 months old, leaving his mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in difficult circumstances. An insatiable reader, Garfield worked on canal boats to generate income for an formal learning.

He pursued jurisprudence, was became a preacher, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he wed a educational contemporary, his partner, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a righteous fight against human bondage and advanced to the military position.

“When I started researching him, I found it incredible. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was fearless. He was innovative for the era. He was kind. He was a good person and would have been one of our great presidents had he remained alive.”

Public Life and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was encouraged by President Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was chosen to the legislative branch, where he would function as a political representative for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a issue of rights and the realization of a wartime covenant.

“The address he delivered on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this issue was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the party was sharply split between the “faction members”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a third term for military hero, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a supporter of his friend and fellow Ohioan John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, party members began searching for a solution. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a wave of backers made Garfield the surprise nominee. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, another politician, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the national vote Garfield overcame the Democratic nominee to become the sole representative of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Short Presidency and Political Battles

“His possible achievements and what is remarkably uncommon and maybe special for the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had entirely ignored the possibility but he was thrust into it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's brief term was his clash with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling insisted on authority over political positions in New York, particularly the prestigious role of port authority. Garfield declined, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the presidential authority”. He selected a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The dispute became a visible struggle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a public failure, Conkling and his associate resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was confirmed. It was a landmark victory for the power of the presidency over the political organization and for the cause of reform over “political control”.

The Gunman and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being pursued by a disturbed and delusional man who represented the negative aspect of the patronage system. The gunman was a drifter with a background of occupational setbacks, mental instability and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a attorney, bill collector, minister and member of a alternative community.

“He was mentally ill and his unique form of delusion was fantasy. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had financially a better start than Garfield but where Garfield progressed and improved, Guiteau failed at everything.”

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

Under this thinking, Guiteau reckoned he had merited a important role. He journeyed to DC and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, requiring to be made the US consul in Paris — a role for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Attack and Physician Mistakes

On the tragic date, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he walked through the transportation center, Guiteau appeared suddenly, pulled an handgun from his jacket and assassinated the leader in the back.

Garfield exclaimed: “Why is this occurring?” and fell on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law