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Throughout history, the family members of President Garfield discussed openly about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. “We knew what had happened, that he was gunned down in a train station,” explains one of his living relatives. “We learned about the story in historical accounts but, somehow, we just passed over it quickly.”

Revived Interest in a Overlooked Leader

This shifted in 2011 with the publication of Destiny of the Republic, which revived interest in Garfield's cut-short presidency. The publication has now led to a streaming series titled Death by Lightning, featuring Michael Shannon as the president and Matthew Macfadyen as the unstable individual who shot him.

The series seeks to highlight Garfield, who rose from poverty to the White House during the economic era only to fall victim to its bitter partisan conflicts. His presidency was truncated after only several months not only by the gunman's shot but by doctor errors – an tragedy now frequently ignored while the killings 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 minister, he was a farmer. He was so many things which also shaped who he was and his approach and all the information about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Presidency

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief born in a log cabin in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His parent passed away when he was 18 months old, leaving his mom, Eliza, to support a large family in difficult circumstances. An voracious learner, Garfield found employment on vessels to earn money for an formal learning.

He learned legal principles, was became a preacher, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a political representative. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a former classmate, his partner, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a moral battle against human bondage and progressed to the officer status.

“As I studied his life, I found it incredible. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was incredibly brave. He was ahead of his time for the period. He was caring. He was a moral individual and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he remained alive.”

Government Service and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was persuaded by President Lincoln to depart military life when he was chosen to the legislative branch, where he would serve as a party member for 17 years. He was strong supporter of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a matter of justice and the realization of a conflict agreement.

“The address he delivered on the House chamber will affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this matter was extremely significant to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the faction was sharply split between the “faction members”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a backer of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the massive gathering was stalled between Grant and Blaine, party members began searching for a solution. Garfield's emotional address supporting Sherman caught their attention. 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 36th ballot, a rush of supporters made Garfield the surprise nominee. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the general election Garfield beat the opposing candidate to become the sole representative of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Truncated Term and Power Struggles

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

The central struggle of Garfield's brief term was his confrontation with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling demanded control over federal patronage in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield refused, 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 confrontation escalated into a open fight but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a public failure, Conkling and his colleague quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was ratified. It was a significant win for the power of the presidency over the faction system and for the improvement efforts over “political control”.

The Assassin and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being stalked by a psychologically troubled person who represented the dark side of the political appointment process. The assassin was a wanderer with a record of career disappointments, emotional issues and early life difficulties. He had not succeeded as a attorney, bill collector, minister and member of a alternative community.

“He was emotionally unstable and his specific type of insanity was fantasy. He always believed that God had chosen him for importance. He actually had financially a better start than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a route to achievement: politics. Carried away in the drama of the political contest, he prepared and gave an minor oration, and became convinced in his own mind that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau reckoned he had earned a prestigious position. He went to the capital and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, insisting to be made the US consul in Paris — a role for which he had no experience. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination and Doctor Errors

On that fateful day, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his alumni event. As he passed through the train depot, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an handgun from his coat pocket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield shouted: “Why is this occurring?” and dropped on the waiting area. When a {police officer|law