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Throughout history, the heirs of President Garfield shared stories about his impressive career but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. “We knew what had happened, that he was shot in a transportation hub,” notes one of his family members. “We studied the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just passed over it quickly.”

Renewed Attention in a Overlooked Leader

This changed in 2011 with the release of Destiny of the Republic, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's cut-short presidency. The book has now resulted in a streaming series titled the presidential series, starring Michael Shannon as the commander-in-chief and Matthew Macfadyen as the drifter who assassinated him.

The series aims to highlight Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the White House during the historical period only to fall victim to its deep political rifts. His time in office was ended prematurely after only 200 days not only by the killer's weapon but by physician mistakes – an incident now largely forgotten while the killings of Abraham Lincoln and President Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a attorney, 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 all the information about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Highest Office

Garfield was the last president raised in rustic conditions in Ohio in 1831. His parent passed away when he was very young, leaving his mom, Eliza, to support a large family in hard times. An insatiable reader, Garfield found employment on vessels to generate income for an schooling.

He pursued jurisprudence, was entered the clergy, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a previous schoolmate, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have a large family. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a righteous fight against slavery and rose to the military position.

“When I started researching him, I was astonished. He was absolutely brilliant. He was fearless. He was ahead of his time for the era. He was kind. He was a moral individual and would have been one of our great presidents had he survived.”

Government Service and Shocking Selection

Garfield was encouraged by the wartime leader to depart military life when he was elected to the legislative branch, where he would serve as a party member for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of black suffrage, viewing it as a question of fairness and the fulfillment of a wartime covenant.

“The speech he gave on the legislative arena will affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this issue was very important to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the faction was deeply divided between the “Stalwarts”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a additional presidency for former president, and the “opposing faction”, who supported political contender. Garfield attended as a supporter of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, party members began looking for a middle ground. Garfield's powerful oration nominating Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a rush of supporters made Garfield the shocking choice. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the general election Garfield overcame the Democratic nominee to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be elected president.

Brief Administration and Political Battles

“What would have made Garfield great and what is very unusual and maybe special for the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was pushed toward it.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's limited administration was his clash with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling demanded control over government appointments in New York, particularly the influential position of Collector of the Port of New York. 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 rival of Conkling to the post.

The conflict became a open fight but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a embarrassing loss, Conkling and his junior senator resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was confirmed. It was a significant win for the presidential control over the faction system and for the cause of reform over “boss rule”.

The Gunman and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being pursued by a psychologically troubled person who embodied the problematic element of the political appointment process. The gunman was a wanderer with a background of professional failures, mental instability and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a attorney, financial agent, religious figure and member of a free-love commune.

“He was mentally ill and his unique form of delusion was false belief. He always believed that divine selection for significance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield progressed and improved, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a way to accomplishment: politics. Swept up in the events of the presidential race, he prepared and gave an insignificant speech, and became convinced in his own mind that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau calculated he had earned a high-level government job. He journeyed to DC and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, insisting to be made the diplomatic representative — a position for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Attack and Physician Mistakes

On 2 July 1881, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he moved through the transportation center, Guiteau emerged from hiding, pulled an handgun from his coat pocket and shot the president twice in the back.

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