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Over many years, the family members of President Garfield shared stories about his impressive career but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was assassinated in a train station,” notes one of his modern descendants. “We learned about the story in books but, somehow, we just skimmed through it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Forgotten President

This transformed in 2011 with the issuing of Destiny of the Republic, which revived interest in Garfield's unfinished life. This work has now inspired a television production titled the historical drama, featuring a talented performer as the national leader and his co-star as the unstable individual who shot him.

The series promises to shine a light on Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the presidency during the economic era only to become a casualty to its deep political rifts. His time in office was ended prematurely after only several months not only by the killer's weapon but by physician mistakes – an tragedy now frequently ignored while the deaths of the Civil War president and President Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a legal professional, he was a religious leader, he was a farmer. He was all of these things which also formed his character and his approach and all the information about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Highest Office

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His dad perished when he was very young, leaving his mother, Eliza, to support a large family in hard times. An dedicated student, Garfield found employment on vessels to generate income for an formal learning.

He learned legal principles, was became a preacher, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a political representative. In 1858 he wed a previous schoolmate, his future wife, with whom he would have seven children. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a moral battle against human bondage and progressed to the officer status.

“During my investigation, I was astonished. He was remarkably smart. He was fearless. He was innovative for the era. He was caring. He was a good person and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he survived.”

Political Career and Shocking Selection

Garfield was persuaded by the wartime leader to resign his military commission when he was elected to the Congress, where he would serve as a party member for multiple terms. He was strong supporter of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a question of fairness and the fulfillment of a wartime covenant.

“The address he delivered on the legislative arena will tear your heart out. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this topic was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the faction was deeply divided between the “Stalwarts”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a continued leadership for military hero, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a supporter of his friend and fellow Ohioan John Sherman.

When the massive gathering was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, party members began seeking a compromise. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, another politician, a political ally from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the national vote Garfield beat the opposing candidate to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Brief Administration and Power Struggles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is very unusual and maybe unique to the American presidency is he wasn't seeking the position. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was pushed toward it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's brief term was his clash with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling demanded control over government appointments in New York, particularly the influential position of customs official. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He nominated a opponent of Conkling to the post.

The conflict turned into a public battle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his junior senator resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was approved. It was a landmark victory for the executive authority over the party machine and for the cause of reform over “machine politics”.

The Killer and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being followed by a disturbed and delusional man who represented the dark side of the political appointment process. The gunman was a unstable individual with a record of occupational setbacks, psychological problems and early life difficulties. He had not succeeded as a legal professional, bill collector, religious figure and member of a free-love commune.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his unique form of delusion was false belief. He always believed that divine selection for importance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a route to achievement: politics. Caught up in the drama of the political contest, 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 thinking, Guiteau calculated he had merited a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, insisting to be made the diplomatic representative — a post for which he had no experience. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination and Physician Mistakes

On 2 July 1881, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his college reunion. As he passed through the transportation center, Guiteau emerged from hiding, produced an weapon from his coat pocket and shot the president twice in the back.

Garfield cried out: “What's happening?” and dropped on the station floor. When a {police officer|law