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Throughout history, the heirs of James Garfield spoke proudly about his remarkable life but rarely mentioned his tragic assassination. We understood what had happened, that he was gunned down in a railway depot,” reflects one of his living relatives. “We read about the story in books but, somehow, we just skimmed through it.”

Renewed Attention in a Overlooked Leader

This shifted in 2011 with the issuing of a presidential biography, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's unfinished life. The book has now inspired a television production titled the presidential series, starring a talented performer as the national leader and his co-star as the wanderer who assassinated him.

The series aims to highlight Garfield, who rose from poverty to the White House during the Gilded Age only to succumb to its toxic political divisions. His presidency was cut short after only 200 days not only by the gunman's shot but by doctor errors – an event now frequently ignored while the killings of President Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a lawyer, he was a preacher, he was a agriculturalist. He was multiple professions which also influenced his personality and his behavior and all the information about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the White House

Garfield was the last president raised in rustic conditions in Ohio in 1831. His father died when he was 18 months old, leaving his mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in challenging conditions. An dedicated student, Garfield found employment on vessels to make funds for an education.

He pursued jurisprudence, was became a preacher, became head of a school in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he wed a former classmate, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have seven children. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a holy crusade against human bondage and advanced to the military position.

“When I started researching him, I couldn't believe it. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was fearless. He was innovative for the time. He was kind. He was a decent human being and would have been one of our great presidents had he lived.”

Political Career and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was convinced by Lincoln to leave army service when he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would serve as a political representative for multiple terms. He was dedicated proponent of African American voting rights, viewing it as a issue of rights and the fulfillment of a military promise.

“The speech he gave on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this topic was very important to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the party was fundamentally fractured between the “faction members”, led by an influential figure, who supported a third term for former president, and the “opposing faction”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, party members began seeking a compromise. Garfield's powerful oration nominating Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a attendee unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a rush of supporters made Garfield the shocking choice. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a political ally from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the general election Garfield overcame the rival politician to become the unique incumbent of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Truncated Term and Political Battles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is very unusual and maybe special for the American presidency is he didn't want the job. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was pushed toward it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's limited administration was his clash with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling insisted on authority over government appointments in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield declined, stating the issue was “whether the president is registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He proposed a opponent of Conkling to the post.

The confrontation escalated into a visible struggle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a public failure, Conkling and his junior senator resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was approved. It was a significant win for the presidential control over the political organization and for the improvement efforts over “machine politics”.

The Killer and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being followed by a psychologically troubled person who exemplified the problematic element of the patronage system. The gunman was a unstable individual with a history of career disappointments, emotional issues and early life difficulties. He had been unsuccessful as a legal professional, financial agent, minister and member of a alternative community.

“He was mentally ill and his specific type of insanity was delusion. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a way to accomplishment: politics. Caught up in the drama of the presidential race, he prepared and gave an unimportant address, and became convinced in his own mind that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau determined he had deserved a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, requiring to be made the diplomatic representative — a role for which he had no experience. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Shooting and Physician Mistakes

On that fateful day, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he moved through the transportation center, Guiteau appeared suddenly, produced an handgun from his jacket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

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