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Throughout history, the family members of President Garfield shared stories about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his untimely death. “We knew what had happened, that he was gunned down in a railway depot,” reflects one of his modern descendants. “We studied the story in publications but, somehow, we just skimmed through it.”

Renewed Attention in a Overlooked Leader

This transformed in 2011 with the release of Destiny of the Republic, which generated attention in Garfield's cut-short presidency. This work has now led to a streaming series titled Death by Lightning, starring a talented performer as the president and his co-star as the wanderer who shot him.

The series aims to illuminate Garfield, who rose from poverty to the presidency during the historical period only to succumb to its toxic political divisions. His presidency was truncated after only several months not only by the assassin's bullet but by medical malpractice – an incident now largely forgotten while the killings of President Lincoln and President Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a lawyer, he was a minister, he was a agriculturalist. He was multiple professions which also shaped who he was and his behavior and the complete story about him the family carries down with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the White House

Garfield was the final national leader raised in rustic conditions in Ohio in 1831. His father died when he was very young, leaving his mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in challenging conditions. An insatiable reader, Garfield labored on waterways to generate income for an formal learning.

He pursued jurisprudence, was entered the clergy, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he married a educational contemporary, his future wife, with whom he would have seven children. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a righteous fight against slavery and advanced to the officer status.

“During my investigation, I found it incredible. He was remarkably smart. He was fearless. He was ahead of his time for the period. He was caring. He was a moral individual and would have been an outstanding leader had he remained alive.”

Public Life and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was convinced by Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would function as a political representative for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of black suffrage, viewing it as a matter of justice and the realization of a conflict agreement.

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

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the faction was fundamentally fractured between the “Stalwarts”, led by an influential figure, who supported a additional presidency for Ulysses S Grant, and the “opposing faction”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a backer of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was stalled between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a solution. Garfield's impassioned speech supporting Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, representatives, what do we want?” to which a attendee unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the surprise nominee. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a political ally 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 elected president.

Truncated Term and Power Struggles

“His possible achievements and what is very unusual and maybe particular about the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was thrust into it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's limited administration was his clash with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling required power over political positions in New York, particularly the prestigious role of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He nominated a rival of Conkling to the post.

The confrontation turned into a public battle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a public failure, Conkling and his colleague quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was ratified. It was a landmark victory for the power of the presidency over the political organization and for the cause of reform over “machine politics”.

The Assassin and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being stalked by a psychologically troubled person who exemplified the problematic element of the political appointment process. The gunman was a wanderer with a record of career disappointments, emotional issues and childhood trauma. He had not succeeded as a legal professional, financial agent, religious figure and member of a free-love commune.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his unique form of delusion 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 at last discovered a pathway to success: politics. Caught up in the drama of the presidential race, he wrote and delivered an minor oration, and became convinced in his own mind that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this logic, Guiteau reckoned he had earned a high-level government job. He journeyed to DC and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, demanding to be made the foreign service officer — a post for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a problem that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Attack and Physician Mistakes

On that fateful day, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his educational gathering. As he moved through the transportation center, Guiteau emerged from hiding, produced an weapon from his clothing and shot the president twice in the back.

Garfield exclaimed: “My God, what is this?” and collapsed on the station floor. When a {police officer|law