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For generations, the heirs of President Garfield spoke proudly about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was shot in a train station,” notes one of his modern descendants. “We studied the story in publications but, for various reasons, we just skimmed through it.”

Renewed Attention in a Historical Figure

This changed 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 television production titled the historical drama, including Michael Shannon as the president and his co-star as the drifter who shot him.

The series aims to shine a light on Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the highest office during the historical period only to succumb to its bitter partisan conflicts. His presidency was truncated after only half a year not only by the killer's weapon but by medical malpractice – an tragedy now mostly overlooked while the deaths of the Civil War president and JFK continue to captivate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a lawyer, he was a minister, he was a agriculturalist. He was so many things which also formed his character and his behavior and all the information about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Highest Office

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief coming from pioneer roots in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His dad perished when he was just a toddler, leaving his mother, Eliza, to support a large family in difficult circumstances. An voracious learner, Garfield worked on canal boats to earn money for an education.

He learned legal principles, was became a preacher, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he married a previous schoolmate, his future wife, with whom he would have a large family. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a moral battle against human bondage and progressed to the officer status.

“As I studied his life, I was astonished. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was incredibly brave. He was ahead of his time for the era. He was compassionate. He was a decent human being and would have been an outstanding leader had he remained alive.”

Government Service and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was convinced by Lincoln to depart military life when he was elected to the legislative branch, where he would function as a party member for 17 years. He was dedicated proponent 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 affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this matter was very important to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the political organization was fundamentally fractured between the “political group”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a third term for former president, and the “opposing faction”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a backer of his close associate John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was stalled between Grant and Blaine, party members began seeking a solution. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the extended selection process, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the unexpected candidate. 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 defeated the opposing candidate to become the sole representative of the House ever to be elected president.

Brief Administration and Political Battles

“His possible achievements and what is remarkably uncommon and maybe unique to the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was thrust into it.”

The major battle of Garfield's short presidency was his clash with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling demanded control over government appointments in New York, particularly the influential position of customs official. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He selected a opponent of Conkling to the post.

The confrontation turned into a visible struggle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his associate quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was ratified. It was a historic triumph for the presidential control over the party machine and for the improvement efforts over “political control”.

The Killer and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being pursued by a disturbed and delusional man who embodied the problematic element of the patronage system. The assassin was a wanderer with a background of occupational setbacks, psychological problems and physical and psychological abuse. He had failed as a legal professional, bill collector, preacher and member of a free-love commune.

“He was mentally ill and his unique form of delusion was false belief. He always believed that God had chosen him for importance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a way to accomplishment: politics. Carried away in the drama of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an insignificant speech, and became convinced in his own mind that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau determined he had earned a important role. He journeyed to DC and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, demanding to be made the diplomatic representative — a position 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 traveling from DC for his alumni event. As he moved through the transportation center, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an handgun from his clothing and assassinated the leader in the back.

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