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Over many years, the descendants of President Garfield discussed openly about his impressive career but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was gunned down in a train station,” reflects one of his family members. “We studied the story in historical accounts but, for various reasons, we just passed over it quickly.”

Revived Interest in a Overlooked Leader

This transformed in 2011 with the publication of Destiny of the Republic, which revived interest in Garfield's cut-short presidency. This work has now resulted in a television production titled the historical drama, starring a talented performer as the president and Matthew Macfadyen as the wanderer who gunned him down.

The series promises to shine a light on Garfield, who rose from poverty to the presidency during the Gilded Age only to become a casualty to its bitter partisan conflicts. His tenure was cut short after only half a year not only by the killer's weapon but by physician mistakes – an incident now mostly overlooked while the assassinations of President Lincoln and President Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a legal professional, he was a minister, he was a farmer. He was all of these things which also formed his character and how he was and all the information about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Presidency

Garfield was the final national leader born in a log cabin in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His dad perished when he was 18 months old, leaving his parent, Eliza, to raise five children in difficult circumstances. An dedicated student, Garfield labored on waterways to make funds for an formal learning.

He studied law, was entered the clergy, became head of a school in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a former classmate, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a moral battle against human bondage and advanced to the rank of major general.

“As I studied his life, I was astonished. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was fearless. He was very progressive for the period. He was caring. 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 resign his military commission when he was chosen to the Congress, where he would function as a party member for multiple terms. He was ardent advocate of African American voting rights, viewing it as a question of fairness and the realization of a wartime covenant.

“His oration on the legislative arena will tear your heart out. He was an remarkable speaker and this issue was very important to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the party was fundamentally fractured between the “faction members”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a continued leadership for former president, and the “opposing faction”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a backer of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, party members began searching for a middle ground. Garfield's emotional address nominating Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a wave of backers made Garfield the surprise nominee. To appease the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the presidential race Garfield defeated the rival politician to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be elected president.

Brief Administration and Government Conflicts

“His possible achievements and what is extremely rare and maybe unique to the American presidency is he didn't want the job. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was forced into the role.”

The central struggle of Garfield's brief term was his confrontation with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling required power over political positions in New York, particularly the prestigious role of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield refused, 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 visible struggle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a embarrassing loss, Conkling and his junior senator resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was confirmed. It was a historic triumph for the power of the presidency over the party machine and for the improvement efforts over “machine politics”.

The Gunman and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being pursued by a psychologically troubled person who represented the dark side of the patronage system. The assassin was a unstable individual with a history of professional failures, psychological problems and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a attorney, bill collector, religious figure and member of a free-love commune.

“He was emotionally unstable and his particular brand of madness was fantasy. He always believed that divine selection for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a pathway to success: politics. Caught up in the drama of the presidential race, he created and presented an unimportant address, 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 high-level government job. He journeyed to DC and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, requiring to be made the foreign service officer — a post 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 several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his alumni event. As he walked through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his coat pocket and shot the president twice in the back.

Garfield cried out: “What's happening?” and fell on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law