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Throughout history, the family members of President Garfield shared stories about his remarkable life but seldom discussed his untimely death. We were aware what had happened, that he was shot in a train station,” explains one of his living relatives. “We learned about the story in books but, in one way or another, we just glanced over it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Overlooked Leader

This changed in 2011 with the release of Destiny of the Republic, which revived interest in Garfield's cut-short presidency. The publication has now led to a Netflix drama titled the presidential series, starring Michael Shannon as the commander-in-chief and his co-star as the drifter who gunned him down.

The series aims to shine a light on Garfield, who rose from poverty to the White House during the Gilded Age only to succumb to its deep political rifts. His tenure was ended prematurely after only half a year not only by the gunman's shot but by medical malpractice – an incident now mostly overlooked while the assassinations of the Civil War president and President Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a lawyer, he was a preacher, he was a agriculturalist. He was multiple professions which also formed his character and his behavior and everything that we know about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the White House

Garfield was the final national leader coming from pioneer roots in Ohio in 1831. His dad perished when he was 18 months old, leaving his mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in difficult circumstances. An insatiable reader, Garfield labored on waterways to earn money for an schooling.

He studied law, was ordained as minister, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a previous schoolmate, his partner, with whom he would have a large family. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a righteous fight against human bondage and rose to the officer status.

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

Political Career and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was encouraged by the wartime leader to resign his military commission when he was chosen to the House of Representatives, where he would function as a political representative for multiple terms. He was dedicated proponent of black suffrage, viewing it as a matter of justice and the fulfillment of a wartime covenant.

“His oration on the floor of Congress will tear your heart out. He was an remarkable speaker and this issue was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the political organization was fundamentally fractured between the “Stalwarts”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a continued leadership for former president, and the “rival group”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was stalled between Grant and Blaine, party members began looking for a compromise. Garfield's emotional address nominating 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 wave of backers made Garfield the shocking choice. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the national vote Garfield overcame the rival politician to become the sole representative of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Short Presidency and Power Struggles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is extremely rare 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 thrust into it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's short presidency was his disagreement with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling insisted on authority over government appointments in New York, particularly the influential position of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield declined, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He nominated a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The confrontation turned into a public battle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his junior senator quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was ratified. It was a historic triumph for the power of the presidency over the faction system and for the cause of reform over “boss rule”.

The Killer and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being stalked by a psychologically troubled person who represented the dark side of the spoils network. The gunman was a unstable individual with a background of professional failures, psychological problems and early life difficulties. He had been unsuccessful as a attorney, financial agent, religious figure and member of a alternative community.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his specific type of insanity was delusion. He always believed that religious calling for importance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a way to accomplishment: politics. Caught up in the events of the 1880 election, he created and presented an minor oration, and became convinced in his own mind that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau calculated he had earned a prestigious position. He went to the capital and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, demanding to be made the diplomatic representative — a position for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a problem that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Assassination and Medical Malpractice

On 2 July 1881, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he passed through the transportation center, Guiteau emerged from hiding, produced an weapon from his jacket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield shouted: “Why is this occurring?” and collapsed on the station floor. When a {police officer|law