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Throughout history, the family members of James Garfield discussed openly about his remarkable life but seldom discussed his untimely death. We understood what had happened, that he was shot in a train station,” notes one of his family members. “We read about the story in publications but, somehow, we just passed over it quickly.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Overlooked Leader

This transformed in 2011 with the release of a historical book, which revived interest in Garfield's truncated career. The publication has now inspired a streaming series titled the presidential series, starring a talented performer as the commander-in-chief and Matthew Macfadyen as the drifter who shot him.

The series seeks to highlight Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the presidency during the Gilded Age only to become a casualty to its deep political rifts. His tenure was truncated after only several months not only by the assassin's bullet but by medical malpractice – an event now largely forgotten while the killings of President Lincoln and JFK continue to captivate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a attorney, he was a minister, he was a farmer. He was multiple professions which also influenced his personality and his approach and everything that we know about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Presidency

Garfield was the last president raised in rustic conditions in the Midwest in 1831. His dad perished when he was very young, leaving his parent, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in hard times. An voracious learner, Garfield worked on canal boats to earn money for an education.

He pursued jurisprudence, was became a preacher, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he wed a previous schoolmate, his partner, with whom he would have a large family. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a moral battle against human bondage and rose to the officer status.

“As I studied his life, I couldn't believe it. He was absolutely brilliant. He was extremely courageous. He was ahead of his time for the era. He was kind. He was a moral individual and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he remained alive.”

Political Career and Shocking Selection

Garfield was encouraged by Lincoln to depart military life when he was chosen to the legislative branch, where he would function as a party member for nearly two decades. He was dedicated proponent of African American voting rights, viewing it as a issue of rights and the fulfillment of a wartime covenant.

“The address he delivered on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this topic was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the party was deeply divided between the “faction members”, 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 advocate of his close associate John Sherman.

When the massive gathering was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates began looking for a solution. Garfield's powerful oration nominating Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the extended selection process, a wave of backers made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the general election Garfield overcame the rival politician to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be elected president.

Truncated Term and Government Conflicts

“What would have made Garfield great and what is very unusual 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 defining conflict of Garfield's limited administration was his confrontation with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling insisted on authority over political positions in New York, particularly the influential position of port authority. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He proposed a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The conflict escalated into a public battle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his colleague resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was approved. It was a historic triumph for the executive authority over the party machine and for the cause of reform over “political control”.

The Gunman and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being pursued by a disturbed and delusional man who embodied the dark side of the spoils network. The assassin was a wanderer with a record of occupational setbacks, emotional issues and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a legal professional, financial agent, preacher and member of a free-love commune.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his specific type of insanity was fantasy. He always believed that religious calling for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a pathway to success: politics. Carried away in the excitement of the political contest, he created and presented an unimportant address, and became certain in his thoughts that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau determined he had merited a high-level government job. He went to the capital and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, insisting to be made the US consul in Paris — a post for which he had no experience. He became such a problem that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Attack and Doctor Errors

On that fateful day, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his alumni event. As he moved through the transportation center, Guiteau emerged from hiding, pulled an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his coat pocket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

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