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Over many years, the descendants of President Garfield discussed openly about his extraordinary achievements but rarely mentioned his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was assassinated in a train station,” explains one of his family members. “We read about the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just glanced over it.”

Renewed Attention in a Overlooked Leader

This transformed in 2011 with the issuing of Destiny of the Republic, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's truncated career. The publication has now inspired a television production titled the presidential series, featuring a talented performer as the president and another skilled actor as the unstable individual who assassinated him.

The series seeks to highlight Garfield, who rose from poverty to the highest office during the economic era only to succumb to its deep political rifts. His time in office was ended prematurely after only several months not only by the killer's weapon but by doctor errors – an tragedy now largely forgotten while the assassinations of President Lincoln and President Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a attorney, he was a preacher, he was a agriculturalist. He was all of these things which also formed his character and his approach and everything that we know about him the descendants preserve with us.”

From Humble Beginnings to the Presidency

Garfield was the last president raised in rustic conditions in Ohio in 1831. His parent passed away when he was just a toddler, leaving his mother, Eliza, to raise five children in hard times. An dedicated student, Garfield labored on waterways to make funds for an schooling.

He learned legal principles, was became a preacher, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a political representative. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a previous schoolmate, his partner, with whom he would have seven children. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a moral battle against forced servitude and progressed to the officer status.

“When I started researching him, I couldn't believe it. He was absolutely brilliant. He was extremely courageous. He was very progressive for the period. He was caring. He was a good person and would have been an outstanding leader had he lived.”

Public Life and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was convinced by the wartime leader to leave army service when he was chosen to the House of Representatives, where he would serve as a party member for multiple terms. He was dedicated proponent of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a question of fairness and the fulfillment of a military promise.

“The address he delivered on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an remarkable speaker and this issue was extremely significant to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the faction was fundamentally fractured between the “faction members”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “opposing faction”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a supporter of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began searching for a middle ground. Garfield's emotional address proposing Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, representatives, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a rush of supporters made Garfield the surprise nominee. To placate the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the presidential race Garfield overcame the opposing candidate to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Truncated Term and Power Struggles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is very unusual and maybe special for the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was pushed toward it.”

The major battle of Garfield's brief term was his confrontation with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling demanded control over government appointments in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of port authority. 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 rival of Conkling to the post.

The confrontation became a visible struggle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a embarrassing loss, Conkling and his junior senator quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was approved. It was a landmark victory for the presidential control over the faction system and for the improvement efforts over “machine politics”.

The Assassin and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being stalked by a disturbed and delusional man who embodied the problematic element of the spoils network. Charles Guiteau was a unstable individual with a history of professional failures, psychological problems and physical and psychological abuse. He had been unsuccessful as a attorney, financial agent, preacher and member of a free-love commune.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his unique form of delusion was delusion. He always believed that divine selection for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a pathway to success: politics. Swept up in the drama of the presidential race, he wrote and delivered an minor oration, 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 important role. He travelled to Washington and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, demanding to be made the US consul in Paris — a position for which he had no experience. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination and Physician Mistakes

On the tragic date, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his college reunion. As he moved through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau emerged from hiding, withdrew an handgun from his jacket and assassinated the leader in the back.

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