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Throughout history, the family members of James Garfield spoke proudly about his impressive career but seldom discussed his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was gunned down in a railway depot,” explains one of his family members. “We learned about the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just passed over it quickly.”

Revived Interest in a Forgotten President

This changed in 2011 with the publication of a historical book, which generated attention in Garfield's cut-short presidency. This work has now inspired a television production titled the historical drama, including a talented performer as the commander-in-chief and another skilled actor as the drifter who shot him.

The series aims to shine a light on Garfield, who rose from poverty to the presidency during the Gilded Age only to fall victim to its bitter partisan conflicts. His time in office was ended prematurely after only 200 days not only by the assassin's bullet but by doctor errors – an event now largely forgotten while the killings of President Lincoln and JFK continue to fascinate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a lawyer, he was a religious leader, he was a land worker. He was all of these things which also influenced his personality and how he was and everything that we know about him the family carries down with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the White House

Garfield was the final national leader born in a log cabin in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His father died when he was very young, leaving his mother, Eliza, to raise five children in difficult circumstances. An insatiable reader, Garfield worked on canal boats to earn money 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 educational contemporary, his future wife, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An dedicated federalist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a righteous fight against human bondage and advanced to the military position.

“During my investigation, I was astonished. He was absolutely brilliant. He was fearless. He was ahead of his time for the time. He was compassionate. He was a moral individual and would have been one of our great presidents had he remained alive.”

Government Service and Shocking Selection

Garfield was persuaded by the wartime leader to leave army service when he was chosen to the House of Representatives, where he would serve as a political representative for multiple terms. He was ardent advocate of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a issue of rights and the realization of a wartime covenant.

“His oration on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an remarkable speaker and this issue was very important to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the party was deeply divided between the “political group”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported political contender. Garfield attended as a advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was stalled between Grant and Blaine, delegates began searching for a solution. Garfield's emotional address proposing Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a attendee unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the extended selection process, a rush of supporters made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the national vote Garfield overcame the Democratic nominee to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be elected president.

Brief Administration and Power Struggles

“What would have made Garfield great and what is very unusual and maybe particular about 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 limited administration was his confrontation with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling required power over federal patronage in New York, particularly the prestigious role of customs official. Garfield rejected, 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 became a open fight but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a embarrassing loss, Conkling and his associate resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was confirmed. It was a landmark victory for the executive authority over the party machine and for the cause of reform over “machine politics”.

The Assassin and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being pursued by a mentally unstable individual who represented the dark side of the political appointment process. Charles Guiteau was a wanderer with a background of professional failures, psychological problems and childhood trauma. He had failed as a attorney, debt recovery agent, religious figure and member of a unconventional group.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his specific type of insanity was delusion. He always believed that divine selection for importance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield progressed and improved, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a route to achievement: politics. Carried away in the drama of the 1880 election, he created and presented an insignificant speech, and became convinced in his own mind that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau determined he had deserved a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, requiring to be made the US consul in Paris — a post for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Shooting and Physician Mistakes

On that fateful day, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his educational gathering. As he walked through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau emerged from hiding, produced an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his clothing and shot the president twice in the back.

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