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Over many years, the family members of James Garfield shared stories about his extraordinary achievements but seldom discussed his tragic assassination. We understood what had happened, that he was assassinated in a train station,” reflects one of his family members. “We studied the story in books but, for various reasons, we just passed over it quickly.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Forgotten President

This shifted in 2011 with the issuing of Destiny of the Republic, which revived interest in Garfield's truncated career. The book has now inspired a Netflix drama titled Death by Lightning, starring an acclaimed actor as the national leader and another skilled actor as the wanderer who assassinated him.

The series aims to shine a light on Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the highest office during the economic era only to become a casualty to its bitter partisan conflicts. His time in office was cut short after only 200 days not only by the assassin's bullet but by physician mistakes – an event now largely forgotten while the deaths of the Civil War president and President Kennedy continue to intrigue the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a lawyer, he was a religious leader, he was a agriculturalist. He was so many things which also formed his character and his behavior and all the information about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Presidency

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His father died when he was just a toddler, leaving his mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in hard times. An voracious learner, Garfield worked on canal boats to generate income for an schooling.

He learned legal principles, was became a preacher, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a political representative. In 1858 he wed a former classmate, his future wife, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a moral battle against forced servitude and rose to the rank of major general.

“When I started researching him, I found it incredible. He was absolutely brilliant. He was incredibly brave. He was very progressive for the era. He was compassionate. He was a decent human being and would have been one of our great presidents had he survived.”

Government Service and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was convinced by the wartime leader to resign his military commission when he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would function as a political representative for nearly two decades. He was ardent advocate of black suffrage, viewing it as a question of fairness and the completion of a wartime covenant.

“His oration on the legislative arena will move you deeply. He was an impressive communicator and this topic was very important to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the party was fundamentally fractured between the “faction members”, led by an influential figure, who supported a additional presidency for former president, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a supporter of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a middle ground. Garfield's powerful oration supporting Sherman caught their attention. 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 wave of backers made Garfield the shocking choice. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a political ally from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the general election Garfield overcame the Democratic nominee to become the sole representative of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Truncated Term and Political Battles

“What would have made Garfield great 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 limited administration was his confrontation with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling insisted on authority over federal patronage in New York, particularly the prestigious role of customs official. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “whether the president is registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He proposed a rival of Conkling to the post.

The conflict became a public battle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a public failure, Conkling and his associate left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was approved. It was a landmark victory for the executive authority over the faction system and for the cause of reform over “political control”.

The Assassin 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 represented the negative aspect of the political appointment process. Charles Guiteau was a unstable individual with a background of occupational setbacks, mental instability and childhood trauma. He had been unsuccessful as a attorney, bill collector, religious figure and member of a alternative community.

“He was mentally ill and his specific type of insanity was delusion. He always believed that religious calling for significance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a route to achievement: politics. Swept up in the drama of the 1880 election, he prepared and gave an insignificant speech, and became certain in his thoughts that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau determined he had merited a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other officials, insisting to be made the diplomatic representative — a position for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Attack and Physician Mistakes

On that fateful day, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his college reunion. As he moved through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau appeared suddenly, withdrew an handgun from his clothing and shot the president twice in the back.

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