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For generations, the heirs of President Garfield discussed openly about his impressive career but avoided talking about his violent end. We were aware what had happened, that he was shot in a railway depot,” notes one of his family members. “We studied the story in historical accounts but, for various reasons, we just glanced over it.”

Renewed Attention in a Historical Figure

This transformed in 2011 with the release of a historical book, which generated attention in Garfield's truncated career. The book has now resulted in a television production titled the historical drama, starring a talented performer as the president and Matthew Macfadyen as the drifter who shot him.

The series aims to highlight Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the highest office during the Gilded Age only to succumb to its bitter partisan conflicts. His time in office was truncated after only several months not only by the assassin's bullet but by physician mistakes – an event now mostly overlooked while the assassinations of President Lincoln and President Kennedy 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 all of these things which also shaped who he was 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 raised in rustic conditions in Ohio in 1831. His father died when he was 18 months old, leaving his mother, Eliza, to support a large family in difficult circumstances. An insatiable reader, Garfield found employment on vessels to make funds for an schooling.

He learned legal principles, was became a preacher, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a educational contemporary, his future wife, with whom he would have seven children. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a moral battle against forced servitude and progressed to the officer status.

“When I started researching him, I found it incredible. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was fearless. He was very progressive for the period. He was kind. He was a good person and would have been an outstanding leader had he lived.”

Political Career and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was encouraged by Lincoln to leave army service when he was chosen to the Congress, where he would serve as a Republican for 17 years. He was strong supporter of African American voting rights, viewing it as a question of fairness and the completion of a wartime covenant.

“The address he delivered on the House chamber will affect you emotionally. He was an impressive communicator and this matter was very important to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the party was fundamentally fractured between the “Stalwarts”, led by an influential figure, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a backer of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began searching for a solution. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman won them over. 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 multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the shocking choice. To placate the Stalwart faction, another politician, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the national vote Garfield overcame the Democratic nominee to become the unique incumbent of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Short Presidency and Political Battles

“His possible achievements and what is extremely rare 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 pushed toward it.”

The major battle of Garfield's short presidency was his disagreement with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling insisted on authority over government appointments in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He proposed a opponent of Conkling to the post.

The conflict escalated into a open fight but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his junior senator resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was confirmed. It was a historic triumph for the presidential control over the political organization and for the change movement over “political control”.

The Gunman and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being pursued by a psychologically troubled person who exemplified the negative aspect of the patronage system. The gunman was a drifter with a history of professional failures, emotional issues and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a legal professional, bill collector, preacher and member of a free-love commune.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his particular brand of madness was fantasy. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a pathway to success: politics. Swept up in the events of the political contest, he created and presented an minor oration, and became persuaded internally that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this logic, Guiteau determined he had earned a high-level government job. He journeyed to DC and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, requiring to be made the foreign service officer — a post for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Assassination and Physician Mistakes

On 2 July 1881, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his alumni event. As he walked through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau appeared suddenly, produced an weapon from his jacket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield shouted: “What's happening?” and dropped on the waiting area. When a {police officer|law