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For generations, the family members of President Garfield shared stories about his impressive career but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was shot in a railway depot,” notes one of his family members. “We read about the story in publications but, somehow, we just glanced over it.”

Revived Interest in a Historical Figure

This shifted in 2011 with the release of a historical book, which revived interest in Garfield's unfinished life. The publication has now led to a Netflix drama titled the historical drama, featuring an acclaimed actor as the president and Matthew Macfadyen as the wanderer who shot him.

The series aims to illuminate Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the highest office during the Gilded Age only to fall victim to its bitter partisan conflicts. His presidency was ended prematurely after only half a year not only by the assassin's bullet but by medical malpractice – an event now mostly overlooked while the killings of Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a attorney, he was a minister, he was a agriculturalist. He was all of these things which also influenced his personality and how he was and the complete story about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Presidency

Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His dad perished when he was just a toddler, leaving his mom, Eliza, to support a large family in hard times. An insatiable reader, Garfield labored on waterways to make funds for an education.

He pursued jurisprudence, was ordained as minister, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he married a previous schoolmate, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have seven children. An dedicated federalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a righteous fight against human bondage and rose to the military position.

“When I started researching him, I was astonished. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was extremely courageous. He was innovative for the period. He was compassionate. He was a good person and would have been an outstanding leader had he remained alive.”

Public Life and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was persuaded by President Lincoln to leave army service when he was chosen to the House of Representatives, where he would function as a party member for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a issue of rights and the completion of a wartime covenant.

“The address he delivered on the legislative arena will move you deeply. He was an remarkable speaker and this matter was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the party was deeply divided between the “political group”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a third term for former president, and the “opposing faction”, who supported political contender. Garfield attended as a backer of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began searching for a solution. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, representatives, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the extended selection process, a rush of supporters made Garfield the shocking choice. To placate the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the presidential race Garfield defeated the opposing candidate to become the sole representative of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Short Presidency and Government Conflicts

“What would have made Garfield great and what is extremely rare and maybe particular about the American presidency is he wasn't seeking the position. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was forced into the role.”

The major battle of Garfield's short presidency was his disagreement with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling insisted on authority over federal patronage in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of port authority. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He selected a opponent of Conkling to the post.

The conflict turned into a open fight but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his colleague left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was ratified. It was a significant win for the power of the presidency over the faction system and for the improvement efforts over “boss rule”.

The Gunman and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being stalked by a psychologically troubled person who represented the dark side of the political appointment process. The assassin was a wanderer with a background of occupational setbacks, mental instability and childhood trauma. He had failed as a attorney, debt recovery agent, religious figure and member of a free-love commune.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his particular brand of madness was false belief. He always believed that divine selection for greatness. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield progressed and improved, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a way to accomplishment: politics. Swept up in the drama of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an minor oration, and became convinced in his own mind that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau determined he had earned a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, demanding to be made the foreign service officer — a position for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination and Physician Mistakes

On 2 July 1881, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his college reunion. As he passed through the train depot, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, produced an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his coat pocket and assassinated the leader in the back.

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