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Over many years, the descendants of the 20th US president shared stories about his impressive career but avoided talking about his untimely death. We were aware what had happened, that he was gunned down in a train station,” reflects one of his family members. “We studied the story in historical accounts but, for various reasons, we just passed over it quickly.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Overlooked Leader

This transformed in 2011 with the issuing of a historical book, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's truncated career. The book has now led to a Netflix drama titled Death by Lightning, featuring an acclaimed actor as the president and his co-star as the drifter who assassinated 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 toxic political divisions. His presidency was ended prematurely after only several months not only by the gunman's shot but by medical malpractice – an event now mostly overlooked while the deaths of Abraham Lincoln and JFK continue to captivate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a lawyer, he was a minister, he was a farmer. He was multiple professions which also shaped who he was and how he was and all the information about him the family carries down with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Highest Office

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 mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in challenging conditions. An insatiable reader, Garfield found employment on vessels to generate income for an schooling.

He learned legal principles, was entered the clergy, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he wed a educational contemporary, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An dedicated federalist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a holy crusade against forced servitude and progressed to the military position.

“When I started researching him, I found it incredible. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was extremely courageous. He was innovative for the period. He was compassionate. He was a moral individual and would have been one of our great presidents had he remained alive.”

Public Life and Shocking Selection

Garfield was convinced by Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was selected to the Congress, where he would serve as a Republican for nearly two decades. He was dedicated proponent of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a issue of rights and the completion of a wartime covenant.

“His oration on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an remarkable speaker and this topic was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the faction was deeply divided between the “Stalwarts”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a additional presidency for former president, and the “rival group”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a supporter of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, party members began looking for a middle ground. Garfield's powerful oration nominating Sherman won them over. 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 unexpected candidate. To placate the Stalwart faction, another politician, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the general election Garfield defeated the rival politician to become the sole representative of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Truncated Term and Government Conflicts

“His possible achievements and what is extremely rare and maybe particular about the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had entirely ignored the possibility but he was pushed toward it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's short presidency was his clash with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling required power over federal patronage in New York, particularly the influential position of customs official. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the presidential authority”. He nominated a opponent of Conkling to the post.

The dispute escalated into a visible struggle but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Facing a public failure, Conkling and his colleague resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was ratified. It was a landmark victory for the power of the presidency over the faction system and for the improvement efforts over “political control”.

The Killer and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being followed by a disturbed and delusional man who exemplified the problematic element of the patronage system. Charles Guiteau was a wanderer with a background of career disappointments, mental instability and physical and psychological abuse. He had failed as a attorney, financial agent, preacher 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 more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a pathway to success: politics. Swept up in the excitement of the 1880 election, he prepared and gave an minor oration, and became convinced in his own mind that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau calculated he had deserved a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, insisting to be made the US consul in Paris — a role for which he had no experience. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Assassination and Medical Malpractice

On the tragic date, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his educational gathering. As he walked through the train depot, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an weapon from his clothing and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield shouted: “My God, what is this?” and fell on the waiting area. When a {police officer|law