Revealing the Heartbreaking Story Within the Streaming Giant's Death by Lightning

For generations, the family members of President Garfield discussed openly about his extraordinary achievements but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was shot in a transportation hub,” explains one of his living relatives. “We learned about the story in publications but, somehow, we just glanced over it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Historical Figure

This transformed in 2011 with the publication of a presidential biography, which generated attention in Garfield's unfinished life. The book has now inspired a streaming series titled the presidential series, starring Michael Shannon as the national leader and his co-star as the unstable individual who gunned him down.

The series promises to shine a light on Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the highest office during the Gilded Age only to fall victim to its toxic political divisions. His tenure was truncated after only 200 days not only by the killer's weapon but by physician mistakes – an tragedy now largely forgotten while the assassinations of President Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a legal professional, he was a preacher, he was a agriculturalist. He was multiple professions which also shaped who he was and his approach and all the information about him the descendants preserve with us.”

From Humble Beginnings to the White House

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief born in a log cabin in Ohio in 1831. His father died when he was 18 months old, leaving his parent, Eliza, to raise five children in hard times. An insatiable reader, Garfield worked on canal boats to make funds for an schooling.

He learned legal principles, was entered the clergy, 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 multiple offspring. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a righteous fight against slavery and advanced to the military position.

“When I started researching him, I found it incredible. He was absolutely brilliant. He was incredibly brave. He was innovative for the time. He was kind. He was a moral individual and would have been an outstanding leader had he survived.”

Government Service and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was encouraged by President Lincoln to leave army service when he was elected to the Congress, where he would serve as a political representative for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of black suffrage, viewing it as a question of fairness and the fulfillment of a wartime covenant.

“His oration on the floor of Congress will move you deeply. He was an impressive communicator and this matter was very important to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the faction was deeply divided between the “faction members”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the massive gathering was stalled between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a solution. Garfield's emotional address proposing Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the shocking choice. To placate the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the national vote Garfield beat the opposing candidate to become the sole representative of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Truncated Term and Government Conflicts

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is very unusual and maybe unique to the American presidency is he wasn't seeking the position. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was thrust into it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's limited administration was his confrontation with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling demanded control over political positions in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield declined, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He proposed a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The conflict turned into a open fight but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his associate left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was approved. It was a significant win for the executive authority over the political organization and for the change movement over “machine politics”.

The Assassin and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being stalked by a psychologically troubled person who embodied the negative aspect of the patronage system. The assassin was a wanderer with a record of professional failures, psychological problems and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a legal professional, bill collector, religious figure and member of a free-love commune.

“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 way to accomplishment: politics. Caught up in the events of the presidential race, he wrote and delivered an insignificant speech, and became convinced in his own mind that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau determined he had earned a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, demanding to be made the foreign service officer — a role for which he had no experience. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Assassination and Physician Mistakes

On 2 July 1881, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his educational gathering. As he passed through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau appeared suddenly, produced an handgun from his clothing and assassinated the leader in the back.

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