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Throughout history, the heirs of President Garfield discussed openly about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was gunned down in a train station,” reflects one of his family members. “We learned about the story in books but, in one way or another, we just passed over it quickly.”

Revived Interest in a Overlooked Leader

This shifted in 2011 with the publication of a historical book, which generated attention in Garfield's truncated career. This work has now inspired a Netflix drama titled Death by Lightning, featuring an acclaimed actor as the national leader and his co-star as the wanderer who assassinated him.

The series aims to shine a light on Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the presidency during the economic era only to fall victim to its toxic political divisions. His tenure was ended prematurely after only half a year not only by the assassin's bullet but by medical malpractice – an tragedy now frequently ignored while the deaths of President Lincoln and JFK continue to fascinate the public.

“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a legal professional, he was a preacher, he was a land worker. He was all of these things which also influenced his personality and his behavior and the complete story about him the family carries down 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 dad perished when he was very young, leaving his parent, Eliza, to raise five children in hard times. An insatiable reader, Garfield labored on waterways to generate income for an education.

He pursued jurisprudence, was ordained as minister, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a educational contemporary, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have a large family. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a holy crusade against slavery and progressed to the military position.

“As I studied his life, I was astonished. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was extremely courageous. He was ahead of his time for the time. He was compassionate. He was a decent human being and would have been one of our great presidents had he lived.”

Government Service and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was persuaded by the wartime leader to resign his military commission when he was elected to the legislative branch, where he would serve as a political representative for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of African American voting rights, viewing it as a matter of justice and the completion of a wartime covenant.

“The speech he gave on the legislative arena will affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this issue was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the political organization was fundamentally fractured between the “political group”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a continued leadership for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a backer of his close associate John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was stalled between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a middle ground. Garfield's impassioned speech supporting Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a rush of supporters made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To placate the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the general election Garfield beat the opposing candidate to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be elected president.

Truncated Term and Power Struggles

“His possible achievements and what is remarkably uncommon and maybe particular about 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 central struggle of Garfield's brief term was his clash with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling required power over federal patronage in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield rejected, 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 turned into a public battle 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 nominee was ratified. It was a significant win for the presidential control over the party machine and for the cause of reform over “political control”.

The Killer and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being stalked by a disturbed and delusional man who exemplified the dark side of the spoils network. Charles Guiteau was a drifter with a history of occupational setbacks, psychological problems and childhood trauma. He had not succeeded as a legal professional, financial agent, minister and member of a alternative community.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his particular brand of madness was fantasy. He always believed that divine selection for importance. He actually had financially a better start than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a pathway to success: politics. Caught up in the events of the presidential race, he prepared and gave an insignificant speech, and became certain in his thoughts that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau reckoned he had deserved a high-level government job. He journeyed to DC and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, demanding to be made the diplomatic representative — a position for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Shooting and Doctor Errors

On the tragic date, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he walked through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, produced an handgun from his jacket and shot the president twice in the back.

Garfield cried out: “What's happening?” and collapsed on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law