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For generations, the family members of the 20th US president discussed openly about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his untimely death. We understood what had happened, that he was gunned down in a railway depot,” notes one of his family members. “We read about the story in books but, for various reasons, we just glanced over it.”

Revived Interest in a Historical Figure

This transformed in 2011 with the issuing of Destiny of the Republic, which revived interest in Garfield's truncated career. The publication has now resulted in a streaming series titled the historical drama, including Michael Shannon as the president and his co-star as the unstable individual who shot him.

The series aims to shine a light on Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the presidency during the Gilded Age only to succumb to its toxic political divisions. His presidency was cut short after only several months not only by the gunman's shot but by physician mistakes – an event now largely forgotten while the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and President Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a attorney, he was a religious leader, he was a land worker. He was all of these things which also formed his character and his behavior and all the information about him the family carries down with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the White House

Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin in Ohio in 1831. His dad perished when he was 18 months old, leaving his mother, Eliza, to raise five children in hard times. An voracious learner, Garfield labored on waterways to generate income for an education.

He learned legal principles, was ordained as minister, became head of a school in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he wed a educational contemporary, his future wife, with whom he would have a large family. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a holy crusade against slavery and advanced to the officer status.

“When I started researching him, I was astonished. He was absolutely brilliant. He was extremely courageous. He was ahead of his time for the era. He was kind. He was a moral individual and would have been an outstanding leader had he survived.”

Government Service and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was convinced by the wartime leader to leave army service when he was chosen to the Congress, where he would function as a political representative for nearly two decades. He was strong supporter of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a issue of rights and the completion of a conflict agreement.

“The address he delivered on the legislative arena will tear your heart out. He was an remarkable speaker and this issue was extremely significant to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the faction was sharply split between the “faction members”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a continued leadership for former president, and the “opposing faction”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a backer of his friend and fellow Ohioan John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a solution. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a rush of supporters made Garfield the surprise nominee. To placate the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the presidential race Garfield defeated the opposing candidate to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Truncated Term and Power Struggles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is extremely rare and maybe unique to the American presidency is he didn't want the job. It's not that he had entirely ignored the possibility but he was forced into the role.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's short presidency was his disagreement with Conkling over the “spoils system”. 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 “whether the president is registering clerk of the senate or the presidential authority”. He proposed a opponent of Conkling to the post.

The conflict turned into a public battle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a public failure, Conkling and his colleague left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was approved. It was a landmark victory for the presidential control over the political organization and for the improvement efforts over “machine politics”.

The Gunman and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being pursued by a disturbed and delusional man who embodied the dark side of the spoils network. The gunman was a drifter with a background of professional failures, psychological problems and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a attorney, bill collector, preacher and member of a alternative community.

“He was emotionally unstable and his specific type of insanity was delusion. He always believed that divine selection for importance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a route to achievement: politics. Caught up in the events of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an minor oration, and became certain in his thoughts that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this logic, Guiteau reckoned he had merited a prestigious position. He travelled to Washington and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, insisting to be made the diplomatic representative — a post for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a problem that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination and Doctor Errors

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

Garfield shouted: “Why is this occurring?” and fell on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law