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For generations, the descendants 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 gunned down in a train station,” explains one of his family members. “We learned about the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just passed over it quickly.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Historical Figure

This transformed in 2011 with the publication of a historical book, which revived interest in Garfield's unfinished life. The book has now resulted in a streaming series titled the presidential series, featuring Michael Shannon as the commander-in-chief and Matthew Macfadyen as the unstable individual who shot him.

The series seeks to illuminate Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the highest office during the economic era only to fall victim to its toxic political divisions. His tenure was cut short after only several months not only by the gunman's shot but by doctor errors – an event now frequently ignored while the deaths of the Civil War president and President Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a legal professional, he was a preacher, he was a land worker. He was so many things which also shaped who he was and his behavior and all the information about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Presidency

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His dad perished when he was just a toddler, leaving his parent, Eliza, to raise five children in hard times. An insatiable reader, Garfield found employment on vessels to make funds for an formal learning.

He pursued jurisprudence, was became a preacher, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a former classmate, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a holy crusade against human bondage and rose to the rank of major general.

“As I studied his life, I found it incredible. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was incredibly brave. He was ahead of his time for the period. He was compassionate. He was a decent human being and would have been one of our great presidents had he lived.”

Government Service and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was encouraged by the wartime leader to leave army service when he was elected to the Congress, where he would work as a Republican for nearly two decades. He was strong supporter of black suffrage, viewing it as a question of fairness and the fulfillment of a military promise.

“The speech he gave on the floor of Congress will affect you emotionally. He was an remarkable speaker and this issue was very important to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the faction was deeply divided between the “Stalwarts”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a additional presidency for military hero, and the “rival group”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a advocate of his close associate John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a compromise. Garfield's powerful oration proposing Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a attendee unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a wave of backers made Garfield the shocking choice. To placate the Stalwart faction, another politician, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the general election Garfield overcame the Democratic nominee to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Brief Administration and Government Conflicts

“What would have made Garfield great and what is extremely rare and maybe special for the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was thrust into it.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's limited administration was his confrontation with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling insisted on authority over federal patronage in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He selected a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The dispute became a open fight but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a embarrassing loss, Conkling and his colleague resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was confirmed. It was a significant win for the presidential control over the political organization and for the cause of reform over “boss rule”.

The Killer and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being stalked by a mentally unstable individual who represented the negative aspect of the patronage system. The gunman was a unstable individual with a background of career disappointments, psychological problems and early life difficulties. He had not succeeded as a lawyer, financial agent, preacher and member of a free-love commune.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his particular brand of madness was fantasy. He always believed that divine selection for significance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a route to achievement: politics. Swept up in the drama of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an unimportant address, and became persuaded internally that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau determined he had earned a high-level government job. He went to the capital and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, insisting to be made the diplomatic representative — a role for which he had no experience. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Assassination and Medical Malpractice

On 2 July 1881, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his educational gathering. As he passed through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, 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 cried out: “What's happening?” and collapsed on the station floor. When a {police officer|law