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For generations, the family members of the 20th US president discussed openly about his impressive career but seldom discussed his violent end. We were aware what had happened, that he was shot in a transportation hub,” explains one of his living relatives. “We read about the story in books but, in one way or another, we just passed over it quickly.”

Renewed Attention in a Forgotten President

This changed in 2011 with the release of a historical book, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's unfinished life. This work has now resulted in a streaming series titled the presidential series, featuring an acclaimed actor as the president and his co-star as the wanderer who shot him.

The series aims to illuminate Garfield, who rose from poverty to the highest office during the Gilded Age only to become a casualty to its deep political rifts. His presidency was ended prematurely after only several months not only by the assassin's bullet but by physician mistakes – an incident now largely forgotten while the deaths of President Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a attorney, he was a religious leader, he was a land worker. He was so many things which also formed his character and his approach and everything that we know about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Rising from Poverty 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 just a toddler, leaving his parent, Eliza, to support a large family in hard times. An voracious learner, Garfield found employment on vessels to earn money for an education.

He pursued jurisprudence, was became a preacher, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a educational contemporary, his partner, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a moral battle against slavery and rose to the military position.

“During my investigation, I was astonished. He was remarkably smart. He was incredibly brave. He was innovative for the time. He was caring. He was a moral individual and would have been one of our great presidents had he remained alive.”

Government Service and Shocking Selection

Garfield was convinced by the wartime leader to leave army service when he was chosen to the legislative branch, where he would work as a party member for nearly two decades. He was dedicated proponent of African American voting rights, viewing it as a matter of justice and the fulfillment of a wartime covenant.

“The address he delivered on the floor of Congress will tear your heart out. He was an impressive communicator and this topic was extremely significant to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the faction was fundamentally fractured between the “faction members”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a continued leadership for military hero, and the “opposing faction”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a backer of his friend and fellow Ohioan John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a middle ground. Garfield's powerful oration nominating Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, 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 surprise nominee. To appease the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the presidential race Garfield beat the rival politician to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Brief Administration and Power Struggles

“His possible achievements and what is remarkably uncommon and maybe particular about the American presidency is he didn't want the job. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was forced into the role.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's short presidency was his confrontation with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling insisted on authority over government appointments in New York, particularly the prestigious role of port authority. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “whether the president is registering clerk of the senate or the presidential authority”. He nominated a rival of Conkling to the post.

The confrontation escalated into a visible struggle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his junior senator quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was approved. It was a significant win for the executive authority over the party machine and for the cause of reform over “political control”.

The Gunman and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being followed by a disturbed and delusional man who represented the problematic element of the patronage system. Charles Guiteau was a drifter with a history of professional failures, psychological problems and physical and psychological abuse. He had failed as a attorney, bill collector, minister and member of a free-love commune.

“He was mentally ill 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 could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a way to accomplishment: politics. Carried away in the drama of the presidential race, he wrote and delivered an insignificant speech, and became persuaded internally that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau reckoned he had deserved a high-level government job. He went to the capital and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, demanding to be made the diplomatic representative — a post for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Attack and Physician Mistakes

On that fateful day, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his educational gathering. As he passed through the train depot, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an handgun from his coat pocket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

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