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Throughout history, the family members of President Garfield spoke proudly about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his untimely death. “We knew what had happened, that he was gunned down in a transportation hub,” notes one of his family members. “We learned about the story in historical accounts but, in one way or another, we just skimmed through it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Forgotten President

This transformed in 2011 with the issuing of a historical book, which revived interest in Garfield's truncated career. This work has now inspired a streaming series titled Death by Lightning, starring a talented performer as the national leader and another skilled actor as the unstable individual who shot him.

The series promises to highlight Garfield, who rose from poverty to the highest office during the historical period only to succumb to its bitter partisan conflicts. His time in office was truncated after only several months not only by the killer's weapon but by physician mistakes – an incident now frequently ignored while the assassinations of President Lincoln and President Kennedy continue to intrigue the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a legal professional, he was a preacher, he was a agriculturalist. He was so many things which also influenced his personality and his approach and all the information about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the White House

Garfield was the final national leader coming from pioneer roots in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His parent passed away when he was 18 months old, leaving his mother, Eliza, to raise five children in hard times. An dedicated student, Garfield found employment on vessels to earn money for an formal learning.

He pursued jurisprudence, was became a preacher, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a former classmate, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have seven children. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a righteous fight against slavery and rose to the officer status.

“As I studied his life, I was astonished. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was extremely courageous. He was very progressive for the era. He was compassionate. He was a moral individual and would have been an outstanding leader had he survived.”

Political Career and Shocking Selection

Garfield was encouraged by President Lincoln to depart military life when he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he would serve as a Republican for 17 years. He was strong supporter of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a issue of rights and the fulfillment of a wartime covenant.

“The address he delivered on the House chamber will affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this matter was extremely significant to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the political organization was sharply split between the “Stalwarts”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a third term for former president, 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 deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, party members began seeking a solution. Garfield's impassioned speech supporting Sherman caught their attention. 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 wave of backers made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the presidential race Garfield overcame the rival politician to become the sole representative of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Brief Administration and Political Battles

“What would have made Garfield great and what is extremely rare and maybe particular about the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was forced into the role.”

The central struggle of Garfield's limited administration was his clash with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling demanded control over government appointments in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of customs official. Garfield declined, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He nominated a rival of Conkling to the post.

The confrontation turned into a public battle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a public failure, Conkling and his associate quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was confirmed. It was a historic triumph for the power of the presidency over the party machine and for the cause of reform over “machine politics”.

The Assassin and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being stalked by a mentally unstable individual who embodied the negative aspect of the patronage system. The assassin was a wanderer with a record of career disappointments, mental instability and childhood trauma. He had failed as a attorney, debt recovery agent, 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 God had chosen him for importance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a pathway to success: politics. Carried away in the drama of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an unimportant address, and became convinced in his own mind that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau determined he had earned a high-level government job. He journeyed to DC and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, insisting to be made the US consul in Paris — a position for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Attack and Medical Malpractice

On that fateful day, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his alumni event. As he moved through the train depot, Guiteau emerged from hiding, pulled an handgun from his coat pocket and shot the president twice in the back.

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