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For generations, the heirs of the 20th US president shared stories about his extraordinary achievements but seldom discussed his violent end. We understood what had happened, that he was shot in a transportation hub,” notes one of his living relatives. “We read about the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just glanced over it.”

Renewed Attention in a Overlooked Leader

This changed in 2011 with the publication of a historical book, which generated attention in Garfield's unfinished life. The publication has now inspired a television production titled Death by Lightning, starring Michael Shannon as the president and Matthew Macfadyen as the wanderer who gunned him down.

The series promises to shine a light on Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the White House during the Gilded Age only to fall victim to its toxic political divisions. His presidency was cut short after only 200 days not only by the gunman's shot but by physician mistakes – an event now largely forgotten while the deaths of the Civil War president and John F Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“One cannot help but admire 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 shaped who he was and his approach and everything that we know about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Presidency

Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin in Ohio in 1831. His parent passed away when he was 18 months old, leaving his parent, Eliza, to raise five children in hard times. An voracious learner, Garfield found employment on vessels to earn money for an schooling.

He studied law, was ordained as minister, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a political representative. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a educational contemporary, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An dedicated federalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a righteous fight against slavery and rose to the officer status.

“As I studied his life, I couldn't believe it. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was extremely courageous. He was ahead of his time for the time. He was caring. He was a good person and would have been an outstanding leader had he survived.”

Government Service and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was convinced by President Lincoln to leave army service when he was chosen to the House of Representatives, where he would work as a Republican for nearly two decades. He was strong supporter 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 House chamber will affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this matter was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the party was deeply divided between the “faction members”, led by an influential figure, who supported a third term for military hero, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a backer of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the massive gathering was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, party members began searching for a solution. Garfield's emotional address proposing Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a attendee unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, another politician, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the general election Garfield defeated the Democratic nominee to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Brief Administration and Political Battles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is remarkably uncommon and maybe unique to the American presidency is he wasn't seeking the position. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was thrust into it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's brief term was his disagreement with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling demanded control over political positions in New York, particularly the prestigious role of port authority. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He proposed a rival of Conkling to the post.

The dispute became a visible struggle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his associate resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was approved. It was a landmark victory for the power of the presidency 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 mentally unstable individual who embodied the dark side of the spoils network. The assassin was a drifter with a background of professional failures, emotional issues and physical and psychological abuse. He had failed as a attorney, debt recovery agent, minister and member of a alternative community.

“He was emotionally unstable and his specific type of insanity was fantasy. He always believed that religious calling for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a route to achievement: politics. Swept up in the events of the 1880 election, he prepared and gave an unimportant address, and became persuaded internally that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau reckoned he had deserved a prestigious position. He journeyed to DC and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, requiring to be made the diplomatic representative — a role for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Attack and Doctor Errors

On 2 July 1881, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his educational gathering. As he walked through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau emerged from hiding, withdrew an handgun from his coat pocket and assassinated the leader in the back.

Garfield exclaimed: “My God, what is this?” and dropped on the station floor. When a {police officer|law