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Throughout history, the family members of the 20th US president discussed openly about his impressive career but rarely mentioned his tragic assassination. We understood what had happened, that he was gunned down in a railway depot,” 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.”

Renewed Attention in a Overlooked Leader

This transformed in 2011 with the release of a presidential biography, which generated attention in Garfield's unfinished life. The book has now led to a streaming series titled the presidential series, starring an acclaimed actor as the president and another skilled actor as the wanderer who shot him.

The series aims to highlight Garfield, who rose from poverty to the highest office during the historical period only to fall victim to its toxic political divisions. His time in office was cut short after only several months not only by the assassin's bullet but by medical malpractice – an tragedy now largely forgotten while the assassinations of President Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to intrigue the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a attorney, he was a minister, he was a agriculturalist. He was multiple professions which also influenced his personality and how he was and the complete story about him the descendants preserve with us.”

From Humble Beginnings to the Highest Office

Garfield was the final national leader coming from pioneer roots in the Midwest in 1831. His parent passed away when he was just a toddler, leaving his parent, Eliza, to raise five children in challenging conditions. An dedicated student, Garfield found employment on vessels to make funds for an schooling.

He studied law, was became a preacher, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he wed a former classmate, his future wife, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a moral battle against slavery and progressed to the rank of major general.

“As I studied his life, I found it incredible. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was extremely courageous. He was very progressive for the time. He was caring. He was a decent human being and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he survived.”

Government Service and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was encouraged by Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was selected to the House of Representatives, where he would function as a Republican for multiple terms. He was ardent advocate of African American voting rights, viewing it as a question of fairness and the completion of a wartime covenant.

“The speech he gave on the floor of Congress will tear your heart out. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this matter was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the party was fundamentally fractured between the “political group”, 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 advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a solution. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To appease the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the general election Garfield beat the rival politician to become the sole representative of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Truncated Term and Political Battles

“His possible achievements and what is extremely rare and maybe special for the American presidency is he didn't want the job. It's not that he had entirely ignored the possibility but he was thrust into it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's brief term was his clash with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling required power over government appointments in New York, particularly the influential position of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He proposed a rival of Conkling to the post.

The dispute escalated into a open fight but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a public failure, Conkling and his junior senator left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was confirmed. It was a landmark victory for the executive authority over the faction system and for the improvement efforts over “political control”.

The Gunman and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being pursued by a mentally unstable individual who embodied the problematic element of the spoils network. The gunman was a wanderer with a history of career disappointments, psychological problems and early life difficulties. He had been unsuccessful as a legal professional, financial agent, religious figure and member of a alternative community.

“He was mentally ill and his unique form of delusion was false belief. He always believed that God had chosen him for greatness. He actually had financially a better start than Garfield but where Garfield progressed and improved, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a pathway to success: politics. Carried away in the events of the presidential race, he prepared and gave an unimportant address, and became certain in his thoughts that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau calculated he had earned a high-level government job. He went to the capital and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, insisting to be made the diplomatic representative — a post for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a problem that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Assassination and Physician Mistakes

On 2 July 1881, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his college reunion. As he walked through the transportation center, Guiteau appeared suddenly, withdrew an weapon from his jacket and assassinated the leader in the back.

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