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For generations, the heirs of the 20th US president spoke proudly about his impressive career but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. “We knew what had happened, that he was shot in a train station,” notes one of his family members. “We read about the story in publications but, somehow, we just passed over it quickly.”

Renewed Attention in a Historical Figure

This transformed in 2011 with the release of Destiny of the Republic, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's cut-short presidency. This work has now resulted in a television production titled the historical drama, featuring Michael Shannon as the president and his co-star as the wanderer who assassinated him.

The series aims to illuminate Garfield, who rose from poverty to the presidency during the Gilded Age only to fall victim to its toxic political divisions. His time in office was ended prematurely after only 200 days not only by the assassin's bullet but by physician mistakes – an incident now frequently ignored while the killings of President Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to fascinate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a attorney, he was a preacher, he was a agriculturalist. He was multiple professions which also shaped who he was and how he was and all the information about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the White House

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief born in a log cabin in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His father died when he was 18 months old, leaving his parent, Eliza, to support a large family in hard times. An insatiable reader, Garfield found employment on vessels to earn money for an formal learning.

He learned legal principles, was became a preacher, became head of a school in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he wed a educational contemporary, his partner, with whom he would have a large family. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a righteous fight against slavery and rose to the military position.

“When I started researching him, I found it incredible. He was remarkably smart. He was incredibly brave. He was innovative for the time. He was compassionate. He was a decent human being and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he remained alive.”

Government Service and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was convinced by Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was selected to the legislative branch, where he would serve as a political representative for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a question of fairness and the completion of a military promise.

“The address he delivered on the floor of Congress will tear your heart out. He was an remarkable speaker and this topic was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the faction was fundamentally fractured between the “faction members”, led by an influential figure, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported political contender. Garfield attended as a backer of his friend and fellow Ohioan John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began seeking a compromise. Garfield's emotional address proposing Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, representatives, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the shocking choice. To placate the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the presidential race Garfield overcame the rival politician to become the sole representative of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Short Presidency and Political Battles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is very unusual 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 thrust into it.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's brief term was his disagreement with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling required power over government appointments in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of port authority. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He proposed a rival of Conkling to the post.

The dispute turned into a visible struggle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his junior senator resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was confirmed. It was a significant win for the power of the presidency over the party machine and for the cause of reform over “political control”.

The Killer and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being stalked by a mentally unstable individual who embodied the problematic element of the political appointment process. The gunman was a unstable individual with a history of career disappointments, emotional issues and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a legal professional, financial agent, religious figure and member of a alternative community.

“He was psychologically disturbed and his specific type of insanity was false belief. He always believed that God had chosen him for importance. He actually had financially a better start than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a pathway to success: politics. Carried away in the excitement of the political contest, he created and presented an unimportant address, and became convinced in his own mind that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau calculated he had merited a high-level government job. He journeyed to DC and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, demanding to be made the US consul in Paris — a position for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Attack and Medical Malpractice

On the tragic date, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his college reunion. As he moved through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an handgun from his clothing and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield shouted: “What's happening?” and fell on the station floor. When a {police officer|law