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For generations, the family members of President Garfield discussed openly about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his tragic assassination. We understood what had happened, that he was gunned down in a railway depot,” explains one of his living relatives. “We studied the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just glanced over it.”

Renewed Attention in a Overlooked Leader

This shifted in 2011 with the publication of Destiny of the Republic, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's unfinished life. The book has now led to a streaming series titled Death by Lightning, featuring an acclaimed actor as the national leader and another skilled actor as the unstable individual who gunned him down.

The series seeks to shine a light on Garfield, who rose from poverty to the presidency during the historical period only to succumb to its bitter partisan conflicts. His presidency was truncated after only several months not only by the assassin's bullet but by medical malpractice – an tragedy now mostly overlooked while the assassinations of President Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a attorney, he was a religious leader, he was a agriculturalist. He was multiple professions which also shaped who he was and his behavior and the complete story about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Presidency

Garfield was the final national leader born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His parent passed away when he was just a toddler, leaving his mom, Eliza, to raise five children in difficult circumstances. An insatiable reader, Garfield worked on canal boats 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 government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a former classmate, his partner, with whom he would have a large family. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a holy crusade against human bondage and progressed to the military position.

“As I studied his life, I couldn't believe it. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was fearless. He was very progressive for the period. He was kind. He was a moral individual and would have been one of our great presidents had he survived.”

Government Service and Shocking Selection

Garfield was convinced by the wartime leader to resign his military commission when he was elected to the Congress, where he would function as a political representative for nearly two decades. He was strong supporter of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a question of fairness 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 topic was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the party was sharply split between the “faction members”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a additional presidency for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a supporter of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the massive gathering was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, party members began looking for a compromise. Garfield's emotional address nominating Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, representatives, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a rush of supporters made Garfield the shocking choice. To appease the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a political ally from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the national vote Garfield defeated the Democratic nominee to become the sole representative of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Truncated Term 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 completely dismissed it but he was forced into the role.”

The major battle of Garfield's limited administration was his confrontation with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling demanded control over government appointments in New York, particularly the influential position of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He nominated a opponent of Conkling to the post.

The confrontation turned into a public battle but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Facing a embarrassing loss, Conkling and his associate left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was ratified. It was a significant win for the executive authority over the faction system and for the change movement over “political control”.

The Assassin and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being followed by a mentally unstable individual who exemplified the negative aspect of the political appointment process. The gunman was a drifter with a background of career disappointments, mental instability and childhood trauma. He had not succeeded as a attorney, financial agent, minister and member of a free-love commune.

“He was mentally ill and his unique form of delusion was fantasy. He always believed that God had chosen him for importance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a route to achievement: politics. Swept up in the excitement of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an insignificant speech, and became convinced in his own mind that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau calculated he had earned a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, insisting to be made the diplomatic representative — a position for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually prohibited from the White House.

The Shooting and Medical Malpractice

On 2 July 1881, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his educational gathering. As he passed through the train depot, Guiteau emerged from hiding, pulled an handgun from his clothing and fired multiple rounds in the back.

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