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Throughout history, the heirs of the 20th US president spoke proudly about his remarkable life but rarely mentioned his tragic assassination. “We knew what had happened, that he was assassinated in a railway depot,” explains one of his modern descendants. “We studied the story in publications but, for various reasons, we just glanced over it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Historical Figure

This changed in 2011 with the publication of Destiny of the Republic, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's unfinished life. The publication has now led to a Netflix drama titled Death by Lightning, starring a talented performer as the commander-in-chief and Matthew Macfadyen as the wanderer who assassinated him.

The series aims to shine a light on Garfield, who rose from poverty to the highest office during the economic era only to fall victim to its bitter partisan conflicts. His time in office was ended prematurely after only half a year not only by the gunman's shot but by doctor errors – an incident now largely forgotten while the deaths of the Civil War president and John F Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a legal professional, he was a minister, he was a agriculturalist. He was all of these things which also influenced his personality and his behavior and all the information about him the family carries down with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Highest Office

Garfield was the final national leader raised in rustic conditions in the Midwest in 1831. His father died when he was 18 months old, leaving his mom, Eliza, to support a large family in challenging conditions. An dedicated student, Garfield worked on canal boats to generate income for an schooling.

He studied law, was became a preacher, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a educational contemporary, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a holy crusade against forced servitude and progressed to the rank of major general.

“As I studied his life, I found it incredible. He was remarkably smart. He was fearless. He was ahead of his time for the period. He was compassionate. He was a good person and would have been one of our great presidents had he lived.”

Government Service and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was persuaded by the wartime leader to depart military life when he was chosen to the legislative branch, where he would function as a Republican for nearly two decades. He was ardent advocate of African American voting rights, viewing it as a matter of justice and the fulfillment of a military promise.

“His oration on the floor of Congress will move you deeply. He was an impressive communicator and this matter was very important to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the political organization was fundamentally fractured between the “Stalwarts”, led by an influential figure, who supported a additional presidency for Ulysses S Grant, and the “rival group”, who supported political contender. Garfield attended as a supporter of his close associate John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was stalled between Grant and Blaine, party members began searching for a middle ground. Garfield's powerful oration supporting Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a attendee unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the extended selection process, a wave of backers made Garfield the surprise nominee. To appease the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a political ally from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the national vote Garfield beat the rival politician to become the sole representative of the House ever to be elected president.

Truncated Term and Government Conflicts

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is remarkably uncommon and maybe special for the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was pushed toward it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's limited administration was his confrontation with Conkling over the “patronage network”. 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 presidential authority”. He selected a rival of Conkling to the post.

The conflict escalated into a visible struggle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Experiencing a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his colleague left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's candidate was ratified. It was a historic triumph for the executive authority over the party machine and for the change movement over “machine politics”.

The Killer and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being stalked by a disturbed and delusional man who exemplified the dark side of the political appointment process. The assassin was a wanderer with a record of occupational setbacks, emotional issues and childhood trauma. He had not succeeded as a legal professional, bill collector, religious figure and member of a alternative community.

“He was emotionally unstable and his particular brand of madness was delusion. He always believed that religious calling for importance. He actually had financially a better start than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a route to achievement: politics. Caught up in the excitement of the 1880 election, he wrote and delivered an minor oration, and became certain in his thoughts that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau reckoned he had earned a important role. He travelled to Washington and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, requiring to be made the foreign service officer — a role for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Attack and Physician Mistakes

On that fateful day, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he walked through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau appeared suddenly, produced an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his clothing and assassinated the leader in the back.

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