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Throughout history, the heirs of the 20th US president spoke proudly about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his violent end. We were aware what had happened, that he was shot in a train station,” reflects one of his modern descendants. “We studied the story in publications but, in one way or another, we just glanced over it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Historical Figure

This transformed in 2011 with the publication of a presidential biography, which revived interest in Garfield's unfinished life. This work has now resulted in a streaming series titled Death by Lightning, including an acclaimed actor as the commander-in-chief and Matthew Macfadyen as the drifter who gunned him down.

The series aims to shine a light on Garfield, who rose from poverty to the presidency during the economic era only to succumb to its toxic political divisions. His tenure was cut short after only several months not only by the gunman's shot but by medical malpractice – an incident now frequently ignored while the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and JFK continue to intrigue the public.

“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was like a multi-threat: he was a lawyer, he was a religious leader, he was a land worker. He was multiple professions which also shaped who he was and his approach and everything that we know about him the family carries down with us.”

From Humble Beginnings to the Presidency

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief raised in rustic conditions in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His father died when he was very young, leaving his mother, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in hard times. An insatiable reader, Garfield found employment on vessels to generate income for an education.

He studied law, was ordained as minister, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a previous schoolmate, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have a large family. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a holy crusade against human bondage and advanced to the officer status.

“When I started researching him, I found it incredible. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was fearless. He was ahead of his time for the era. He was caring. He was a moral individual and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he survived.”

Government Service and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was persuaded by President Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was elected to the Congress, where he would function as a party member for 17 years. He was strong supporter of black suffrage, viewing it as a question of fairness and the completion of a military promise.

“The address he delivered on the legislative arena will affect you emotionally. He was an impressive communicator and this topic was very important to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the party was fundamentally fractured between the “faction members”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a third term for military hero, and the “rival group”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a supporter of his close associate John Sherman.

When the huge assembly was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates began seeking a compromise. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a wave of backers made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To placate the Stalwart faction, another politician, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the presidential race Garfield defeated the opposing candidate to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Brief Administration and Power Struggles

“His possible achievements and what is very unusual and maybe unique to the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was pushed toward it.”

The major battle of Garfield's short presidency was his disagreement with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling required power over federal patronage in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “whether the president is registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He selected a rival of Conkling to the post.

The dispute turned into a open fight but Garfield defeated 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 ratified. It was a landmark victory for the power of the presidency over the faction system and for the change movement over “machine politics”.

The Gunman and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being stalked by a psychologically troubled person who exemplified the negative aspect of the political appointment process. The assassin was a wanderer with a background of career disappointments, psychological problems and early life difficulties. He had been unsuccessful as a legal professional, financial agent, preacher and member of a free-love commune.

“He was emotionally unstable and his specific type of insanity was fantasy. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a pathway to success: politics. Caught up in the events of the presidential race, he prepared and gave an unimportant address, and became convinced in his own mind that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau calculated he had earned a high-level government job. He travelled to Washington and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, requiring to be made the US consul in Paris — a position for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Shooting and Physician Mistakes

On that fateful day, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his alumni event. As he moved through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an handgun from his jacket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield shouted: “What's happening?” and dropped on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law