James A. Garfield

James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th President of the United States (1881), and the second U.S. President to be assassinated. His term was the second shortest in U.S. history, after William Henry Harrison's. Holding office from March to September of 1881, President Garfield was in office for a total of just six months and fifteen days.

Assassination

Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881, less than four months after taking office. The President was walking through the Baltimore and Potomac railroad station in Washington, D.C., accompanied by Secretary of State James G. Blaine. As he was being arrested after the shooting, Guiteau excitedly said, "I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts! I did it and I want to be arrested! Arthur is President now," which briefly led to unfounded suspicions that Arthur or his supporters had put Guiteau up to the crime. Guiteau was upset because of the rejection of his repeated attempts to be appointed as the United States consul in Paris--a position for which he had absolutely no qualifications--and was mentally ill as well. Garfield's assassination was instrumental to the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act on January 16, 1883.

Related Topics:
Charles J. Guiteau - July 2 - 1881 - Washington, D.C. - Secretary of State - James G. Blaine - Stalwart - Arthur - Consul - Paris - Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act - January 16 - 1883

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The second bullet that struck Garfield lodged in his back and could not be found. Alexander Graham Bell devised a metal detector in an attempt to find the bullet, but the metal bedframe Garfield was lying on confused the instrument. This was not realized at the time, bedframes being relatively rare. Garfield became increasingly ill over a period of several weeks due to infection and died 80 days after he was shot, of blood poisoning and bronchial

Related Topics:
Alexander Graham Bell - Metal detector - Blood poisoning

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pneumonia at 10:35 p.m. on Monday September 19, 1881 in Elberon, New Jersey. The ailing President had been moved to Elberon, a seaside community, in the vain hope that the fresh air and quiet there might aid his recovery. Most historians and medical experts now believe that Garfield probably would have survived his wound, had the doctors attending him been more capable. Several inserted their unsterilized fingers into the wound to probe for the bullet, and one doctor punctured Garfield's liver in doing so.

Related Topics:
Pneumonia - September 19 - 1881 - Elberon, New Jersey

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Guiteau was found guilty of assassinating Garfield, despite his lawyers raising an insanity defense. He insisted (with some validity, as is now recognized) that incompetent medical care had really killed the President. Guiteau was sentenced to death, and was executed by hanging on June 30, 1882 in Washington, D.C..

Related Topics:
Insanity defense - June 30 - 1882 - Washington, D.C.

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Garfield was buried, with great and solemn ceremony, in a mausoleum in Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the last person elected President directly from the United States House of Representatives. One of the most intelligent men ever to live in the White House, Garfield had great - but tragically unfulfilled - potential.

Related Topics:
Mausoleum - Lakeview Cemetery - Cleveland, Ohio - United States House of Representatives - White House

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