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.

Early life

He was born in Orange Township, now Moreland Hills, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, southeast of Cleveland to Abram Garfield and Eliza Ballou. He was named for his older brother James Ballou Garfield, who died in infancy, and his father, who died in 1833, when James Abram was 18 months old. He grew up cared for by his mother and an uncle.

Related Topics:
Orange Township - Moreland Hills - Cuyahoga County, Ohio - Cleveland - 1833

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From 1851 to 1854 he attended the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later named Hiram College) in Hiram, Ohio. He then transferred to Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1856, as an outstanding student who enjoyed all subjects except chemistry. He then taught at the Eclectic Institute. He was an instructor in classical languages for the 1856-1857 academic year, and was made president of the Institute from 1857 to 1860. Remarkably, the ambidextrous Garfield could simultaneously write in Greek with one hand and in Latin with the other.

Related Topics:
1851 - 1854 - Hiram College - Hiram, Ohio - Williams College - Williamstown, Massachusetts - 1856 - Chemistry - Classical languages - 1857 - 1860 - Ambidextrous - Greek - Latin

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On November 11, 1858, he married Lucretia Rudolph. They had five children. A son, James Rudolph Garfield, followed him into politics and became Secretary of the Interior under Theodore Roosevelt.

Related Topics:
November 11 - 1858 - Lucretia Rudolph - James Rudolph Garfield - Secretary of the Interior - Theodore Roosevelt

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Garfield decided that the academic life was not for him, and studied law privately. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1860. Even before admission to the bar, he entered politics. He was elected an Ohio state senator in 1859, serving until 1861. He was an enthusiastic Republican all his political life.

Related Topics:
Ohio - Bar - 1860 - 1859 - 1861 - Republican

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Notably, Garfield found a new proof for the Pythagorean theorem in 1876.

Related Topics:
Pythagorean theorem - 1876

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