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Over many years, the heirs of the 20th US president shared stories about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his violent end. We understood what had happened, that he was gunned down in a train station,” explains one of his modern descendants. “We studied the story in historical accounts but, somehow, we just glanced over it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Forgotten President

This transformed in 2011 with the release of a historical book, which revived interest in Garfield's unfinished life. This work has now inspired a television production titled the historical drama, starring a talented performer as the national leader and another skilled actor as the wanderer who shot him.

The series aims to shine a light on Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the White House during the economic era only to succumb to its toxic political divisions. His time in office was ended prematurely after only half a year not only by the gunman's shot but by physician mistakes – an incident now mostly overlooked while the deaths of Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a legal professional, he was a religious leader, he was a agriculturalist. He was all of these things which also shaped who he was and how he was 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 born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His parent passed away when he was 18 months old, leaving his mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in difficult circumstances. An insatiable reader, Garfield labored on waterways to make funds for an schooling.

He pursued jurisprudence, was became a preacher, became head of a school in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a educational contemporary, his future wife, with whom he would have seven children. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a righteous fight against slavery and advanced to the military position.

“As I studied his life, I was astonished. He was remarkably smart. He was extremely courageous. He was very progressive for the period. He was kind. He was a good person and would have been an outstanding leader had he lived.”

Government Service and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was persuaded by President Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was chosen to the legislative branch, where he would serve as a party member for nearly two decades. He was ardent advocate of African American voting rights, viewing it as a question of fairness and the realization of a military promise.

“The address he delivered on the House chamber will tear your heart out. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this issue was extremely significant to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the political organization was fundamentally fractured between the “political group”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a continued leadership for former president, and the “opposing faction”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, representatives began looking for a compromise. Garfield's emotional address nominating Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly shouted, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the shocking choice. To placate the Stalwart faction, the vice presidential pick, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his running mate. In the general election 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 very unusual and maybe particular about 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 major battle of Garfield's short presidency was his disagreement with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling insisted on authority over government appointments in New York, particularly the influential position of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the presidential authority”. He selected a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The conflict escalated into a visible struggle but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a public failure, Conkling and his junior senator quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was approved. It was a historic triumph for the presidential control over the faction system and for the cause of reform 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 embodied the negative aspect of the political appointment process. The assassin was a unstable individual with a background of professional failures, mental instability and physical and psychological abuse. He had been unsuccessful as a legal professional, financial agent, minister and member of a unconventional group.

“He was emotionally unstable and his specific type of insanity was fantasy. He always believed that divine selection for importance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a way to accomplishment: politics. Caught up in the drama of the presidential race, he created and presented 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 deserved a important role. He journeyed to DC and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, demanding to be made the foreign service officer — a post for which he had no experience. He became such a problem that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Shooting and Medical Malpractice

On the tragic date, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was traveling from DC for his educational gathering. As he passed through the train depot, Guiteau emerged from hiding, withdrew an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his jacket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield shouted: “Why is this occurring?” and collapsed on the station floor. When a {police officer|law