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Throughout history, the family members of the 20th US president discussed openly about his impressive career but seldom discussed his tragic assassination. We were aware what had happened, that he was assassinated in a transportation hub,” explains one of his living relatives. “We learned about the story in books but, somehow, we just skimmed through it.”

Revived Interest in a Historical Figure

This transformed in 2011 with the release of a presidential biography, which generated attention in Garfield's cut-short presidency. The publication has now inspired a Netflix drama titled the presidential series, featuring a talented performer as the president and another skilled actor as the drifter who gunned him down.

The series aims to illuminate Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the highest office during the Gilded Age only to fall victim to its bitter partisan conflicts. His time in office was truncated after only 200 days not only by the killer's weapon but by medical malpractice – an event now largely forgotten while the assassinations of President Lincoln 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 farmer. He was multiple professions which also influenced his personality and how he was and all the information about him the family carries down with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Highest Office

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His dad perished when he was just a toddler, leaving his parent, Eliza, to raise five children in difficult circumstances. An insatiable reader, Garfield labored on waterways to make funds for an education.

He learned legal principles, was ordained as minister, became head of a school in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a previous schoolmate, his future wife, with whom he would have multiple offspring. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the civil war as a righteous fight against slavery and progressed to the rank of major general.

“When I started researching him, I was astonished. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was incredibly brave. He was very progressive for the time. He was caring. He was a good person and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he remained alive.”

Public Life and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was encouraged by Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was chosen to the legislative branch, where he would serve as a Republican for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of African American voting rights, viewing it as a issue of rights and the realization of a conflict agreement.

“The speech he gave on the House chamber will affect you emotionally. He was an remarkable speaker and this issue was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago the faction was sharply split between the “political group”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a additional presidency for Ulysses S Grant, and the “rival group”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a backer of his close associate John Sherman.

When the massive gathering was stalled between Grant and Blaine, party members began searching for a solution. Garfield's powerful oration proposing Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “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 rush of supporters made Garfield the shocking choice. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the national vote Garfield defeated the Democratic nominee to become the only sitting member of the House ever to be elected president.

Brief Administration and Power Struggles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is very unusual and maybe particular about the American presidency is he didn't want the job. It's not that he had entirely ignored the possibility but he was pushed toward it.”

The major battle of Garfield's brief term was his disagreement with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling insisted on authority over political positions in New York, particularly the influential position of port authority. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He selected a rival of Conkling to the post.

The dispute became a visible struggle but Garfield defeated Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his junior senator left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's selection was confirmed. It was a landmark victory for the power of the presidency over the political organization and for the cause of reform over “machine politics”.

The Assassin and His Psychological Issues

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being pursued by a mentally unstable individual who exemplified the dark side of the political appointment process. Charles Guiteau was a unstable individual with a background of occupational setbacks, emotional issues and childhood trauma. He had failed as a attorney, bill collector, religious figure and member of a free-love commune.

“He was mentally ill and his particular brand of madness was fantasy. He always believed that divine selection for greatness. He actually had financially a better start than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau failed at everything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a route to achievement: politics. Caught up in the excitement of the presidential race, he created and presented an insignificant speech, and became persuaded internally that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this logic, Guiteau reckoned he had earned a high-level government job. He journeyed to DC and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, demanding to be made the US consul in Paris — a position for which he had no experience. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Shooting and Medical Malpractice

On that fateful day, just a short time into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his educational gathering. As he moved through the transportation center, Guiteau emerged from hiding, withdrew an weapon from his jacket and shot the president twice in the back.

Garfield exclaimed: “What's happening?” and fell on the station floor. When a {police officer|law