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For generations, the family members of the 20th US president shared stories about his remarkable life but rarely mentioned his violent end. We understood what had happened, that he was assassinated in a train station,” reflects one of his modern descendants. “We learned about the story in books but, somehow, we just glanced over it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Historical Figure

This shifted in 2011 with the release of a historical book, which generated attention in Garfield's unfinished life. The book has now resulted in a television production titled Death by Lightning, featuring a talented performer as the commander-in-chief and another skilled actor as the drifter who assassinated him.

The series aims to illuminate Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the highest office during the economic era only to fall victim to its toxic political divisions. His time in office was truncated after only several months not only by the killer's weapon but by medical malpractice – an tragedy now mostly overlooked while the assassinations of the Civil War president and President Kennedy continue to intrigue the public.

“You can't help but be proud what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a lawyer, he was a preacher, he was a agriculturalist. He was multiple professions which also shaped who he was and how he was and everything that we know about him the descendants preserve with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Highest Office

Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin in the Midwest in 1831. His dad perished when he was very young, leaving his parent, Eliza, to raise five children in challenging conditions. An dedicated student, Garfield labored on waterways to earn money for an education.

He pursued jurisprudence, was ordained as minister, became president of Hiram College 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 passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a righteous fight against slavery and progressed to the military position.

“As I studied his life, I found it incredible. He was absolutely brilliant. He was fearless. He was ahead of his time for the time. He was compassionate. He was a decent human being and would have been a remarkable commander-in-chief had he lived.”

Government Service and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was persuaded by Lincoln to depart military life when he was selected to the Congress, where he would function as a party member for 17 years. He was ardent advocate of African American voting rights, viewing it as a matter of justice and the realization of a military promise.

“The speech he gave on the House chamber will affect you emotionally. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this issue was very important to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the party was sharply split between the “faction members”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a continued leadership for Ulysses S Grant, and the “rival group”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a supporter of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was deadlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates began looking for a middle ground. Garfield's impassioned speech nominating Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a wave of backers made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To placate the Stalwart faction, another politician, a political ally from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the general election Garfield beat the Democratic nominee to become the sole representative of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Brief Administration and Political Battles

“What would have made Garfield great and what is remarkably uncommon and maybe particular about the American presidency is he hadn't campaigned aggressively. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was thrust into it.”

The defining conflict of Garfield's limited administration was his confrontation with Conkling over the “spoils system”. Conkling required power over political positions in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield declined, 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 conflict turned into a public battle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a public failure, Conkling and his colleague 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 cause of reform over “boss rule”.

The Assassin and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being pursued by a psychologically troubled person who represented the dark side of the patronage system. The gunman was a unstable individual with a background of professional failures, emotional issues and early life difficulties. He had failed as a lawyer, debt recovery agent, minister and member of a alternative community.

“He was mentally ill and his unique form of delusion was false belief. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had more privileged beginning than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a way to accomplishment: politics. Carried away in the drama of the 1880 election, he created and presented an minor oration, and became certain in his thoughts that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau determined he had merited a high-level government job. He journeyed to DC and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other officials, insisting to be made the foreign service officer — a role for which he had no experience. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Assassination and Medical Malpractice

On 2 July 1881, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he moved through the train depot, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, withdrew an weapon from his clothing and shot the president twice in the back.

Garfield shouted: “Why is this occurring?” and dropped on the waiting area. When a {police officer|law