James A. Garfield

Continuing the trend of reading about Presidents from the 1800s I decided to go with James A. Garfield. 

Garfield was born in rural Ohio in poverty. Garfield is one of seven Presidents from Ohio, joining

• Ulysses S. Grant
• Rutherford B. Hayes
• Benjamin Harrison
• William McKinley
• William Howard Taft
• Warren Harding

1856 Graduated from Williams College

1861 Joined the Union Army and fought in the Civil War

1862 Elected to the US House of Representatives

Between the Civil War and being elected to Congress, Garfield only spent five months of the five year span with his wife Lucretia. Garfield had an affair with Lucia Gilbert Calhoun, a reporter for the New York Tribune. I am losing count on how many Presidents had affairs.

1876

Attended the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia

Twist of fate: renowned British surgeon Dr. Joseph Lister and Alexander Graham Bell were present and would cross paths with Garfield later.

1880 Republican Nomination

Former President Ulysses Grant seeking an unprecedented third term was the leading candidate to secure the nomination. Senator Roscoe Conkling from New York, the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party, blocked Grant's nomination.

Garfield was not interested in the Republican nomination which was basically forced on him by Conkling. Garfield had no say in the decision of his running mate. Chester Arthur from New York was selected as VP, mainly to help win the election.

Garfield did no campaigning prior to the election. Far cry from today's presidential campaigns. He stayed at his farm in Mentor, Ohio. Voter turnout was 78% and Garfield defeated the Democratic nominee Winfred Scott Hancock.

March 4, 1881 Inauguration

• Inaugurations would not be moved to January till 1937.
• The reason for March inaugurations was that time was needed for the President elect to secure a cabinet due to difficult travel conditions.

July 2, 1881 Garfield shot

Garfield and his Secretary of State James Blaine were at the train station when Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau. Guiteau was quickly apprehended. In 1881 there was no secret service, the President wandered the streets of Washington, D.C. freely with no protection and visitors were allowed in the White House.

It's crazy to think that President's would not have protection, especially since the country was still recovering from Lincoln's assassination 16 years earlier.

Dr. Lister, a decade earlier in Europe had introduced techniques to sterilize operating rooms. Bell tried to use an induction balance to locate the bullet. Dr. Bliss, Garfield's treating physician made multiple errors using unsterile equipment and fingers to locate the bullet.

Garfield died on September 19, 1881 as the infection is what ultimately killed him. It's pretty safe to say if Garfield had received no medical treatment and the bullet left alone, he would have survived. Plenty of Civil War veterans lived for years with bullets inside them.

Guiteau was hanged on June 30, 1882.

It's hard to judge Garfield's Presidency as he was only President for six months. He served his country in the Civil War and Congress. 

19 down (9,435 pages) 25 to go. Next up James Monroe.