James A. Garfield

James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States from March 1881 to his assassination.^[1] Before he became president, he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1881.

He was the second president to be killed while in office. Four months into his presidency, on July 2, he was shot by Charles J. Guiteau. The wound was not immediately fatal, but the infections became worse and he died 79 days, later on September 19, 1881. For almost half of that time, he was bedridden as a result of that shot.^[2]

James Abram Garfield was born in Orange Township, now Moreland Hills, Ohio. on November 19 1831. His father died in 1833, when James Abram was 18 months old. He grew up cared for by his mother and an uncle.^[3]

In Orange Township, Garfield attended school, a predecessor of the Orange City Schools. From 1851 to 1854, he attended the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later named Hiram College] in Hiram, Ohio. He transferred to Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he was a brother of Delta Upsilon. He graduated in 1856 as an outstanding student and 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 yjr principal of the institute from 1857 to 1860.

Garfield could write in Greek with his left hand and Latin with his right hand at the same time.^[4]

In 1876, Garfield created a trapezoid proof of the Pythagorean theorem, which was published in the New England Journal of Education.^[5][6]

On November 11, 1858, he married Lucretia Rudolph.

They had seven children (five sons and two daughters): Eliza A. Garfield (1860-1863), Harry A. Garfield (1863-1942), James R. Garfield (1865-1950), Mary Garfield (1867-1947), Irvin M. Garfield (1870-1951), Abram Garfield (1872-1958), and Edward Garfield (1874-1876). James R. followed him into politics and became Secretary of the Interior under President Theodore Roosevelt.

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 his admission to the bar, he entered politics. He was elected an Ohio state senator in 1859 and served until 1861. He was a member of the Republican Party for whis whole political career. He was a general in the American Civil War and fought in the Battle of Shiloh and the Chattanooga Campaign.^[7]

Garfield became the 20th president of the United States on March 4, 1881, but he was less than four months into his term when he was shot in the back by Charles J. Guiteau at about 9:30 a.m. in Washington, D.C., on July 2. Guiteau had helped Garfield's campaign for president and then asked for a job when he won, but the Garfield refused. Garfield died eleven weeks later on September 19, 1881, at the age of 49. The 31st Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. James G. Blaine. was at Garfield's side when he was shot down. At this time, it was not common for U.S. Presidents to have bodyguards as protection although President Abraham Lincoln had had one during the Civil War when he was shot.

Vice President Chester A. Arthur became president when Garfield died. Guiteau was tried for murder, and many thought he would be found not guilty because he was insane. He was actually found guilty. Before he walked up the gallows, he read a poem and then ws hanged. It is now believed Garfield was in fact killed because of his doctors, who stuck their fingers inside his wounds while they treated him, which caused a serious infection. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, tried to locate the bullet with a primitive metal detector, but he failed because the bed was lined with steel wire, which he did not know. While Garfield was still alive, news of his condition was broadcasted across the country by telegraph, which was something new.

In a 2013 medical journal article, the historical record in regards to Garfield's assassination and death has been questioned, with the new argument being that the deterioration in Garfield's condition from late July 1881 was actually caused by his doctors accidentally injuring and making a hole in his bladder, which resulted in Garfield getting cholecystitis.^[8]

• Garfield's White House biography Archived 2006-03-15 at the Wayback Machine