Exposing the Devastating Reality Within Netflix's Latest Historical Drama

For generations, the heirs of the 20th US president spoke proudly about his remarkable life but avoided talking about his violent end. “We knew what had happened, that he was assassinated in a train station,” notes one of his family members. “We learned about the story in historical accounts but, somehow, we just passed over it quickly.”

Revived Interest in a Historical Figure

This changed in 2011 with the release of a presidential biography, which generated attention in Garfield's truncated career. This work has now led to a Netflix drama titled the presidential series, including an acclaimed actor as the national leader and Matthew Macfadyen as the unstable individual who assassinated him.

The series seeks to illuminate Garfield, who emerged from difficult circumstances to the White House during the Gilded Age only to succumb to its deep political rifts. His tenure was truncated after only half a year not only by the gunman's shot but by physician mistakes – an incident now frequently ignored while the deaths of the Civil War president and JFK continue to fascinate the public.

“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a attorney, he was a preacher, he was a farmer. He was all of these things which also formed his character and his approach and the complete story about him the family carries down with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the White House

Garfield was the final national leader raised in rustic conditions in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His dad perished when he was just a toddler, leaving his mom, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in hard times. An dedicated student, Garfield labored on waterways to make funds for an formal learning.

He pursued jurisprudence, was entered the clergy, became head of a school in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he wed a previous schoolmate, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have seven children. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a moral battle against forced servitude and advanced to the rank of major general.

“As I studied his life, I was astonished. He was remarkably smart. He was extremely courageous. He was ahead of his time for the era. He was caring. He was a decent human being and would have been an outstanding leader had he survived.”

Public Life and Shocking Selection

Garfield was convinced by Lincoln to depart military life when he was chosen to the legislative branch, where he would work as a party member for multiple terms. He was strong supporter of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a matter of justice and the fulfillment of a conflict agreement.

“The address he delivered on the legislative arena will tear your heart out. He was an impressive communicator and this matter was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the party gathering in Chicago the faction was fundamentally fractured between the “political group”, led by an influential figure, who supported a third term for military hero, and the “rival group”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a backer of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was gridlocked between Grant and Blaine, delegates 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 voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a wave of backers made Garfield the shocking choice. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, Chester Arthur, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the general election Garfield beat the opposing candidate to become the sole representative of the House ever to be selected for the highest office.

Truncated Term and Political Battles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is very unusual and maybe unique to the American presidency is he didn't want the job. It's not that he had never thought about it but he was pushed toward it.”

The major battle of Garfield's brief term was his clash with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling insisted on authority over federal patronage 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 confrontation turned into a open fight but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Facing a public failure, Conkling and his junior senator left their positions in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was approved. It was a landmark victory for the power of the presidency over the faction system and for the change movement 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 disturbed and delusional man who embodied the problematic element of the political appointment process. The assassin was a wanderer with a background of professional failures, mental instability and childhood trauma. He had failed as a legal professional, financial agent, religious figure and member of a alternative community.

“He was emotionally unstable and his unique form of delusion was delusion. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield succeeded and advanced, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had eventually located a pathway to success: politics. Carried away in the events of the political contest, he prepared and gave an insignificant speech, and became persuaded internally that he was solely accountable for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau determined he had deserved a prestigious position. He journeyed to DC and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other leaders, requiring to be made the diplomatic representative — a position for which he had inadequate skills. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Shooting and Physician Mistakes

On that fateful day, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his educational gathering. As he moved through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau emerged from hiding, pulled an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his coat pocket and assassinated the leader in the back.

Garfield cried out: “My God, what is this?” and dropped on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law