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For generations, the family members of the 20th US president shared stories about his extraordinary achievements but avoided talking about his untimely death. “We knew what had happened, that he was assassinated in a train station,” reflects one of his modern descendants. “We read about the story in publications but, for various reasons, we just skimmed through it.”

Renewed Attention in a Overlooked Leader

This changed in 2011 with the issuing of a historical book, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's cut-short presidency. The publication has now inspired a television production titled the historical drama, starring a talented performer as the commander-in-chief and his co-star as the drifter who assassinated him.

The series promises to shine a light on Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the White House during the Gilded Age only to become a casualty to its bitter partisan conflicts. His tenure was cut short after only half a year not only by the gunman's shot but by medical malpractice – an event now mostly overlooked while the deaths of the Civil War president and President Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“One cannot help but admire what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a legal professional, he was a minister, he was a land worker. He was multiple professions which also formed his character and how he was and everything that we know about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Rising from Poverty to the Presidency

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief coming from pioneer roots in Cuyahoga County in 1831. His dad perished when he was very young, leaving his mother, Eliza, to raise five children in hard times. An voracious learner, Garfield labored on waterways to earn money for an schooling.

He pursued jurisprudence, was ordained as minister, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a government official. In 1858 he entered matrimony with a previous schoolmate, his future wife, with whom he would have seven children. An ardent Unionist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a holy crusade against forced servitude and advanced to the military position.

“As I studied his life, I found it incredible. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was incredibly brave. He was very progressive for the time. He was caring. He was a decent human being and would have been one of our great presidents had he remained alive.”

Public Life and Surprise Candidacy

Garfield was encouraged by the wartime leader to depart military life when he was elected to the Congress, where he would serve as a political representative for nearly two decades. He was dedicated proponent of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a matter of justice and the fulfillment of a military promise.

“The address he delivered on the House chamber will tear your heart out. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this issue was extremely significant to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the faction was deeply divided between the “Stalwarts”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a continued leadership for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported another candidate. Garfield attended as a supporter of his close associate John Sherman.

When the massive gathering was stalled between Grant and Blaine, party members began searching for a middle ground. Garfield's impassioned speech proposing Sherman won them over. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want?” to which a voice from the crowd unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the 36th ballot, a rush of supporters made Garfield the shocking choice. To placate the Stalwart faction, another politician, a faction member from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the general election Garfield beat the opposing candidate to become the sole representative of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Short Presidency and Power Struggles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is extremely rare and maybe unique to the American presidency is he didn't want the job. 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 disagreement with Conkling over the “patronage network”. Conkling required power over government appointments in New York, particularly the powerful and lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield refused, stating the issue was “if the commander-in-chief should be registering clerk of the senate or the executive of the United States”. He proposed a rival of Conkling to the post.

The dispute escalated into a open fight but Garfield outsmarted Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his associate resigned their seats in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was confirmed. It was a landmark victory for the power of the presidency over the party machine and for the change movement over “boss rule”.

The Killer and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield confronted influential people of his party, he was being stalked by a mentally unstable individual who represented the problematic element of the spoils network. Charles Guiteau was a drifter with a record of professional failures, mental instability and early life difficulties. He had not succeeded as a lawyer, bill collector, minister and member of a free-love commune.

“He was emotionally unstable and his particular brand of madness was fantasy. He always believed that divine selection for significance. He actually had financially a better start than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had at last discovered a pathway to success: politics. Carried away in the excitement of the presidential race, he wrote and delivered an insignificant speech, and became persuaded internally that he was single-handedly responsible for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau reckoned he had earned a important role. He went to the capital and relentlessly pestered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, insisting to be made the foreign service officer — a position for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a annoyance that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Assassination and Medical Malpractice

On 2 July 1881, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his college reunion. As he passed through the train depot, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an ivory-handled British Bull Dog revolver from his jacket and assassinated the leader in the back.

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