Garfield by Allan PeskinMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
President Garfield is one of those White House residents that don't receive a lot of attention. His biggest claim to fame, to the average person, unfortunately was that he was assassinated in 1881. He only held the Presidency for a few short months before being shot in Washington D.C. train station headed out on vacation.
His other claim to fame is that he was the last President born in a log cabin like Abraham Lincoln. He was born in Moreland Hills, Ohio in 1831. His father died when he was two. The family was poor and to overcome this he poured himself into books as a form of escape. He excelled in school. He eventually went to Hiriam College, in Ohio, and then to Willams College in Western Massachusetts. After graduation he returned to Hiriam College to teach and soon became it's President after short time.
He would soon get that personal urge to do more, which would be a recurring theme in his life. He soon became interested in politics and was elected to the Ohio Legislature. When the Civil War came around like many other's he wished to join in to save the union. He served respectively and rose to Brigadier General and was Chief of Staff of General Rosecran's
Midway through the Civil War the urge to move on struck and he was elected in the U.S. House of Representatives where he would stay for many years to be reelected without much opposition for the most part. He served well and was well liked.
In 1880 he had been elected U.S. Senator but before he was to take his position he was nominated for the Presidency as a compromise candidate. Although he didn't actively want the Presidency he seemed to have done little to discourage others from stumping in his behalf. He was perhaps thinking in the next election. When the Republican Convention was in a dead lock after 30 plus ballot his name was soon suggested as a way to break the impasse. It did in a big way. Even while they were counting ballots Garfield, who was actually there reluctantly on behalf of Senator John Sherman, was trying to talk Ohio's delegation to not vote for him. They did anyway.
His short lived Presidency was full of battles of patronage and Presidential Cabinet seats that seemed to change before members even sat in their seats. This was in an age where office seekers were the norm in exchange for their work in campaigning for a candidate. Powerful Senator Conkling from New York battled with Garfield over appointments such as the Treasury Cabinets seat , which was the most coveted position as it contained the most lucrative patronage positions to hand out. Conkling still expected this post (for someone he chose) even though he supported Garfield reluctantly (Conkling was a U.S. Grant supporter) during the campaign. When Garfield nominated Judge William H. Robertson, who was a hated rival of Conkling, to the New York Custom House(probably a more coveted position than a Cabinet position) he protested vehemently. When Robertson won his nomination he resigned from the Senate. When he tried to return he found out he had overestimated his power and was replaced. President Garfield had won the showdown.
His victory was short lived though. On July 2, 1881 he was shot twice by Charles J. Guiteau in the arm and his back while he was attempting to join his wife on vacation. Guiteau was soon captured as he tried to escape from the Washington train station. The shot in the arm was relatively minor compared to the one in his back. He was eventually taken back to the White House and attempts to locate and remove the bullet from his back were fruitless and beyond the ability of doctors at the time. In fact many blamed the constant poking around with unsterilized hands and instruments helped lead to his death. In fact he would have died anyway as the bullet was in spot that it would have been deadly to try and remove it even if they located it. He lingered on until late September when he finally passed away. President Garfield was widely mourned and lay in state in Washington and eventually Cleveland, Ohio where thousands of visitors payed their respects to their fallen leader. His final resting spot is in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.
Guiteau had been unsuccessful in everything he did in life. He had gone from job to job, attempted to be a lawyer, preacher, writer and even wrote his book(which was actually heavily plagiarized from another book). He became interested in politics and considered himself a stalwart (a faction of the Republican party that supported former President U.S. Grant). When Garfield ran for office he did campaign for him, if you could call it that. He wrote a speech that he passed around to everyone he met. No one but himself took him seriously. He did though expect to be rewarded with a political position for his supposed work. He asked for positions that were well out of his reach and ability although this didn’t deter him the least. He had a grandiose if not delusional image of himself despite his obvious failings and shortcomings. He had visited the White House so many times that that they got sick of him and barred him from visiting. He would not take no for an answer and often would take others obvious attempts at a polite refusal as encouragement which annoyed and tested the patience of others. In other words he was a pain in the backside. At some point he came to the morbid conclusion that Garfield had to be assassinated. This would clear the way for his stalwarts to come into power had his problems would be solved to speak. In a highly publicized trial he was convicted and he was eventually hanged on June 30, 1882.
I found the book to be a relatively easy reading historical biography. Had a good pace and I did enjoy this book very much and I do recommend it for those interested in American History and Presidents.
