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Throughout history, the descendants of the 20th US president shared stories about his remarkable life but rarely mentioned his untimely death. We were aware what had happened, that he was assassinated in a train station,” explains one of his living relatives. “We studied the story in historical accounts but, for various reasons, we just passed over it quickly.”

Revived Interest in a Historical Figure

This shifted in 2011 with the release of Destiny of the Republic, which generated attention in Garfield's truncated career. This work has now resulted in a streaming series titled Death by Lightning, featuring a talented performer as the commander-in-chief and another skilled actor as the unstable individual who gunned him down.

The series promises to illuminate Garfield, who came from humble beginnings to the highest office during the historical period only to fall victim to its deep political rifts. His tenure was cut short after only 200 days not only by the killer's weapon but by doctor errors – an incident now frequently ignored while the killings of the Civil War president and President Kennedy continue to captivate the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was incredibly versatile: he was a lawyer, he was a minister, he was a land worker. He was so many things which also formed his character and how he was and the complete story about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the White House

Garfield was the most recent commander-in-chief raised in rustic conditions in Ohio in 1831. His dad perished when he was just a toddler, leaving his mother, Eliza, to care for multiple kids in hard times. An insatiable reader, Garfield found employment on vessels to earn money for an education.

He studied law, was ordained as minister, became president of Hiram College in Ohio and was a state senator. In 1858 he wed a educational contemporary, Lucretia Rudolph, with whom he would have seven children. An passionate nationalist, Garfield viewed the national conflict as a holy crusade against slavery and rose to the rank of major general.

“When I started researching him, I was astonished. He was exceptionally intelligent. He was fearless. He was innovative for the time. He was compassionate. He was a decent human being and would have been one of our great presidents had he remained alive.”

Political Career and Shocking Selection

Garfield was encouraged by President Lincoln to resign his military commission when he was chosen to the House of Representatives, where he would function as a political representative for multiple terms. He was ardent advocate of racial equality in elections, viewing it as a matter of justice and the completion of a conflict agreement.

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

At the party gathering in Chicago the political organization was deeply divided between the “faction members”, led by a powerful politician, who supported a third term for Ulysses S Grant, and the “Half-Breeds”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a supporter of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the 15,000-person convention was stalled between Grant and Blaine, representatives began searching for a solution. Garfield's powerful oration supporting Sherman impressed them. During the speech, he reportedly exclaimed, “And now, delegates, what do we want?” to which a attendee unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a stampede of delegates made Garfield the unexpected candidate. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a Conkling loyalist from New York, was chosen as his second in command. In the presidential race Garfield defeated the rival politician to become the sole representative of the House ever to be elected president.

Short Presidency and Political Battles

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is remarkably uncommon and maybe special for the American presidency is he wasn't seeking the position. It's not that he had completely dismissed it but he was thrust into it.”

The central struggle of Garfield's short presidency was his clash with Conkling over the “political favors”. Conkling required power over political positions in New York, particularly the influential position of Collector of the Port of New York. Garfield rejected, stating the issue was “concerning if the national leader becomes registering clerk of the senate or the nation's leader”. He proposed a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The dispute became a public battle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Confronting a humiliating public defeat, Conkling and his colleague quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was ratified. It was a landmark victory for the presidential control over the party machine and for the cause of reform over “machine politics”.

The Gunman and His Mental Illness

But even as Garfield battled the titans of his party, he was being pursued by a mentally unstable individual who exemplified the problematic element of the political appointment process. The gunman was a drifter with a background of professional failures, mental instability and childhood trauma. He had been unsuccessful as a attorney, bill collector, minister and member of a free-love commune.

“He was mentally ill and his particular brand of madness was fantasy. He always believed that God had chosen him for significance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau was unsuccessful in all endeavors.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a pathway to success: politics. Carried away in the excitement of the political contest, he prepared and gave an unimportant address, and became persuaded internally that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this thinking, Guiteau reckoned he had earned a prestigious position. He went to the capital and constantly harassed Garfield, Blaine and other authorities, insisting to be made the US consul in Paris — a post for which he had no experience. He became such a problem that he was eventually banned from the White House.

The Shooting and Physician Mistakes

On 2 July 1881, just four months into his presidency, Garfield was leaving Washington for his college reunion. As he moved through the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad station, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, pulled an handgun from his clothing and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield shouted: “My God, what is this?” and fell on the waiting area. When a {police officer|law