Assassination of James A. Garfield

Assassination of James A. Garfield
Name	James A. Garfield
Caption	President James A. Garfield
Birth date	November 19, 1831
Birth place	Moreland Hills, Ohio
Death date	September 19, 1881
Death place	Elberon, New Jersey
Occupation	Lawyer, Educator, Politician
Known for	20th President of the United States

Assassination of James A. Garfield

The assassination of James A. Garfield was the fatal shooting of the 20th President on July 2, 1881, leading to his death on September 19, 1881. The attack by Charles J. Guiteau in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. provoked national debate involving figures such as Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, Roscoe Conkling, James G. Blaine and institutions including the United States Secret Service, the United States Army, and the United States Navy. The event influenced legislation like the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act and affected public figures from Mark Twain to Henry Ward Beecher.

Background

Garfield, a veteran of the American Civil War and a former member of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, won the 1880 United States presidential election as the Republican nominee opposing Winfield Scott Hancock of the Democratic Party. His cabinet appointments created factionalism between supporters of Roscoe Conkling and adherents of James G. Blaine, intensifying the Half-Breed versus Stalwart rivalry and implicating operatives from New York City, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Garfield split time between duties at the White House and travel to political centers including New York City, Cleveland, and New Jersey while dealing with national issues like Reconstruction aftermath and tariff debates involving leaders such as John Sherman and William Windom.

Assassination

On July 2, 1881, at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station near the United States Capitol, the assassin approached Garfield as he prepared to depart for a summer retreat in Long Branch. Witnesses included Garfield aides like Robert Todd Lincoln, visitors such as Lucretia Garfield, and onlookers from Washington, D.C. society. The assailant fired two shots from a .44-caliber Webley Revolver; one bullet grazed a coat and the other struck Garfield in the back, lodging near the spine. Immediate responses came from aides and officials including Chester A. Arthur and physicians summoned from across Washington, D.C. and military medical services such as surgeons from the United States Army Medical Corps.

Assassin: Charles J. Guiteau

Charles Julius Guiteau, a disgruntled office-seeker and self-styled author who had connections to Chicago, Cincinnati, and Washington, D.C., claimed that he had played a decisive role in Garfield’s election and sought an ambassadorship or other patronage post. Guiteau had authored speeches and pamphlets referencing figures like James A. Garfield, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Roscoe Conkling and exhibited mental instability noted by contemporaries such as Dr. Willard Bliss and local clergy including Henry Ward Beecher. Arrested at the scene, Guiteau invoked defenses referencing political theology and invoked personalities like Horace Greeley and Gamaliel Bailey in rambling statements. His trial in Washington, D.C. featured prominent legal figures, psychiatric testimony, and drew national attention from newspapers including the New York Herald, The Washington Post, and the New York Times.

Medical Treatment and Death

Garfield’s immediate medical care involved civilian and military physicians, including Dr. Willard Bliss, who performed examinations and probing with unsterilized instruments and fingers consistent with 19th-century practice predating acceptance of antisepsis advocated by Ignaz Semmelweis and Joseph Lister. Diagnostic efforts included attempts to locate the bullet via instruments and probes; x-ray imaging by Wilhelm Röntgen would not exist for decades. Over the ensuing weeks Garfield was moved to the Elberon summer cottage of Elijah A. Stokes and later to residences linked to Lucretia Garfield while receiving care from practitioners influenced by medical schools such as Harvard Medical School and hospitals like Johns Hopkins Hospital (then newly influential). Complications included infection, sepsis, and blood poisoning; debates about hemorrhage control and neurological damage involved consultants with ties to Bellevue Hospital and military medical authorities. Garfield’s condition deteriorated and he died on September 19, 1881; his funeral procession passed through Cleveland, Ohio, with interment at Lake View Cemetery.

Aftermath and Investigation

The United States Department of Justice and local D.C. police conducted investigations into Guiteau’s motives and any conspiratorial links to political operatives such as supporters of Roscoe Conkling or opponents aligned with James G. Blaine. Congressional reactions included hearings in the United States Congress and statements from lawmakers such as George F. Edmunds and John Sherman. The assassination prompted scrutiny of presidential security arrangements involving the United States Secret Service—which had been created as part of the Department of the Treasury—and of travel protocols used by presidents like Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Guiteau’s criminal proceedings culminated in a widely publicized trial, conviction, and execution by hanging, with legal input from attorneys who had dealings with courts like the Supreme Court of the United States and local judges in Washington, D.C..

Legacy and Impact on Presidency and Civil Service Reform

Garfield’s death elevated Chester A. Arthur to the presidency, reshaping patronage and policy debates dominated by figures such as Roscoe Conkling and reformers including George H. Pendleton. The public outcry accelerated passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883, reshaping federal appointment systems and affecting institutions such as the United States Civil Service Commission. The assassination influenced security for future presidents—prompting changes relevant to Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and later executives—and inspired cultural responses from authors and journalists including Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, and editorialists at papers like the New York Tribune. Memorials and monuments honoring Garfield were erected in locations such as Cleveland, Ohio, Washington Monument, and cemeteries where figures like Lucretia Garfield participated; scholarly assessments appear in works by historians of the Gilded Age and biographies referencing Allan Nevins and Candice Millard.

Category:1881 deaths Category:Assassinated American presidents Category:James A. Garfield