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Over many years, the heirs of the 20th US president spoke proudly about his extraordinary achievements but rarely mentioned his tragic assassination. We understood what had happened, that he was shot in a transportation hub,” explains one of his family members. “We learned about the story in historical accounts but, somehow, we just glanced over it.”

Fresh Curiosity in a Forgotten President

This changed in 2011 with the publication of a presidential biography, which sparked curiosity in Garfield's unfinished life. This work has now inspired a television production titled Death by Lightning, including Michael Shannon as the national leader and another skilled actor as the unstable individual who shot him.

The series seeks to highlight Garfield, who rose from poverty to the White House during the economic era only to succumb to its toxic political divisions. His time in office was truncated after only 200 days not only by the assassin's bullet but by doctor errors – an event now mostly overlooked while the killings of President Lincoln and John F Kennedy continue to intrigue the public.

“It's impossible not to respect what he did. He was a true polymath: he was a lawyer, he was a minister, he was a agriculturalist. He was so many things which also shaped who he was and his approach and everything that we know about him the relatives maintain with us.”

Starting from Nothing to the Presidency

Garfield was the last president 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 worked on canal boats to earn money for an education.

He pursued jurisprudence, was entered the clergy, became leader of an institution in Ohio and was a political representative. In 1858 he wed a previous schoolmate, his future wife, with whom he would have a large family. An dedicated federalist, Garfield viewed the internal struggle as a moral battle against slavery and rose to the officer status.

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

Public Life and Unexpected Nomination

Garfield was convinced by President Lincoln to leave army service when he was chosen to the legislative branch, where he would function as a political representative for nearly two decades. He was ardent advocate of black suffrage, viewing it as a question of fairness and the completion of a conflict agreement.

“The address he delivered on the floor of Congress will move you deeply. He was an incredibly powerful orator and this matter was deeply meaningful to him.”

At the political assembly in Chicago the faction was sharply split between the “Stalwarts”, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, who supported a continued leadership for Ulysses S Grant, and the “opposing faction”, who supported James G Blaine. Garfield attended as a advocate of his state colleague John Sherman.

When the massive gathering was stalled between Grant and Blaine, delegates began looking for a middle ground. Garfield's powerful oration proposing Sherman caught their attention. During the speech, he reportedly declared, “And now, representatives, what do we want?” to which a audience member unexpectedly replied, “We want Garfield!”

On the multiple voting round, a wave of backers made Garfield the surprise nominee. To appease the Stalwart faction, another politician, a political ally from New York, was chosen as his vice president. In the national vote Garfield overcame the Democratic nominee to become the unique incumbent of the House ever to be chosen as leader.

Brief Administration and Government Conflicts

“Garfield's potential greatness and what is extremely rare 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 pushed toward it.”

The major battle of Garfield's limited administration was his disagreement with Conkling over the “political favors”. 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 presidential authority”. He nominated a political foe of Conkling to the post.

The dispute turned into a public battle but Garfield outmaneuvered Conkling in the Senate. Facing a public failure, Conkling and his colleague quit Congress in protest. The next day, Garfield's nominee was confirmed. It was a historic triumph for the power of the presidency over the party machine and for the change movement over “machine politics”.

The Gunman and His Disturbed Mind

But even as Garfield fought powerful figures of his party, he was being stalked by a psychologically troubled person who embodied the dark side of the spoils network. The assassin was a unstable individual with a history of professional failures, emotional issues and physical and psychological abuse. He had not succeeded as a lawyer, debt recovery agent, preacher and member of a unconventional group.

“He was mentally ill and his specific type of insanity was fantasy. He always believed that divine selection for importance. He actually had superior economic background than Garfield but where Garfield achieved and rose, Guiteau could not accomplish anything.”

But Guiteau believed he had finally found a way to accomplishment: politics. Carried away in the drama of the presidential race, he prepared and gave an unimportant address, and became persuaded internally that he was personally instrumental for Garfield's victory.

Under this reasoning, Guiteau calculated he had earned a high-level government job. He went to the capital and continuously bothered Garfield, Blaine and other officials, requiring to be made the foreign service officer — a post for which he had zero qualifications. He became such a nuisance that he was eventually excluded from the White House.

The Shooting and Medical Malpractice

On 2 July 1881, just several weeks into his presidency, Garfield was departing the capital for his alumni event. As he passed through the train depot, Guiteau stepped from the shadows, withdrew an handgun from his jacket and fired multiple rounds in the back.

Garfield shouted: “What's happening?” and dropped on the depot ground. When a {police officer|law