Today in 1881, the twentieth president of the United States was shot. Garfield was considered a healthy man and the bullet wound should not have been a fatal one. However, Garfield died three months later on September 9, 1881 from that very shot. In those three months, Americans read daily in the papers the most up-to-date medical report on his condition, including his temperature, his pulse, and his pus. His wound had become infected, largely due to doctors on the scene of the shooting sticking their fingers around where the bullet had entered his body. Garfield might have otherwise lived.
James Garfield was shot by a man named Charles Guiteau. And to understand why Guiteau shot the president, some explanation of late 19th century politics is necessary. During this time, the political world very much existed on the spoils system. Any government job was given as a reward for knowing the right person and experience for that position was not considered. Garfield’s vice president, Charles A. Arthur, had previously served as the customs collector at the New York Custom House and had been appointed by Senator Roscoe Conkling. (I know a lot of names, but bear with me it gets good). When Arthur was customs collector, Rutherford B. Hayes was president. He decided to appease those complaining about the spoils system, to stand up to the all-powerful Conkling, and fired Arthur (an entirely symbolic move in all reality). This action prompted Conkling to convince fellow members of the Republican Party to dump Hayes as presidential nominee in 1880. This allowed Garfield to become the presidential nominee and Conkling insured Arthur would be his vice president.
So now you’re thinking, what about this Guiteau character? Guiteau was a troubled man who had dropped out of college, who had joined the Oneida community in an attempt to please his father, and who wanted a politically appoint government position.
Quick tangent: The Oneida community was an outshoot of the utopian societies that sprang up during the Second Great Awakening period in U.S. history. It’s found, John Humphrey Noyes, coined the famous phrase “free love.” He did not believe in traditional marriage and instead preached group marriage. As one of my favorite authors Sarah Vowell explains, in this free love community Guiteau could not find any love at all and was often called “Charles Gitout.”
But back to the matter at hand, when Garfield was president Guiteau came to the White House every day. He begged to be appointed the ambassador to France. He was sent to the Secretary of State James G. Blaine. Blaine also waved him off, prompting Guiteau to write a snarky letter about the Secretary. Garfield also took a stand against the spoils system, angering Conkling and angering Guiteau, who loved the senator and believed he should benefit from the spoils system. Then, according to the assassin, God told Guiteau to kill the president. Guiteau also claimed he killed Garfield so Vice President Arthur could assume the post (and in his twisted logic, Guiteau would be appointed ambassador by the new president based on his gratitude). When this information became available, Arthur was appalled.
Guiteau admitted to most of this during his entertaining trial. Guiteau had appointed himself co-counsel for the defense and often interrupted his lawyers. Eventually he was found guilty and sentenced to hang on June 30, 1882.
Guiteau’s final words were a poem he wrote especially for his execution (he also wrote a short play entitled The Almighty where God confronts Guiteau’s enemies). In this poem, Guiteau stated “I saved my party and my land, Glory hallelujah! But they have murdered me for it. And that is the reason I am going to the Lordy, Glory hallelujah! Glory hallelujah! I am going to the Lordy!”
