James A. Garfield

James A. Garfield
Born	James Abram Garfield 19 11, 1831
Birthplace	Moreland Hills, Ohio, U.S.
Died	Template:Death date and age Elberon, New Jersey, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician, military officer, educator, attorney, preacher
Known for	20th President of the United States; only sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives elected president; assassination in 1881
Education	Williams College (B.A., 1856)
Spouse(s)	Lucretia Rudolph Garfield
Children	7
Awards	Major General (Union Army)

James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was an American politician, military officer, educator, and preacher who served as the twentieth President of the United States from March 4, 1881, until his death on September 19, 1881. Born into poverty in a log cabin in northeastern Ohio, Garfield rose through a combination of academic achievement, religious vocation, military service, and political acumen to reach the nation's highest office—only to have his presidency cut short by an assassin's bullet barely four months after his inauguration. A Union Army major general during the American Civil War, a nine-term member of the United States House of Representatives, and the only sitting House member ever elected president, Garfield's life traced a remarkable arc from frontier hardship to the White House. His brief presidency was nonetheless consequential: he asserted presidential authority over executive appointments, challenged entrenched corruption in the Post Office, and set in motion the civil service reforms that would be enacted after his death as the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. Garfield's assassination by Charles J. Guiteau, a disgruntled office seeker, shocked the nation and galvanized public support for the professionalization of the federal civil service.

Early Life

James Abram Garfield was born on November 19, 1831, in a log cabin in Orange Township (present-day Moreland Hills), Cuyahoga County, Ohio. His parents, Abram Garfield and Eliza Ballou Garfield, were of New England descent and had moved to the Ohio frontier seeking opportunity. Abram Garfield died in 1833 when James was not yet two years old, leaving Eliza to raise her four children—including James, the youngest—in circumstances of considerable deprivation. The family's poverty shaped Garfield's early years profoundly. As a boy, he worked on neighboring farms and performed manual labor to help support his mother and siblings.

Growing up in northeastern Ohio, Garfield developed an early love of reading and learning despite the limited educational opportunities available to him. As a teenager, he worked on canal boats along the Ohio and Erie Canal, an experience that later became a celebrated part of his personal mythology. After falling ill, he turned more seriously toward formal education, attending local schools and eventually the Geauga Seminary in Chester, Ohio.

Garfield's early life was also shaped by his religious conversion. He became a member of the Disciples of Christ (also known as the Christian Church or the Restoration Movement), a faith community that emphasized biblical authority and personal piety. His involvement in the church would remain a central element of his identity throughout his life. He became a lay preacher for the Disciples and gained a reputation as a compelling public speaker, a skill that would serve him in both the pulpit and political life.

The trajectory of Garfield's youth—from poverty and fatherlessness through manual labor to intellectual awakening—became a powerful element of his later political narrative, embodying the self-made man ideal that resonated with nineteenth-century American voters.

Education

Garfield enrolled at the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later renamed Hiram College) in Hiram, Ohio, an institution affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. He proved an exceptional student and, while still a student, also served as a teacher and preacher. He advanced rapidly in his studies and, seeking a more rigorous academic environment, transferred to Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he enrolled in 1854.

At Williams College, Garfield excelled academically, graduating with honors in 1856. His time at Williams deepened his intellectual interests, particularly in the classics, literature, and mathematics. A recent Netflix series, Death by Lightning, dramatized elements of Garfield's life, and a review in the college newspaper, The Williams Record, noted Garfield's enduring connection to the institution as one of its most prominent alumni. Garfield's aptitude for mathematics was notable; in 1876, he published an original proof of the Pythagorean theorem, a contribution that demonstrated his continued engagement with mathematical reasoning long after his formal education had ended.

After graduating from Williams College, Garfield returned to the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, where he served as a professor and, by 1857, as president of the institution. He subsequently studied law and was admitted to the Ohio bar, adding yet another credential to his already diverse professional portfolio.

Career

Preacher and Educator

Upon returning to Ohio after his graduation from Williams College, Garfield assumed a teaching position at the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute. He taught courses in classical languages and literature and quickly rose to the presidency of the institution, a position he held from 1857 to 1861. During this period, he also continued his activities as a preacher within the Disciples of Christ, delivering sermons and participating actively in the religious life of the community. His dual roles as educator and minister established his reputation as a man of learning and moral seriousness in the Western Reserve region of Ohio.

Ohio State Senate

Garfield entered electoral politics in 1859, when he was elected as a Republican member of the Ohio State Senate, representing the 26th district. He served from January 2, 1860, to August 21, 1861, when he resigned to join the Union Army following the outbreak of the American Civil War. During his brief legislative tenure, Garfield was an outspoken opponent of Confederate secession and supported the Union cause.

Civil War Service

The Civil War transformed Garfield from a regional educator and state legislator into a figure of national prominence. He was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel of the 42nd Ohio Infantry in 1861 and quickly demonstrated military aptitude. In January 1862, he led Union forces to victory at the Battle of Middle Creek in eastern Kentucky, a significant early engagement that helped secure the state for the Union. The victory brought Garfield to the attention of senior military leaders and earned him promotion to brigadier general at the age of thirty—one of the youngest officers to hold that rank in the Union Army.

Garfield subsequently participated in the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 and served as chief of staff to Major General William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland. In this capacity, he was present at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863, one of the bloodiest engagements of the war. During the battle, Garfield reportedly displayed personal courage by riding through Confederate lines to deliver a message to General George H. Thomas, an act that contributed to his promotion to the rank of major general of volunteers.

His military record, while not without criticism from some quarters, provided Garfield with a powerful credential for his subsequent political career. He left active military service in December 1863 upon taking his seat in the United States House of Representatives, to which he had been elected while still in uniform.

U.S. House of Representatives

Garfield was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1862 to represent Ohio's 19th congressional district. He took his seat on March 4, 1863, and would serve continuously until November 8, 1880, a period spanning nine terms and nearly eighteen years. His long tenure in the House established him as one of the most influential Republican members of Congress during the Reconstruction era and the Gilded Age.

In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, Garfield initially aligned with the Radical Republicans, who favored aggressive measures to reconstruct the South and protect the rights of formerly enslaved people. Over time, however, he moved toward a more moderate position on Reconstruction policy, favoring approaches that balanced civil rights enforcement with reconciliation. This shift placed him within the Moderate Republican camp on questions of Southern policy.

Garfield became a leading voice on fiscal policy, firmly supporting the gold standard and opposing inflationary monetary policies such as the issuance of paper currency (greenbacks) not backed by gold. He served on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Appropriations Committee, gaining expertise in federal finance. He also chaired the House Committee on Banking and Currency.

As an orator, Garfield earned a reputation as one of the most effective speakers in Congress. His rhetorical skills, honed during his years as a preacher and educator, made him a formidable debater on the House floor. He also served on the Electoral Commission that resolved the disputed presidential election of 1876, voting in favor of Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes.

Garfield's advocacy for the use of statistics to inform government policy reflected his mathematical interests and his belief in rationalized governance. His 1876 proof of the Pythagorean theorem, published while he was a sitting congressman, remains a notable example of a public figure contributing original work to mathematics.

Before the 1880 presidential campaign, the Ohio General Assembly elected Garfield to the United States Senate. He never took his Senate seat, however, as events at the Republican National Convention would redirect his career toward the presidency.

1880 Presidential Campaign

The 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago was one of the most dramatic in the party's history. The Republican Party was deeply divided between two factions: the "Stalwarts," led by Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York, who supported a third term for former President Ulysses S. Grant, and the "Half-Breeds," who favored Senator James G. Blaine of Maine. Garfield attended the convention as a supporter of Ohio's Treasury Secretary John Sherman and delivered the nominating speech on Sherman's behalf.

When neither Grant nor Blaine could secure a majority after thirty-five ballots, delegates turned to Garfield as a compromise candidate. On the thirty-sixth ballot, Garfield was nominated for president—despite not having actively sought the nomination. To balance the ticket between the party's factions, Chester A. Arthur, a Stalwart ally of Conkling from New York, was chosen as the vice presidential nominee.

In the general election, Garfield faced Democratic nominee Winfield Scott Hancock, a decorated Union Army general. Garfield conducted a "front porch campaign" from his home in Mentor, Ohio, receiving delegations of visitors and delivering speeches from his property rather than traveling extensively. The election was one of the closest in American history in terms of the popular vote; Garfield won by fewer than 10,000 votes out of more than nine million cast, though his margin in the Electoral College was more decisive, with 214 electoral votes to Hancock's 155.

Presidency

Garfield was inaugurated as the twentieth President of the United States on March 4, 1881, with Chester A. Arthur as his vice president. Though his presidency lasted only 199 days—and his period of active governance far fewer—Garfield used his brief time in office to establish several significant precedents and policy directions.

Executive Appointments and the Conkling Conflict

The defining political battle of Garfield's presidency was his confrontation with Senator Roscoe Conkling over the power of patronage and executive appointments. The Stalwart faction, led by Conkling, expected to control federal appointments in New York, particularly the lucrative position of Collector of the Port of New York, which oversaw the nation's busiest customs house and generated enormous revenue. Garfield, aligning with the Half-Breed faction, asserted presidential authority by nominating William H. Robertson—a Blaine faction leader and political adversary of Conkling—to the collectorship.

The ensuing struggle tested the principle of "senatorial courtesy," the informal tradition by which senators of the president's party exercised effective veto power over federal appointments in their states. Garfield refused to withdraw Robertson's nomination, and after a protracted political fight, the Senate confirmed Robertson. In protest, Conkling and his ally Senator Thomas C. Platt resigned their Senate seats, expecting the New York state legislature to re-elect them as a rebuke to the president. Instead, the legislature declined to return them to office, delivering a decisive blow to Stalwart power and affirming presidential authority over executive appointments.

Civil Service Reform

Garfield's experience with the relentless demands of office seekers—a problem that consumed an enormous portion of any president's time during this era—reinforced his commitment to civil service reform. He proposed replacing the spoils system, under which federal jobs were distributed as political rewards, with a merit-based system of competitive examinations. While Garfield did not live to see legislation enacted, his assassination by a frustrated office seeker created overwhelming public support for reform. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, passed by Congress in January 1883 and signed by President Arthur, established the United States Civil Service Commission and mandated competitive examinations for certain federal positions.

Other Initiatives

During his brief presidency, Garfield pursued a purge of corruption in the Post Office Department, where investigations uncovered the "Star Route" frauds—schemes in which postal contractors received inflated payments for mail delivery routes in the West. The administration's prosecution of these cases signaled Garfield's commitment to honest government.

Garfield also appointed Stanley Matthews to the Supreme Court of the United States. He advocated for agricultural technology, an educated electorate, and civil rights for African Americans, though his short tenure limited the degree to which he could advance these causes through executive action.

Assassination and Death

On July 2, 1881, as Garfield walked through the Sixth Street Station of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad in Washington, D.C., he was shot twice by Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally unstable lawyer and disappointed office seeker who believed he was owed a diplomatic appointment for his meager efforts on behalf of Garfield's campaign. One bullet grazed Garfield's arm, while the other lodged in his back near his spine.

Garfield did not die immediately. He lingered for more than two months as doctors attempted—often with unsterilized instruments and unwashed hands—to locate and remove the bullet. Alexander Graham Bell was enlisted to help find the bullet using an early metal detector, but the efforts were unsuccessful. Modern medical analysis has concluded that the medical treatment Garfield received, rather than the bullet wound itself, was likely the primary cause of his death. Repeated probing of the wound introduced infections, and Garfield developed sepsis, bronchial pneumonia, and other complications.

During his illness, Garfield was moved from the White House to the seaside community of Elberon, New Jersey, in the hope that the ocean air would aid his recovery. He died there on September 19, 1881, at the age of forty-nine. Vice President Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as president the following day.

Guiteau was tried for murder, convicted, and executed by hanging on June 30, 1882. At trial, he famously claimed that the doctors, not he, had killed the president—a claim that, while self-serving, has found some support among modern medical historians.

Personal Life

James A. Garfield married Lucretia Rudolph on November 11, 1858. The couple had met as students at the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, where Lucretia was one of Garfield's pupils. Their marriage, though strained at times during its early years, developed into a close and devoted partnership. Lucretia Garfield served as First Lady during Garfield's brief presidency and survived him by nearly thirty-seven years, dying in 1918.

The Garfields had seven children together, two of whom died in infancy. Among their surviving sons, Harry Augustus Garfield and James Rudolph Garfield both went on to careers of public distinction; James R. Garfield served as United States Secretary of the Interior under President Theodore Roosevelt.

The Garfield family home, known as Lawnfield, is located in Mentor, Ohio, and served as the site of Garfield's 1880 front porch campaign. The property is now preserved as the James A. Garfield National Historic Site and is administered by the National Park Service. In 2025, Garfield's great-great-grandson spoke publicly about the property's meaning to the family, underscoring its continued significance as a site of historical memory.

Garfield was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity during his time at Williams College.

Recognition

Garfield's burial site, the James A. Garfield Memorial in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio, is an elaborate monument completed in 1890 and features a statue of the president, decorative mosaics, and memorial reliefs. It remains a notable Cleveland landmark.

The James A. Garfield National Historic Site at Lawnfield in Mentor, Ohio, was designated a National Historic Landmark and is maintained by the National Park Service. The site includes the restored family home, a visitor center, and exhibits related to Garfield's life and presidency. In October 2025, the City of Mentor issued a public request for qualifications from sculptors to create and install a life-size statue of Garfield, further reflecting continued local recognition of the president's legacy.

Garfield has been the subject of numerous biographies and historical studies. The Library of Congress maintains a comprehensive collection of Garfield papers and related materials. The C-SPAN series on presidential biographies featured Garfield in a program examining his life and legacy.

In popular culture, Garfield's life and assassination have received renewed attention in the 2020s. Netflix released a series titled Death by Lightning in 2025, dramatizing Garfield's biography and his assassination. The series prompted fresh public interest in and discussion of a presidency often overlooked in popular memory. Philip R. Devlin, writing in HK Now on the anniversary of Garfield's birth, described him as "an extraordinary man" whose life story deserved wider recognition.

Legacy

Garfield's presidency, though the second shortest in American history, had consequences that outlasted his time in office. His confrontation with Roscoe Conkling over the appointment of William H. Robertson helped establish the principle that presidents, not senators, held ultimate authority over executive branch appointments—a shift in the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches that had lasting implications for American governance.

The most enduring legislative legacy associated with Garfield's name is the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883. While Garfield did not draft or sign the legislation, his assassination by a disappointed office seeker created the political conditions that made its passage possible. The act established the United States Civil Service Commission, mandated competitive examinations for a portion of federal positions, and began the long process of replacing the spoils system with a professional, merit-based civil service. Historians have recognized this reform as one of the most significant structural changes in American government during the nineteenth century.

Garfield remains the only sitting member of the United States House of Representatives to be elected president, a distinction that reflects both the unusual circumstances of the 1880 convention and the depth of his political career in Congress. His mathematical proof of the Pythagorean theorem, while a minor contribution to mathematics, remains a notable curiosity—the only original mathematical proof attributed to a U.S. president.

Historians have generally assessed Garfield favorably given the constraints of his brief tenure, noting his intelligence, his commitment to reform, and his willingness to challenge entrenched political machines. His life story—rising from a log cabin and childhood poverty through education, military service, and congressional leadership to the presidency—encapsulated the nineteenth-century American ideal of upward mobility through individual effort and merit. The continued preservation of his home at Lawnfield, the ongoing civic projects in Mentor, Ohio, and the renewed cultural attention brought by the 2025 Netflix series all suggest that Garfield's place in American historical memory, while modest compared to that of longer-serving presidents, remains secure.