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James Abram Garfield20th President of the United States James Garfield was President of our great nation for two hundred days. This self-made man stood six feet tall, was muscular with blue eyes, and a mass of blond hair. Though his time in office was short, he was instrumental in bringing about big changes in our history. Read on to discover some interesting facts that may surprise you! One note: there are some graphic descriptions focusing on Garfield’s death that may distress some people. He was born in Ohio on November 19, 1831 in a log cabin. This son of a farmer knew poverty well. ‘Jim’ was not quite two when his father died from complications after combating a forest fire. His mother was left with four young children and courageously ran the farm, holding the family together. At fifteen, Jim found man’s work by chopping wood, washing sheep, planting, plowing and sowing. At sixteen, he entertained a whelm to become a sailor, wanting to see the world. He claimed this desire stemmed from the beloved nautical books he read, especially the one entitled, ‘Pirates’ Own Book’.
Jim was unable to secure work on a lake steamer so he hired out for three months on a canal boat that transported copper ore from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, then returned with a load of coal. By the time the boat was making its return run, Jim had been promoted to steersman. He was stricken with malaria before his three months’ engagement was finished and returned home so his mother could care for him. Jim was very ill for five months, but eventually recovered. Jim’s mother wanted so much for him. Recognizing his potential, she was determined to see that he obtained a proper education. After his illness, she gave him all of her savings ($17) so that he could attend school. Jim attended Geauga Academy, performing odd jobs to help get him through school. He won the respect of others by his friendly, open manner. He also learned rapidly. Soon, one of his favorite tricks was writing Latin with one hand and Greek with the other - at the same time! Jim spent his last two years of school at Williams College in Massachusetts where he graduated with high honors. He also met his future wife here, Lucretia Rudolph Garfield. They would have seven children together, and lose a daughter and a son before their fourth birthdays. Gentle, quiet, and compassionate Lucretia would become her husband’s closest companion. When Jim achieved Presidency, much of the nation held the belief that politicians were in office to become rich, and to make their friends rich. In fact, when Jim was a congressman, he was accused of taking bribes, charges that he adamantly denied and were never proven. This played a small part in his presidential election. Jim was nominated as a presidential candidate through a glitch. Three very well known men in the Republican Party that were attempting to secure a nomination were unsuccessful in receiving a majority vote. Garfield was the ‘compromise’ chosen by the delegates.
During the campaign, the ‘nasty bribe innuendo’ was jousted about by the Democratic Party, but the rumbling effect was not powerful enough to prohibit a Presidential win. The official electoral vote was 214 to 155. Jim was earnest about Civil Service reform, claiming that each new President had to spend much of his time managing jobs. He was also fed up with the powerful congressmen who wanted to run the government their way. He complained in his journal about the steady stream of these types of office seekers, many being ‘Stalwarts’ that supported controlling elections by giving jobs and money to people who would vote the way the ‘bosses’ wanted. One of the office seekers was Charles J. Guiteau, a disreputable politician, whose request was refused by Jim. On the morning of July 2, 1881, Jim entered the Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. He had barely reached the waiting room when Guiteau stepped from the shadows firing two shots from a pistol, shouting, “I am a Stalwart! Arthur is President now.” The President collapsed to the floor, remaining fully conscious though in a great deal of pain, asking, “My God, what is this?” One of the bullets grazed Jim’s arm, the other striking him in the back close to the spine. When the first doctor arrived on the scene he administered brandy and spirits of ammonia, ensuing an immediate bout of vomiting. Next, a prominent Washington doctor (D.W. Bliss) assumed control of the situation, inserting a metal probe into the wound, which become stuck and was only removed with great difficulty and great pain on Jim’s part. This task was performed without anesthesia, and without a murmur from the President, according to Dr. Bliss’ accountings. All in all, sixteen doctors participated in treating (or killing) the President, eventually turning a three-inch deep and rather harmless hole, into a twenty-inch long gash that stretched from his ribs to his groin. The pus from the wound oozed more day by day, Jim’s 210-pound frame dwindling to 130 pounds.
Sadly, this incident transpired before the overpass of modern medicine. The doctors of this era took little, if any, precautions when working on the President, using either their fingers or dirty instruments. Most participated for public recognition, to be a part of this historical event. Jim was not a popular President and his ongoing agony ‘redeemed’ him in the public’s eye. Daily bulletins of his condition were telegraphed to every part of the country and public sentiment became so strong against the Stalwarts that some of the Party members were not reelected to the Senate. You can imagine the agony that Jim Garfield suffered for so many weeks. His family was surely besought with grief and anguish. It must have been a bit like when he had malaria, only this time Jim would not recover. And odd though it was, his wife had contracted malaria, shortly before the demented assassin shot her husband, and she fell gravely ill. Jim was very close to her, his words written to her seven years earlier proclaiming, “When you are sick, I am like the inhabitants of countries visited by earthquakes.” So amid his agony, his wife’s frail health must have played harshly through his mind. Lucretia had been convalescing at a seaside resort in New Jersey and returned by train to him, frail, fatigued, and desperate. She was by his side those three agonizing months as Jim died, earning the respect and sympathy of the country. On September 19th shortly after being moved to New Jersey to escape the summer heat of Washington, as well as mosquitoes incubated by the stagnant canal in back of the White House, Jim Garfield died in a sea of agonizing pain. Vice-President Chester A. Arthur, a Stalwart, took the oath of office the following day. Jim’s death rigorously effected Arthur's beliefs in a positive way. Jim Garfield was buried in Cleveland, Ohio. Guiteau went on to be tried, convicted and sentenced to death. On June 30, 1982 he was hanged. Lucretia returned to the family’s Ohio farm and lived for an additional thirty-six years, active in preserving the records of Jim’s career. The sixteen doctors submitted an $85,000 bill to the Senate, which only authorized a $10,000 payment with many referring to the doctors as quacks.
Interesting facts about James Garfield: - Garfield preached on Sundays and became so popular that he was never in want of a pulpit. - He could write Latin and Greek simultaneously! - Garfield’s father, Abram, married Eliza Ballou. His half brother, Amos Boynton, married her sister, Alpha. - Garfield was a brigadier general and fought at Shiloh during the Civil War. He went on to be rewarded with the rank of major general of volunteers. - Garfield survived malaria, as did his wife. - Debating was Garfield’s chief delight. - Garfield had the first elevator installed in the White House for his pioneer mother.
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