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James Abram Garfield
James A. Garfield.jpg
20th President of the United States
In office
March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881
Vice President Chester A. Arthur
Preceded by Rutherford B. Hayes
Succeeded by Chester A. Arthur
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 19th district
In office
March 4, 1863 – March 4, 1881
Preceded by Albert Riddle
Succeeded by Ezra Taylor
Personal details
Born (1831-11-19)November 19, 1831
Moreland Hills, Ohio
Died September 19, 1881(1881-09-19) (aged 49)
Elberon (Long Branch), New Jersey
Nationality American
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Lucretia Rudolph Garfield

James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 - September 19, 1881) was the 20th (1881) President of the United States and the 2nd President to be assassinated (killed while in office). President Garfield was in office from March to September of 1881. He was in office for a total of six months and fifteen days. For almost half that time he was bedridden as a result of an attempt to kill him. He was shot on July 2 and finally died in September the same year he got into office.

Early life

Garfield was born in Orange Township, now Moreland Hills, Ohio. His father died in 1833, when James Abram was 18 months old. He grew up cared for by his mother and an uncle.

Education

In Orange Township, Garfield attended school, a predecessor of the Orange City Schools. From 1851 to 1854, he attended the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later named Hiram College] in Hiram, Ohio. He then transferred to Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he was a brother of Delta Upsilon. He graduated in 1856 as an outstanding student who enjoyed all subjects except chemistry. He then taught at the Eclectic Institute. He was an instructor in classical languages for the 1856-1857 academic year, and was made principal of the Institute from 1857 to 1860.

Personal life

On November 11, 1858, he married Lucretia Rudolph. They had seven children (five sons and two daughters): Eliza A. Garfield (1860-63); Harry A. Garfield (1863-1942); James R. Garfield (1865-1950); Mary Garfield (1867-1947); Irvin M. Garfield (1870-1951); Abram Garfield (1872-1958); and Edward Garfield (1874-76). One son, James Rudolph Garfield, followed him into politics and became Secretary of the Interior under President Theodore Roosevelt. Garfield could write in Greek with his left hand and Latin with his right hand at the same time.

Career

Garfield decided that the academic life was not for him and studied law privately. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1860. Even before admission to the bar, he entered politics. He was elected an Ohio state senator in 1859, serving until 1861. He was a Republican all his political life. He was a general in the American Civil War, and fought in the Battle of Shiloh and the Chattanooga Campaign.

Assassination

Garfield became President March 3, 1881 and was shot in Washington, D.C. on July 2. Garfield was shot in the back by Charles J. Guiteau at about 9:30 am. Guiteau helped Garfield's campaign for president, and then asked for a job when he won, but the president told him no. He was less than four months in term as the 20th President of the United States. Garfield died eleven weeks later on September 19, 1881, aged 49. The 31st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives James G. Blaine was at Garfield's side when he was shot down. At this time, it was not common for the president of the United States to have bodyguards, although Lincoln had protection during the civil war.

Vice President Chester A. Arthur became President when Garfield died. Guiteau was tried for murder, and many thought he would be found not guilty because he was insane. He was actually found guilty and hanged for the murder, reading a poem before he walked up the gallows. It is now believed Garfield was in fact killed because of his doctors, who stuck their fingers inside his wounds while treating him and causing a bad infection. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, tried to locate the bullet with a primitive metal detector, but failed because the bed was lined with steel wire (which he did not know). While Garfield was still alive, news of his condition was broadcasted across the country by telegraph, which was something new.




Images for kids

  • MorelandHillsGarfieldCabin

    Replica of the log cabin in Moreland Hills, Ohio, where Garfield was born

  • Garfield-at-16

    Garfield at age 16

  • Lucretia Garfield - Brady-Handy

    Lucretia Garfield in the 1870s

  • General James Garfield - Brady-Handy

    Garfield as a brigadier general during the Civil War

  • Middle Creek Battlefield

    Middle Creek battlefield. Garfield commanded from the distant hill in the center of the photo.

  • Mathew Brady, Portrait of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, officer of the United States government (1860–1865)

    Salmon P. Chase was Garfield's ally until Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial.

  • Garfield Monument1

    Garfield Monument, by the Capitol, where he served almost twenty years

  • US-$1-LT-1862-Fr-16c

    The greenback despised by Garfield

  • Keppler Credit Mobilier Hari-Kari

    Editorial cartoon: Uncle Sam directs U.S. Senators and Representatives implicated in the Crédit Mobilier scheme to commit Hara-Kiri.

  • Electoral Commission (United States)

    Garfield (second from right in the row of commissioners just below the gallery) served on the Electoral Commission that decided the disputed 1876 presidential election. Painting by Cornelia Adele Strong Fassett.

  • The Appomattox of the third termers - unconditional surrender

    Following Grant's defeat for the nomination Puck magazine satirized Robert E. Lee's surrender to him at Appomattox by depicting Grant giving up his sword to Garfield.

  • 1880RepublicanPoster

    Garfield–Arthur election poster

  • GARFIELD, James A-President (BEP engraved portrait)

    Line engraving of Garfield, produced around 1902 by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing as part of a presentation album of the first 26 presidents

  • Jgarfield

    Official White House portrait of James Garfield, 1881

  • James G. Blaine - Brady-Handy

    James G. Blaine, Garfield's Secretary of State

  • Garfield-casket

    Garfield's casket lying in state at the Capitol Rotunda

  • The Garfield Obsequies at Cleveland, Schofield vault, temporary resting place of the remains, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views

    Stereoscopic images of the Schofield family vault where Garfield's remains were kept until completion of his permanent memorial

  • Garf 07-04-2008 02;10;53PM

    Lawnfield, Garfield National Historic Site, location of the "front porch campaign"

  • James A. Garfield Monument 01 (cropped)

    Garfield Memorial at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio

  • James Abram Garfield Monument, San Francisco

    Garfield Monument, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco by Frank Happersberger

  • James Garfield2 1882 Issue-5c

    First Garfield postage stamp, 1882

See also

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