James A. Garfield
James A. Garfield | |
---|---|
George P. Ashmun | |
Succeeded by | Lucius V. Bierce |
Personal details | |
Born | James Abram Garfield November 19, 1831 Moreland Hills, Ohio, U.S. |
Died | September 19, 1881 Elberon, New Jersey, U.S. | (aged 49)
Manner of death | Massive infection including sepsis and pneumonia, after being shot |
Resting place | James A. Garfield Memorial |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | |
Children | 7, including Hal, James, and Abram |
Education | |
Occupation |
|
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | Union Army |
Years of service | 1861–1863 |
Rank | Major general |
Commands |
|
Battles/wars | |
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th
Garfield was born into poverty in a log cabin and grew up in
At the 1880 Republican National Convention, delegates chose Garfield, who had not sought the White House, as a compromise presidential nominee on the 36th ballot. In the 1880 presidential election, he conducted a low-key front porch campaign and narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee, Winfield Scott Hancock. Garfield's accomplishments as president included his assertion of presidential authority against senatorial courtesy in executive appointments, a purge of corruption in the Post Office, and his appointment of a Supreme Court justice. He advocated for agricultural technology, an educated electorate, and civil rights for African Americans. He also proposed substantial civil service reforms, which were passed by Congress in 1883 as the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act and signed into law by his successor, Chester A. Arthur.
Garfield was a member of the intraparty "Half-Breed" faction who used the powers of the presidency to defy the powerful "Stalwart" Senator Roscoe Conkling from New York. He did this by appointing Blaine faction leader William H. Robertson to the lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York. The ensuing political battle resulted in Robertson's confirmation and the resignations of Conkling and Thomas C. Platt from the Senate.
On July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau, a disappointed and delusional office seeker, shot Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington. The wound was not immediately fatal, but an infection caused by his doctors' unsanitary methods in treating the wound killed Garfield on September 19. Due to his brief tenure in office, historians tend to rank Garfield as a below-average president, though he has earned praise for anti-corruption and pro–civil rights stances.[3]
Childhood and early life
James Abram Garfield was born the youngest of five children on November 19, 1831, in a log cabin in
In early 1833, Abram and Eliza Garfield joined a Stone-Campbell church, a decision that influenced their youngest son's life.[5] Abram died later that year, and James was raised in poverty in a household led by his strong-willed mother.[6] He was her favorite child and the two remained close for the rest of his life.[7] Eliza remarried in 1842, but soon left her second husband, Warren (or Alfred) Belden, and a scandalous divorce was awarded in 1850. James took his mother's side in the matter and noted Belden's 1880 death with satisfaction in his diary.[8] Garfield also enjoyed his mother's stories about his ancestry, especially those about his Welsh great-great-grandfathers and an ancestor who served as a knight of Caerphilly Castle.[9]
Poor and fatherless, Garfield was mocked by his peers and became sensitive to slights throughout his life; he sought escape through voracious reading.
After six weeks, illness forced Garfield to return home, and during his recuperation, his mother and a local school official secured his promise to forgo canal work for a year of school. In 1848, he began at Geauga Seminary, in nearby Chester Township, Geauga County, Ohio.[12] Garfield later said of his childhood, "I lament that I was born to poverty, and in this chaos of childhood, seventeen years passed before I caught any inspiration ... a precious 17 years when a boy with a father and some wealth might have become fixed in manly ways."[13]
Education, marriage and early career
Garfield attended Geauga Seminary from 1848 to 1850 and learned academic subjects for which he had not previously had time. He excelled as a student and was especially interested in languages and elocution. He began to appreciate the power a speaker had over an audience, writing that the speaker's platform "creates some excitement. I love agitation and investigation and glory in defending unpopular truth against popular error."
After he left Geauga, Garfield worked for a year at various jobs, including teaching jobs.
Garfield graduated Phi Beta Kappa[26] from Williams in August 1856, was named salutatorian, and spoke at the commencement. His biographer Ira Rutkow writes that Garfield's years at Williams gave him the opportunity to know and respect those of different social backgrounds, and that, despite his origin as an unsophisticated Westerner, socially conscious New Englanders liked and respected him. "In short," Rutkow writes, "Garfield had an extensive and positive first experience with the world outside the Western Reserve of Ohio."[25]
Upon his return to Ohio, the degree from a prestigious Eastern college made Garfield a man of distinction. He returned to Hiram to teach at the Institute and in 1857 was made its principal, though he did not see education as a field that would realize his full potential. The
Local Republican leaders invited Garfield to enter politics upon the death of Cyrus Prentiss, the presumptive nominee for the local state senate seat. He was nominated at the party convention on the sixth ballot and was elected, serving from 1860 to 1861.[33] Garfield's major effort in the state senate was an unsuccessful bill providing for Ohio's first geological survey to measure its mineral resources.[34]
Civil War
After Abraham Lincoln's election as president, several Southern states announced their secession from the Union to form a new government, the Confederate States of America. Garfield read military texts while anxiously awaiting the war effort, which he regarded as a holy crusade against the Slave Power.[35] In April 1861, the rebels bombarded Fort Sumter, one of the South's last federal outposts, beginning the Civil War. Although he had no military training, Garfield knew his place was in the Union Army.[35]
At Governor
Buell's command
Buell quickly assigned Garfield the task of driving Confederate forces out of eastern Kentucky, giving him the 18th Brigade for the campaign, which, besides his own 42nd, included the
In recognition of his success, Garfield was promoted to brigadier general.[44] After Marshall's retreat, Garfield's command was the sole remaining Union force in eastern Kentucky and he announced that any men who had fought for the Confederacy would be granted amnesty if they returned to their homes, lived peaceably, and remained loyal to the Union.[45] The proclamation was surprisingly lenient, as Garfield now believed the war was a crusade for eradication of slavery.[45] Following a brief skirmish at Pound Gap, the last rebel units in the area were outflanked and retreated to Virginia.[46]
Garfield's promotion gave him command of the 20th Brigade of the Army of the Ohio, which received orders to join
That summer, Garfield suffered from
Chief of staff for Rosecrans
Generals' chiefs of staff were usually more junior officers, but Garfield's influence with Rosecrans was greater than usual, with duties extending beyond communication of orders to actual management of his
Garfield recommended that Rosecrans replace wing commanders
At the ensuing
Congressional career
Election in 1862; Civil War years
While he served in the Army in early 1862, friends of Garfield approached him about running for Congress from Ohio's newly redrawn and heavily Republican 19th district. He worried that he and other state-appointed generals would receive obscure assignments, and running for Congress would allow him to resume his political career. That the new Congress would not hold its first regular session until December 1863 allowed him to continue his war service for a time.[d] Home on medical leave, he refused to campaign for the nomination, leaving that to political managers who secured it at the local convention in September 1862 on the eighth ballot. In the October general election, he defeated D.B. Woods by a two-to-one margin for a seat in the 38th Congress.[70]
Days before his Congressional term began, Garfield lost his eldest daughter, three-year-old Eliza, and became anxious and conflicted, saying his "desolation of heart" might require his return to "the wild life of the army."[71] He also assumed that the war would end before his joining the House, but it had not, and he felt strongly that he belonged in the field, rather than in Congress. He also thought he could expect a favorable command, so he decided to see President Lincoln. During their meeting, Lincoln recommended he take his House seat, as there was an excess of generals and a shortage of administration congressmen, especially those with knowledge of military affairs. Garfield accepted this recommendation and resigned his military commission to do so.[71]
Garfield met and befriended Treasury Secretary
Garfield not only favored the abolition of slavery, but also believed the leaders of the rebellion had forfeited their constitutional rights. He supported the confiscation of Southern plantations and even exile or execution of rebellion leaders as a means to ensure a permanent end to slavery.[75] Garfield felt Congress had an obligation "to determine what legislation is necessary to secure equal justice to all loyal persons, without regard to color."[76] He was more supportive of Lincoln when he took action against slavery.[77]
Garfield showed leadership early in his congressional career; he was initially the only Republican vote to terminate the use of bounties in military recruiting. Some financially able recruits had used the bounty system to buy their way out of service (called commutation), which Garfield considered reprehensible.[78] He gave a speech pointing out the flaws in the existing conscription law: 300,000 recruits had been called upon to enlist, but barely 10,000 had done so, with the remainder claiming exemption, providing money, or recruiting a substitute. Lincoln appeared before the Military Affairs committee on which Garfield served, demanding a more effective bill; even if it cost him reelection, Lincoln was confident he could win the war before his term expired.[79] After many false starts, Garfield, with Lincoln's support, procured the passage of a conscription bill that excluded commutation.[80]
Under Chase's influence, Garfield became a staunch proponent of a dollar backed by a
Garfield did not consider Lincoln very worthy of reelection, but there seemed to be no viable alternative. "He will probably be the man, though I think we could do better", he said.[74] Garfield attended the party convention and promoted Rosecrans as Lincoln's running mate, but delegates chose Military Governor of Tennessee Andrew Johnson.[83] Lincoln was reelected, as was Garfield.[84] By then, Chase had left the Cabinet and been appointed Chief Justice, and his relations with Garfield became more distant.[85]
Garfield took up the practice of law in 1865 to improve his personal finances. His efforts took him to Wall Street where, the day after Lincoln's assassination, a riotous crowd drew him into an impromptu speech to calm their passions: "Fellow citizens! Clouds and darkness are round about Him! His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the skies! Justice and judgment are the establishment of His throne! Mercy and truth shall go before His face! Fellow citizens! God reigns, and the Government at Washington still lives!"[86] The speech, with no mention or praise of Lincoln, was, according to Garfield biographer Robert G. Caldwell, "quite as significant for what it did not contain as for what it did."[87] In the following years, Garfield had more praise for Lincoln; a year after Lincoln's death, Garfield said, "Greatest among all these developments were the character and fame of Abraham Lincoln," and in 1878 he called Lincoln "one of the few great rulers whose wisdom increased with his power".[88]
When in Washington, Garfield attended Vermont Avenue Christian Church, which later became National City Christian Church, a building constructed and funded by the Disciples.[89]
Reconstruction
In 1864, the U.S. Senate passed the
Garfield supported black suffrage as firmly as he supported abolition.[92] President Johnson sought the rapid restoration of the Southern states during the months between his accession and the meeting of Congress in December 1865; Garfield hesitantly supported this policy as an experiment. Johnson, an old friend, sought Garfield's backing and their conversations led Garfield to assume Johnson's differences with Congress were not large. When Congress assembled in December (to Johnson's chagrin, without the elected representatives of the Southern states, who were excluded), Garfield urged conciliation on his colleagues, although he feared that Johnson, a former Democrat, might join other Democrats to gain political control. Garfield foresaw conflict even before February 1866, when Johnson vetoed a bill to extend the life of the Freedmen's Bureau, charged with aiding the former slaves. By April, Garfield had concluded that Johnson was either "crazy or drunk with opium."[93]
The conflict between Congress and President Johnson was the major issue of the 1866 campaign, with Johnson taking to the campaign trail in a Swing Around the Circle and Garfield facing opposition within the Republican party in his home district. With the South still disenfranchised and Northern public opinion behind the Republicans, they gained a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. Garfield, having overcome his challengers at the district nominating convention, won reelection easily.[94]
Garfield opposed the proposed impeachment of Johnson initially when Congress convened in December 1866, but supported legislation to limit Johnson's powers, such as the Tenure of Office Act, which restricted Johnson's ability to remove presidential appointees.[95] Distracted by committee duties, Garfield spoke about these bills rarely, but was a loyal Republican vote against Johnson.[96]
On January 7, 1867, Garfield voted in support of the resolution that launched
By the time Grant succeeded Johnson in 1869, Garfield had moved away from the remaining radicals (Stevens, their leader, had died in 1868). By this time, many in the Republican Party wanted to remove the "Negro question" from national affairs.[102] Garfield hailed the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870 as a triumph and favored Georgia's readmission to the Union as a matter of right, not politics. An influential Republican, Garfield said, "[The] Fifteen Amendment confers on the African race the care of its own destiny. It places their fortunes in their own hands."[102] In 1871, Congress took up the Ku Klux Klan Act, which was designed to combat attacks on African Americans' suffrage rights. Garfield opposed the act, saying, "I have never been more perplexed by a piece of legislation." He was torn between his indignation at the Klan, whom he called "terrorists", and his concern for the power given the president to enforce the act through suspension of habeas corpus.[103]
Tariffs and finance
Throughout his political career, Garfield favored the gold standard and decried attempts to increase the money supply through the issuance of paper money not backed by gold, and later, through the free and unlimited coinage of silver.[104] In 1865, he was put on the House Ways and Means Committee, a long-awaited opportunity to focus on financial and economic issues. He reprised his opposition to the greenback, saying, "Any party which commits itself to paper money will go down amid the general disaster, covered with the curses of a ruined people."[105] In 1868 Garfield gave a two-hour speech on currency in the House, which was widely applauded as his best oratory to that point; in it, he advocated a gradual resumption of specie payments, that is, the government paying out silver and gold, rather than paper money that could not be redeemed.[106]
Tariffs had been raised to high levels during the Civil War. Afterward, Garfield, who made a close study of financial affairs, advocated moving toward free trade, though the standard Republican position was a protective tariff that would allow American industries to grow. This break with his party likely cost him his place on the Ways and Means Committee in 1867, and though Republicans held the majority in the House until 1875, Garfield remained off that committee. Garfield came to chair the powerful
Starting in January 1870, Garfield, then chairman of the
Garfield's investigation and final majority report, released on September 12, 1870, were thorough but found no indictable offenses and exonerated Grant and Julia of wrongdoing.[111] Garfield thought the scandal was enabled by the greenbacks that financed the speculation.[112] Garfield was not at all enthused about President Grant's reelection in 1872—until Greeley, who emerged as the candidate of the Democrats and Liberal Republicans, became the only serious alternative. Garfield said, "I would say Grant was not fit to be nominated and Greeley is not fit to be elected."[113] Both Grant and Garfield were overwhelmingly reelected.[113]
Crédit Mobilier scandal; salary grab
The
The story broke in July 1872, in the middle of the presidential campaign. Among those named were Vice President Schuyler Colfax, Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson (the Republican candidate for vice president), Speaker James G. Blaine of Maine, and Garfield. Greeley had little luck taking advantage of the scandal. When Congress reconvened after the election, Blaine, seeking to clear his name, demanded a House investigation. Evidence before the special committee exonerated Blaine. Garfield had said in September 1872 that Ames had offered him stock but he had repeatedly refused it. Testifying before the committee in January, Ames said he had offered Garfield ten shares of stock at par value, but that Garfield had never taken them or paid for them, though a year passed, from 1867 to 1868, before Garfield had finally refused. Appearing before the committee on January 14, 1873, Garfield confirmed much of this. Ames testified several weeks later that Garfield agreed to take the stock on credit, and that it was paid for by the company's huge dividends.[115] The two men differed over $300 that Garfield received and later paid back, with Garfield deeming it a loan and Ames a dividend.[116]
Garfield's biographers have been unwilling to exonerate him in the scandal. Allan Peskin writes, "Did Garfield lie? Not exactly. Did he tell the truth? Not completely. Was he corrupted? Not really. Even Garfield's enemies never claimed that his involvement in the affair influenced his behavior."[117] Rutkow writes, "Garfield's real offense was that he knowingly denied to the House investigating committee that he had agreed to accept the stock and that he had also received a dividend of $329."[118] Caldwell suggests Garfield "told the truth [before the committee, but] certainly failed to tell the whole truth, clearly evading an answer to certain vital questions and thus giving the impression of worse faults than those of which he was guilty."[119] That Crédit Mobilier was a corrupt organization had been a badly kept secret, even mentioned on the floor of Congress, and editor Sam Bowles wrote at the time that Garfield, in his positions on committees dealing with finance, "had no more right to be ignorant in a matter of such grave importance as this, than the sentinel has to snore on his post."[117]
Another issue that caused Garfield trouble in his 1874 reelection bid was the so-called "
Floor leader; Hayes administration
The Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives in 1875 meant the loss of Garfield's chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee, though the Democrats did put him on the Ways and Means Committee. With many of his leadership rivals defeated in the 1874 Democratic landslide, and Blaine elected to the Senate, Garfield was seen as the Republican
Garfield thought the
As the 1876 presidential election approached, Garfield was loyal to the candidacy of Senator Blaine, and fought for the former Speaker's nomination at the 1876 Republican National Convention in Cincinnati. When it became clear, after six ballots, that Blaine could not prevail, the convention nominated Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes. Although Garfield had supported Blaine, he had kept good relations with Hayes, and wholeheartedly supported the governor.[125] Garfield had hoped to retire from politics after his term expired to devote himself full-time to the practice of law, but to help his party, he sought re-election, and won it easily that October. Any celebration was short-lived, as Garfield's youngest son, Neddie, fell ill with whooping cough shortly after the congressional election, and soon died.[126]
When Hayes appeared to have lost the presidential election the following month to Democrat
Although an Ohio Senate seat would be vacated by the resignation of John Sherman to become Treasury Secretary, Hayes needed Garfield's expertise to protect him from the agenda of a hostile Congress, and asked him not to seek it. Garfield agreed. As Hayes's key legislator in the House, he gained considerable prestige and respect for his role there.[129] When Congress debated the Bland–Allison Act, to have the government purchase large quantities of silver and strike it into legal tender dollar coins, Garfield opposed it as a deviation from the gold standard; it was enacted over Hayes's veto in February 1878.[130]
In 1876, Garfield purchased the property in Mentor that reporters later dubbed Lawnfield, where he conducted the first successful front porch campaign for the presidency.[131] Hayes suggested that Garfield run for governor in 1879, seeing that as a road likely to take Garfield to the White House. Garfield preferred to seek election as a U.S. senator. Rivals were spoken of for the seat, such as Secretary Sherman, but he had presidential ambitions (for which he sought Garfield's support), and other candidates fell by the wayside. The General Assembly elected Garfield to the Senate in January 1880, though his term was not scheduled to commence until March 4, 1881.[132]
Legal career and other activities
In 1865, Garfield became a partner in the law firm of a fellow Disciple of Christ,
During Grant's first term, Garfield was discontented with public service and in 1872 again pursued opportunities in the law. But he declined a partnership offer from a Cleveland law firm when told his prospective partner was of "intemperate and licentious" reputation.
In 1871, Garfield traveled to
In 1876, Garfield developed a
After his conversion experience in 1850, religious inquiry was a high priority for Garfield. He read widely and moved beyond the confines of his early experience as a member of the Disciples of Christ. His new, broader perspective was rooted in his devotion to freedom of inquiry and his study of history. The intensity of Garfield's religious thought was also influenced by his experience in combat and his interaction with voters.[143][144]
Presidential election of 1880
Republican nomination
Having just been elected to the Senate with John Sherman's support, Garfield was committed to Sherman for the 1880 Republican presidential nomination.[145] Before the convention began, however, a few Republicans, including Wharton Barker of Philadelphia, thought Garfield the best choice for the nomination.[145] Garfield denied any interest in the position, but the attention was enough to make Sherman suspicious of his lieutenant's ambitions.[146] Besides Sherman, the early favorites for the nomination were Blaine, former President Grant; several other candidates attracted delegates as well.[147]
The Republican Party at the time was split into two factions: the "Stalwarts", who supported the existing federal government patronage system, and the "Half-Breeds", who wanted civil service reform.[148] As the convention began, New York Senator Roscoe Conkling, floor leader for the Stalwarts, who supported former President Ulysses S. Grant, proposed that the delegates pledge to back the eventual nominee in the general election.[149] When three West Virginia delegates declined to be so bound, Conkling sought to expel them from the convention. Garfield rose to defend the men, giving a passionate speech in defense of their right to reserve judgment.[149] The crowd turned against Conkling, and he withdrew the motion.[149] The performance delighted Garfield's boosters, who were then convinced he was the only one who could attract a majority of the delegates' votes.[150]
After speeches in favor of the other front-runners, Garfield rose to place Sherman's name in nomination; his speech was well-received, but the delegates mustered little excitement for Sherman as the next president.
Campaign against Hancock
Even with a Stalwart on the ticket, animosity between the Republican factions carried over from the convention, so Garfield traveled to New York to meet with party leaders.[157] After convincing the Stalwart crowd to put aside their differences and unite for the coming campaign, Garfield returned to Ohio, leaving the active campaigning to others, as was traditional at the time.[158] Meanwhile, the Democrats settled on their nominee, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock of Pennsylvania, a career military officer.[157] Hancock and the Democrats expected to carry the Solid South, while much of the North was considered safe territory for Garfield and the Republicans; most of the campaign focused on a few close states, including New York and Indiana.[159]
Practical differences between the candidates were few, but Republicans began the campaign with the familiar theme of
Presidency (1881)
The Garfield cabinet | ||
---|---|---|
Office | Name | Term |
President | James A. Garfield | 1881 |
Vice President | Chester A. Arthur | 1881 |
Secretary of State | James G. Blaine | 1881 |
Secretary of the Treasury | William Windom | 1881 |
Secretary of War | Robert Todd Lincoln | 1881 |
Attorney General | Wayne MacVeagh | 1881 |
Postmaster General | Thomas Lemuel James | 1881 |
Secretary of the Navy | William H. Hunt | 1881 |
Secretary of the Interior | Samuel J. Kirkwood | 1881 |
Cabinet and inauguration
Before his inauguration, Garfield was occupied with assembling a cabinet that might engender peace between the party's Conkling and Blaine factions. Blaine's delegates had provided much of the support for Garfield's nomination, so the Maine senator received the place of honor as Secretary of State.
Because Garfield was distracted by cabinet maneuvering, his inaugural address was a "compendium of platitudes" and fell below expectations.
Garfield's appointment of James infuriated Conkling, a factional opponent of the Postmaster General, who demanded a compensatory appointment for his faction, such as the position of Secretary of the Treasury. The resulting squabble occupied much of Garfield's brief presidency. The feud with Conkling reached a climax when the president, at Blaine's instigation, nominated Conkling's enemy, Judge William H. Robertson, to be Collector of the Port of New York. This was one of the prize patronage positions below cabinet level and was then held by Edwin A. Merritt. Conkling raised the time-honored principle of senatorial courtesy in an attempt to defeat the nomination, to no avail. Garfield, who believed the practice was corrupt, would not back down and threatened to withdraw all nominations unless Robertson was confirmed, intending to "settle the question whether the president is registering clerk of the Senate or the Executive of the United States."[175] Ultimately, Conkling and his New York colleague, Senator Thomas C. Platt, resigned their Senate seats to seek vindication but found only further humiliation when the New York legislature elected others in their places. Robertson was confirmed as Collector and Garfield's victory was clear. To Blaine's chagrin, the victorious Garfield returned to his goal of balancing the interests of party factions and nominated a number of Conkling's Stalwart friends to offices.[176]
With his cabinet complete, Garfield had to contend with myriad office seekers. He exclaimed, "My God! What is there in this place that a man should ever get into it." Garfield's family happily settled into the White House, but he found presidential duties exasperating.[172]
Refinance of national debt
Garfield ordered the Secretary of the Treasury William Windom to refund (refinance) the national debt by calling in outstanding U.S. bonds paying 6% interest. Holders would have the option of accepting cash or new bonds at 3%, closer to the interest rates of the time. Taxpayers were saved an estimated $10 million. By comparison, federal expenditures in 1881 were below $261 million (~$6.84 billion in 2023).[177][178]
Supreme Court nomination
In 1880, President Hayes had nominated Stanley Matthews to the Supreme Court but the Senate declined to act on the nomination. In March 1881, Garfield re-nominated Matthews to the Court and the Senate confirmed Matthews by a vote of 24–23.[179] According to The New York Times, "opposition to Matthews's Supreme Court appointment ... stemmed from his prosecution in 1859 of a newspaper editor who had assisted two runaway slaves." Because Matthews was "a professed abolitionist at the time, the matter was later framed as political expediency triumphing over moral principle."[180] Matthews served on the Court until his death in 1889.[180]
Reforms
Grant and Hayes had both advocated civil service reform, and by 1881 such reform associations had organized with renewed energy across the nation. Garfield sympathized with them, believing the spoils system damaged the presidency and often eclipsed more important concerns.[181] Some reformers became disappointed when Garfield promoted limited tenure only to minor office seekers and gave appointments to his old friends.[181]
Corruption in the post office also cried out for reform. In April 1880, there had been a congressional investigation of corruption in the Post Office Department, where profiteering rings allegedly stole millions of dollars, securing bogus mail contracts on star routes.[182] After obtaining contracts with the lowest bid, costs to run the mail routes would be escalated and profits would be divided among ring members. Shortly after taking office, Garfield received word of postal corruption by an alleged star route ringleader, Assistant Postmaster General Thomas J. Brady.[183] Garfield demanded Brady's resignation and ordered prosecutions that ended in trials for conspiracy. When told that his party, including his campaign manager, Stephen W. Dorsey, was involved, Garfield directed that the corruption in the Post Office be rooted out "to the bone", regardless of where it might lead.[182] Brady resigned and was indicted for conspiracy, though jury trials in 1882 and 1883 found Brady not guilty.[184]
Civil rights and education
Garfield believed the key to improving the state of African American civil rights was government supported education.
Garfield had little foreign policy experience, so he leaned heavily on Blaine.[190] They agreed on the need to promote freer trade, especially within the Western Hemisphere.[191] Garfield and Blaine believed increasing trade with Latin America would be the best way to keep the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from dominating the region.[191] And by encouraging exports, they believed they could increase American prosperity.[191] Garfield authorized Blaine to call for a Pan-American conference in 1882 to mediate disputes among the Latin American nations and to serve as a forum for talks on increasing trade.[192]
At the same time, they hoped to negotiate a peace in the War of the Pacific then being fought by Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.[192] Blaine favored a resolution that would result in Peru yielding no territory, but Chile by 1881 had occupied the Peruvian capital of Lima, and rejected any settlement that restored the previous status quo.[193]
Garfield sought to expand American influence in other areas, calling for renegotiation of the
Assassination
Guiteau and shooting
One of Garfield's more wearying duties was seeing office-seekers, and he saw Guiteau at least once. White House officials suggested to Guiteau that he approach Blaine, as the consulship was within the Department of State.[204] Blaine also saw the public regularly, and Guiteau became a regular at these sessions. Blaine, who had no intention of giving Guiteau a position he was unqualified for and had not earned, simply said the deadlock in the Senate over Robertson's nomination made it impossible to consider the Paris consulship, which required Senate confirmation.[205] Once the New York senators had resigned, and Robertson had been confirmed as Collector, Guiteau pressed his claim, and Blaine told him he would not receive the position.[206]
Guiteau came to believe he had lost the position because he was a Stalwart. He decided the only way to end the Republican Party's internecine warfare was for Garfield to die—though he had nothing personal against the president. Arthur's succession would restore peace, he felt, and lead to rewards for fellow Stalwarts, including Guiteau.[207]
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln was deemed a fluke due to the Civil War, and Garfield, like most people, saw no reason the president should be guarded; his movements and plans were often printed in the newspapers. Guiteau knew Garfield would leave Washington for a cooler climate on July 2, 1881, and made plans to kill him before then. He purchased a gun he thought would look good in a museum, and followed Garfield several times, but each time his plans were frustrated, or he lost his nerve.[208] His opportunities dwindled to one—Garfield's departure by train for New Jersey on the morning of July 2.[209]
Guiteau concealed himself by the ladies' waiting room at the Sixth Street Station of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, from where Garfield was scheduled to depart. Most of Garfield's cabinet planned to accompany him at least part of the way. Blaine, who was to remain in Washington, came to the station to see him off. The two men were deep in conversation and did not notice Guiteau before he took out his revolver and shot Garfield twice, once in the back and once in the arm. Guiteau attempted to leave the station but was quickly captured.[210] As Blaine recognized him, Guiteau was led away, and said, "I did it. I will go to jail for it. I am a Stalwart and Arthur will be President."[h][211] News of his motivation to benefit the Stalwarts reached many with the news of the shooting, causing rage against that faction.[212]
Treatment and death
Garfield was struck by two shots: one glanced off his arm while the other pierced his back, shattering a rib and embedding itself in his abdomen. "My God, what is this?" he exclaimed.[213] Among those at the station was Robert Todd Lincoln, who was deeply upset, thinking back to when his father Abraham Lincoln was assassinated 16 years earlier. Garfield was taken on a mattress upstairs to a private office, where several doctors examined him. At his request, Garfield was taken back to the White House, and his wife, then in New Jersey, was sent for.[214] Blaine sent word to Vice President Arthur in New York City, who received threats against his life because of his animosity toward Garfield and Guiteau's statements.[215]
Although
Over the next few days, Garfield made some improvement, as the nation viewed the news from the capital and prayed. Although he never stood again, he was able to sit up and write several times, and his recovery was viewed so positively that a steamer was fitted out as a seagoing hospital to aid with his convalescence. He was nourished on oatmeal porridge (which he detested) and milk from a cow on the White House lawn. When told that Indian chief Sitting Bull, a prisoner of the army, was starving, Garfield said, "Let him starve..." initially, but a few moments later said, "No, send him my oatmeal."[218]
X-ray imaging, which could have assisted physicians in precisely locating the bullet in Garfield's body, would not be invented for another 14 years. Alexander Graham Bell tried to locate the bullet with a primitive metal detector, but was unsuccessful, though the device had been effective when tested on others. But Bliss limited its use on Garfield, ensuring he remained in charge. Because Bliss insisted the bullet rested someplace it did not, the detector could not locate it. Bell shortly returned after adjusting his device, which emitted an unusual tone in the area where Bliss believed the bullet was lodged. Bliss took this as confirmation that the bullet was where he declared it to be. Bliss recorded the test as a success, saying it was:
now unanimously agreed that the location of the ball has been ascertained with reasonable certainty, and that it lies, as heretofore stated, in the front wall of the abdomen, immediately over the groin, about five inches [130 mm] below and to the right of the navel.[219]
One means of keeping Garfield comfortable in Washington's summer heat was one of the first successful air conditioning units: air propelled by fans over ice and then dried reduced the temperature in the sickroom by 20 °F (11 °C).[218] Engineers from the navy, and other scientists, worked together to develop it, though there were problems to solve, such as excessive noise and increased humidity.[220]
On July 23, Garfield took a turn for the worse when his temperature increased to 104 °F (40 °C); doctors, concerned by an abscess at the wound, inserted a drainage tube. This initially helped, and the bedridden Garfield held a brief cabinet meeting on July 29; members were under orders from Bliss to discuss nothing that might excite Garfield.[221] Doctors probed the abscess, hoping to find the bullet; they likely made the infections worse. Garfield performed only one official act in August, signing an extradition paper. By the end of the month, he was much feebler than he had been, and his weight had decreased from 210 pounds (95 kg) to 130 pounds (59 kg).[222][223]
Garfield had long been anxious to escape hot, unhealthy Washington, and in early September the doctors agreed to move him to
On September 18, Garfield asked Colonel A.F. Rockwell, a friend, if he would have a place in history. Rockwell assured him he would and told Garfield he had much work still before him. But his response was, "No, my work is done."[225] The following day, Garfield, then suffering also from pneumonia and hypertension, marveled that he could not pick up a glass despite feeling well and went to sleep without discomfort. He awoke that evening around 10:15 p.m. complaining of great pain in his chest to his chief of staff General David Swaim, who was watching him, as he placed his hand over his heart.[226] The president then requested a drink of water from Swaim. After finishing his glass, Garfield said, "Oh Swaim, this terrible pain—press your hand on it." As Swaim put his hand on Garfield's chest, Garfield's hands went up reflexively. Clutching his heart, he exclaimed, "Oh, Swaim, can't you stop this? Oh, oh, Swaim!" Those were Garfield's last words.[227] Swaim ordered another attendant to send for Bliss, who found Garfield unconscious. Despite efforts to revive him, Garfield never awoke, and he was pronounced dead at about 10:30 p.m.[228][229] Learning from a reporter of Garfield's death the following day, Chester A. Arthur took the presidential oath of office administered by New York Supreme Court Justice John R. Brady.[230]
According to some historians and medical experts, Garfield might have survived his wounds had the doctors attending him had at their disposal today's medical research, knowledge, techniques, and equipment.
Guiteau was indicted on October 14, 1881, for the murder of the president. During his trial, Guiteau declared that he was not responsible for Garfield's death, admitting to the shooting but not the killing. In his defense, Guiteau wrote: "General Garfield died from malpractice. According to his own physicians, he was not fatally shot. The doctors who mistreated him ought to bear the odium of his death, and not his assailant. They ought to be indicted for murdering James A. Garfield, and not me."[236] After a chaotic trial in which Guiteau often interrupted and argued, and in which his counsel used the insanity defense, the jury found him guilty on January 25, 1882, and he was sentenced to death by hanging. Guiteau may have had neurosyphilis, a disease that causes physiological mental impairment.[237] He was executed on June 30, 1882.[238]
Funeral, memorials and commemorations
Garfield's funeral train left Long Branch on the same special track that had brought him there, traveling over tracks blanketed with flowers and past houses adorned with flags. His body was transported to the Capitol and then continued on to Cleveland for burial.[239] Shocked by his death, Marine Band leader John Philip Sousa composed the march "In Memoriam", which was played when Garfield's body was received in Washington, D.C.[240] More than 70,000 citizens, some waiting over three hours, passed by Garfield's coffin as his body lay in state from September 21 to 23, 1881,[241] at the United States Capitol rotunda; on September 25, in Cleveland, Garfield's casket was paraded down Euclid Avenue from Wilson Avenue to Public Square, with those in attendance including former presidents Grant and Hayes, and Generals William Sherman, Sheridan and Hancock.[242] More than 150,000—a number equal to the city's population—likewise paid their respects, and Sousa's march was again played.[239][243] Garfield's body was temporarily interred in the Schofield family vault in Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery until his permanent memorial was built.[239][244]
Memorials to Garfield were erected across the country. On April 10, 1882, seven months after Garfield's death, the U.S. Post Office Department issued a postage stamp in his honor.
On May 19, 1890, Garfield's body was permanently interred, with great solemnity and fanfare, in a mausoleum in Lake View Cemetery. Attending the dedication ceremonies were former President Hayes, President Benjamin Harrison, and future president William McKinley.[251] Garfield's Treasury Secretary, William Windom, also attended.[251] Harrison said Garfield was always a "student and instructor" and that his life works and death would "continue to be instructive and inspiring incidents in American history".[252] Three panels on the monument display Garfield as a teacher, Union major general, and orator; another shows him taking the presidential oath, and a fifth shows his body lying in state at the Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.[253]
Garfield's murder by a deranged office-seeker awakened public awareness of the need for civil service reform legislation. Senator
A
Garfield is honored with a life-size bronze sculpture inside the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Cleveland, Ohio.[258]
On March 2, 2019, the National Park Service erected exhibit panels in Washington to mark the site of his assassination.[259]
-
Lawnfield, Garfield National Historic Site, location of the "front porch campaign"
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Lake View Cemeteryin Cleveland, Ohio
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James A. Garfield Monument in Washington, D.C.
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First Garfield postage stamp, 1882
Legacy and historical view
For a few years after his assassination, Garfield's life story was seen as an exemplar of the American success story—that even the poorest boy might someday become President of the United States. Peskin wrote: "In mourning Garfield, Americans were not only honoring a president; they were paying tribute to a man whose life story embodied their own most cherished aspirations."[260] As the rivalry between Stalwarts and Half-Breeds faded from the scene in the late 1880s and after, so too did memories of Garfield. In the 1890s, Americans became disillusioned with politicians, and looked elsewhere for inspiration, focusing on industrialists, labor leaders, scientists, and others as their heroes. Increasingly, Garfield's short time as president was forgotten.[261]
External videos | |
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Booknotes interview with Kenneth Ackerman on Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield, July 27, 2003, C-SPAN |
The 20th century saw no revival for Garfield. Thomas Wolfe deemed the presidents of the Gilded Age, including Garfield, "lost Americans" whose "gravely vacant and bewhiskered faces mixed, melted, swam together".[262] The politicians of the Gilded Age faded from the public eye, their luster eclipsed by those who had influenced America outside of political office during that time; the robber barons, the inventors, those who had sought social reform, and others who had lived as America rapidly changed. Current events and more recent figures occupied America's attention. According to Ackerman, "the busy Twentieth Century has made Garfield's era seem remote and irrelevant, its leaders ridiculed for their very obscurity."[262]
Garfield's biographers, and those who have studied his presidency, tend to think well of him, and that his presidency saw a promising start before its untimely end. Historian
In 2002, historian Bernard A. Weisberger said, "[Garfield] was, to some extent, a perfect moderate. He read widely (and unobtrusively) without its visibly affecting his Christianity, his Republicanism, or his general laissez-faire orthodoxy. He was not so much a scholar in politics as a politic scholar."[266] Peskin believes Garfield deserves more credit for his political career than he has received: "True, his accomplishments were neither bold nor heroic, but his was not an age that called for heroism. His stormy presidency was brief, and in some respects, unfortunate, but he did leave the office stronger than he found it. As a public man he had a hand in almost every issue of national importance for almost two decades, while as a party leader he, along with Blaine, forged the Republican Party into the instrument that would lead the United States into the twentieth century."[267]
Notes
- ^ Divisions in the Stone-Campbell Movement were not recognized until the 20th Century. The names Christian Church, Church of Christ, and Disciples of Christ were used interchangeably until then.[2]
- Western Reserveuntil 1800.
- infectious hepatitis instead.[51]
- ^ Until the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, Congress convened annually in December.
- ^ On June 13, 1868, the House passed the 14th Amendment that gave African Americans U.S. citizenship.[91]
- ^ Garfield typically won two or three times his Democratic opponents' votes.[120]
- ^ In October 1883, the War of the Pacific was settled without American involvement, with the Treaty of Ancón.
- ^ The words vary in some sources
- ^ "Doctor" was his given name.
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- ^ "Total Scores/Overall Rankings | C-SPAN Survey on Presidents 2021 | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 4–6.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 8–10.
- ^ Rutkow 2006, p. 4.
- ^ a b Peskin 1978, pp. 10–11.
- ^ Brown 1881, p. 23.
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- ^ Caldwell 1965, pp. 170–172.
- ^ Peskin 1978, p. 278.
- ^ a b c Caldwell 1965, pp. 173–174; Peskin 1978, pp. 287–289.
- ^ "To Pass a Resolution to Impeach the President. (P. 320-2, ... – House Vote #418 – Jan 7, 1867". GovTrack.us. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ "To Pass the Impeachment of President Resolution. – House Vote #119 – Dec 7, 1867". GovTrack.us.
- ^ "Journal of the United States House of Representatives (40th Congress, second session) pages 259–262". voteview.com. United States House of Representatives. 1868. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
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- ^ "Congressional". Detroit Free Press. March 3, 1868. Retrieved July 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Foner 2014, p. 449.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 332–334.
- ^ Caldwell 1965, pp. 205–218.
- ^ Peskin 1978, p. 261.
- ^ Peskin 1978, p. 268.
- ^ Rutkow 2006, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 265, 327.
- ^ Calhoun 2017, p. 146.
- ^ Calhoun 2017, pp. 125, 146.
- ^ Calhoun 2017, p. 146; Smith 2001, pp. 550–551.
- ^ McFeely 1981, p. 328; Peskin 1978, p. 311; Calhoun 2017, p. 146; Smith 2001, pp. 550–551.
- ^ a b Peskin 1978, pp. 350–351.
- ^ Caldwell 1965, pp. 219.
- ^ Caldwell 1965, pp. 224–226.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 354–359.
- ^ a b Peskin 1978, p. 362.
- ^ Rutkow 2006, p. 34.
- ^ Caldwell 1965, p. 230.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 148, 244, 277, 292.
- ^ Caldwell 1965, pp. 233–236; Rutkow 2006, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Rutkow 2006, pp. 37–39.
- ^ Peskin 1978, p. 331.
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- ^ Peskin 1978, p. 498.
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- ^ Peskin 1978, p. 347.
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- JSTOR 44764657.
- ISBN 9780471536567.
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- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 466–469.
- ^ Ackerman 2003, pp. 96–101.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 472–475.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 475–477.
- ^ Ackerman 2003, pp. 110–114.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 480–481.
- ^ a b Peskin 1978, pp. 488–491.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 498–500.
- ^ Peskin 1978, pp. 501–502.
- ^ Clancy 1958, pp. 175–180.
- ^ a b Peskin 1978, pp. 493–494.
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- ^ Peskin 1978, p. 580.
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- ^ Doenecke 1981, p. 48.
- ^ a b Doenecke 1981, pp. 48–49.
- ISSN 0018-2680.
- ^ a b Doenecke 1981, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Doenecke 1981, pp. 50–53.
- ^ David M. Pletcher, The Awkward Years: American Foreign Relations under Garfield and Arthur (U of Missouri Press, 1962).
- ^ a b c Crapol 2000, pp. 62–64.
- ^ a b Crapol 2000, pp. 65–66; Doenecke 1981, pp. 55–57.
- ^ Crapol 2000, p. 70; Doenecke 1981, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Crapol 2000, pp. 74–80; Peskin 1978, pp. 576–577.
- ^ Crapol 2000, p. 81; Doenecke 1981, pp. 71–73.
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Today's outcome: Doctors would have been able to treat his injuries and infection and been able to offer nourishment intravenously or through tube feedings. 'This was a no-brainer. It would have been an unreasonable death by today's standard,' [Dr. Terry] Housinger said.
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Originally Cannibal Creek Siding was built in 1877 to serve the booming timber industry when the railway line was laid from Dandenong to Bunyip. The district was latter [sic] renamed Garfield after an American President.
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- OCLC 1107321740. Archived from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2021.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ @GarfieldNPS (March 2, 2019). "One year ago today, @SmithsonianMag ran an article lamenting that site of Garfield assassination was unmarked. We have rectified that! Exhibit panels are now at up in Washington, DC near site of the shooting. ... [thread]" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Peskin 2000.
- ^ a b Rutkow 2006, p. 136.
- ^ a b Ackerman 2003, p. 399.
- ^ Doenecke 1981, p. 182.
- ^ Doenecke 1981, p. 183.
- ^ Caldwell 1965, p. 363.
- ^ Weisberger 2002, p. 271.
- ^ Peskin 1978, p. 611.
Works cited
Books
- Ackerman, Kenneth D. (2003). Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of James A. Garfield. New York, New York: Avalon Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7867-1396-7.
- Bach, Penny Balkin (1992). Public Art in Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-0-87722-822-6.
- OCLC 3037198.
- Caldwell, Robert Granville (1965) [1931]. James A. Garfield: Party Chieftain. New York, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. OCLC 833793627.
- Clancy, Herbert J. (1958). The Presidential Election of 1880. Chicago, Illinois: Loyola University Press. ISBN 978-1-258-19190-0.
- Crapol, Edward P. (2000). James G. Blaine: Architect of Empire. Biographies in American Foreign Policy. Vol. 4. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources. ISBN 978-0-8420-2604-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7006-0208-7.
- ISBN 978-0-06-235451-8.
- Garfield National Memorial Association (1890). The Man and the Mausoleum. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Print and Publishing Company. OCLC 1656783.
- McAlister, Lester G.; Tucker, William E. (1975). Journey in Faith: A History of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press. ISBN 978-0-8272-1703-4.
- ISBN 978-0-393-32394-8.
- Peskin, Allan (1978). Garfield: A Biography. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87338-210-6.
- Pletcher, David M. The Awkward Years: American Foreign Relations under Garfield and Arthur (U of Missouri Press, 1962). online
- Radford, Warren; Radford, Georgia (2002). Outdoor Sculpture in San Francisco: a Heritage of Public Art. Gualala, California: Helsham Press. ISBN 978-0-9717607-1-4.
- Rutkow, Ira (2006). James A. Garfield. New York, New York: OCLC 255885600.
- ISBN 978-0-684-84927-0.
- Weisberger, Bernard A. (2002). Henry F. Graff (ed.). The Presidents A Reference History James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. Charles Scribners's Sons.
Periodicals
- Schaffer, Amanda (July 25, 2006). "A President Felled by an Assassin and 1880s Medical Care". The New York Times. New York, New York. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- The Magazine of American History (digital). Vol. 25. The University of California: A.S. Barnes & Company. 1891.
Online
- Peskin, Allan (February 2000). "Garfield, James Abram". American National Biography Online. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2015.(subscription required)
- "5 cent Garfield". Smithsonian National Postal Museum. May 16, 2006. Archived from the original on September 7, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
- "Garfield, James Abram 1831–1881". history.house.gov. History, Arts, & Archives United States House of Representatives. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
Further reading
- Goodyear, C. W. (2023). President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Graff Henry F., ed. The Presidents: A Reference History (3rd ed. 2002) online
- JSTOR 25101018.
- Houdek, John Thomas. "James A. Garfield and Rutherford B. Hayes: A Study in State and National Politics" (PhD dissertation, Michigan State University; Proquest Dissertations Publishing, 1970. 7111871).
- Menke, Richard. "Media in America, 1881: Garfield, Guiteau, Bell, Whitman." Critical Inquiry 31.3 (2005): 638–664.
- ISBN 978-0-7679-2971-4.
- North, Ira Lutts. "A rhetorical criticism of the speaking of James Abram Garfield, 1876-1880" (PhD dissertation, Louisiana State University; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1953. DP69446).
- Rushford, Jerry Bryant. "Political Disciple: The Relationship Between James A. Garfield And The Disciples Of Christ" (PhD dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1977. 7807029).
- Skidmore, Max J. "James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur." in Maligned Presidents: The Late 19th Century (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2014) pp. 63–79.
- Sutton, Thomas C. "James A. Garfield." in The Presidents and the Constitution (Volume One. New York University Press, 2020) pp. 266–275.
- Uhler, Kevin A. "The demise of patronage: Garfield, the midterm election, and the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act" (PhD. Diss. The Florida State University, 2011) online.
- Vermilya, Daniel J. James Garfield and the Civil War: For Ohio and the Union (Arcadia Publishing, 2015).
External links
- Garfield, James Abram, (1831–1881) Congressional Biography
- James Garfield: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
- James A. Garfield at the Database of Classical Scholars
- [http://millercenter.org/president/garfield Brief essays on James A. Garfield and his administration from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
- "Life Portrait of James Garfield", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, July 26, 1999
- Works by or about James A. Garfield at Internet Archive
- Works by James A. Garfield at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Notable alumni of Delta Upsilon fraternity, including Garfield
- James A. Garfield Personal Manuscripts
- James A. Garfield Collection at Williams College Chapin Library
- James A. Garfield Collection at Williams College Archives and Special Collections