The Assassination of James Garfield
Very recently I journaled about the anniversary of the death of Charles Guiteau, the man who shot President James Garfield. Well today is the anniversary of the actual shooting, which occurred on July 2, 1881, 130 year ago.
July 2nd was supposed to be a good day for Garfield. He was scheduled to leave for his summer vacation. His assassin Charles Guiteau waited for the President at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, on the southwest corner of present day Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington. Garfield had a stop to make at his alma mater, Williams College, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech. He was accompanied by two of his sons, James and Harry, and Secretary of State Blaine. Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln. There was no secret service protection in those days and Garfield had no bodyguard or security detail.
As President Garfield entered the waiting room of the station Guiteau stepped forward and pulled the trigger from behind at point-blank range. Garfield is reported to have crited out "My God, what is that?" Guiteau fired again and Garfield collapsed. One bullet grazed Garfield's shoulder; the other lodged in his spine in the first lumbar vertebra but apparently missed his spinal cord. Guiteau put his pistol back in his pocket and turned to leave the station for the cab he still had waiting outside, but he was apprehended before he could leave by policeman Patrick Kearney, who was so excited at having arrested the man who shot the president that he neglected to take Guiteau's gun from him until after their arrival at the police station. The crowd that watched this screamed "Lynch him!" but Kearney took Guiteau to the police station a few blocks away.
As he surrendered to authorities, Guiteau is supposed to have said: "'I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts! I did it and I want to be arrested! Arthur is President now!'" At first, some suspected that Vice-President Chester Alan Arthur or his supporters had put Guiteau up to the crime. The Stalwarts were a Republican faction loyal to ex-President Grant who were opposed to Garfield's promises to end political patronage. Arthur was chosen to run on the ticket with Garfield for political advantage, to placate his faction, rather than for skills or loyalty to his running-mate. Guiteau believed that he was striking a blow to unite the two factions of the Republican Party.
Garfield did not die on that day. Following the shooting he was conscious, but in shock and was carried to an upstairs floor of the train station.
One bullet remained lodged in his body, but doctors could not find it. Garfield's son Jim and James Blaine both broke down and wept. Robert Todd Lincoln, was deeply upset and likely referring to the death of his father, said "How many hours of sorrow I have passed in this town." Garfield was carried back to the White House. Doctors told him that he would not survive the night, but Garfield remained conscious and alert. The next morning his vital signs were good and doctors began to hope for recovery. A long vigil began, with Garfield's doctors issuing regular bulletins that the American public followed closely throughout the summer of 1881. His condition fluctuated. Fevers came and went. Garfield struggled to keep down solid food and spent most of the summer eating little, and that only liquids. In an effort to relieve the president from the heat of a Washington summer, Navy engineers rigged up an early version of the modern air conditioner. Fans blew air over a large box of ice and into the President's sickroom.
Doctors continued to probe Garfield's wound with dirty, unsterilized fingers and instruments, attempting to find the location of the bullet. Alexander Graham Bell devised a metal detector specifically for the purpose of finding the bullet lodged inside Garfield, but the metal bed frame Garfield was lying on made the instrument malfunction.
Garfield became increasingly ill over a period of several weeks due to infection, which caused his heart to weaken. He remained bedridden in the White House with fevers and extreme pains. Garfield's weight dropped from over two hundred pounds to 135 pounds as his inability to keep down and digest food took its toll. Blood poisoning and infection set in and for a brief period the President apparently suffered from hallucinations.
On September 6, Garfield was taken to the Jersey Shore to escape the Washington heat, in the vain hope that the fresh air and quiet there might aid his recovery. Garfield was propped up in bed before a window with a view of the beach and ocean, but new infections set in, as well as spasms of angina. On Monday, Septeber 19, 1881 at 10:35 p.m., Garfield died of a massive heart attack or a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm, following blood poisoning and bronchial pneumonia in Long Branch, New Jersey, exactly two months before his 50th birthday.
Many historians and medical experts now believe that Garfield probably would have survived his wound had the doctors attending him been more capable. Several inserted their unsterilized fingers into the wound to probe for the bullet, and one doctor punctured Garfield's liver in doing so. Some medical experts have opined that this alone would not have brought about death as the liver is one of the few organs in the human body that can regenerate itself, but this physician probably introduced Streptococcus bacteria into the President's body and that caused blood poisoning for which at that time there were no antibiotics.
Chester Arthur was at his home in New York City when word came the night of September 19 that
Garfield had died. After first getting the news, Arthur said "I hope—my God, I do hope it is a mistake." But confirmation by telegram came soon after. Arthur took the oath of office, administered by a New York Supreme Court judge, then left for Long Branch to pay his respects before going on to Washington. Garfield's body was taken to Washington, where it lay in state for two days in the Capitol Rotunda before being taken to Cleveland, where the funeral was held on Sept. 26.
July 2nd was supposed to be a good day for Garfield. He was scheduled to leave for his summer vacation. His assassin Charles Guiteau waited for the President at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, on the southwest corner of present day Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington. Garfield had a stop to make at his alma mater, Williams College, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech. He was accompanied by two of his sons, James and Harry, and Secretary of State Blaine. Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln. There was no secret service protection in those days and Garfield had no bodyguard or security detail.
As President Garfield entered the waiting room of the station Guiteau stepped forward and pulled the trigger from behind at point-blank range. Garfield is reported to have crited out "My God, what is that?" Guiteau fired again and Garfield collapsed. One bullet grazed Garfield's shoulder; the other lodged in his spine in the first lumbar vertebra but apparently missed his spinal cord. Guiteau put his pistol back in his pocket and turned to leave the station for the cab he still had waiting outside, but he was apprehended before he could leave by policeman Patrick Kearney, who was so excited at having arrested the man who shot the president that he neglected to take Guiteau's gun from him until after their arrival at the police station. The crowd that watched this screamed "Lynch him!" but Kearney took Guiteau to the police station a few blocks away.
As he surrendered to authorities, Guiteau is supposed to have said: "'I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts! I did it and I want to be arrested! Arthur is President now!'" At first, some suspected that Vice-President Chester Alan Arthur or his supporters had put Guiteau up to the crime. The Stalwarts were a Republican faction loyal to ex-President Grant who were opposed to Garfield's promises to end political patronage. Arthur was chosen to run on the ticket with Garfield for political advantage, to placate his faction, rather than for skills or loyalty to his running-mate. Guiteau believed that he was striking a blow to unite the two factions of the Republican Party.
Garfield did not die on that day. Following the shooting he was conscious, but in shock and was carried to an upstairs floor of the train station.
One bullet remained lodged in his body, but doctors could not find it. Garfield's son Jim and James Blaine both broke down and wept. Robert Todd Lincoln, was deeply upset and likely referring to the death of his father, said "How many hours of sorrow I have passed in this town." Garfield was carried back to the White House. Doctors told him that he would not survive the night, but Garfield remained conscious and alert. The next morning his vital signs were good and doctors began to hope for recovery. A long vigil began, with Garfield's doctors issuing regular bulletins that the American public followed closely throughout the summer of 1881. His condition fluctuated. Fevers came and went. Garfield struggled to keep down solid food and spent most of the summer eating little, and that only liquids. In an effort to relieve the president from the heat of a Washington summer, Navy engineers rigged up an early version of the modern air conditioner. Fans blew air over a large box of ice and into the President's sickroom.
Doctors continued to probe Garfield's wound with dirty, unsterilized fingers and instruments, attempting to find the location of the bullet. Alexander Graham Bell devised a metal detector specifically for the purpose of finding the bullet lodged inside Garfield, but the metal bed frame Garfield was lying on made the instrument malfunction.
Garfield became increasingly ill over a period of several weeks due to infection, which caused his heart to weaken. He remained bedridden in the White House with fevers and extreme pains. Garfield's weight dropped from over two hundred pounds to 135 pounds as his inability to keep down and digest food took its toll. Blood poisoning and infection set in and for a brief period the President apparently suffered from hallucinations.
On September 6, Garfield was taken to the Jersey Shore to escape the Washington heat, in the vain hope that the fresh air and quiet there might aid his recovery. Garfield was propped up in bed before a window with a view of the beach and ocean, but new infections set in, as well as spasms of angina. On Monday, Septeber 19, 1881 at 10:35 p.m., Garfield died of a massive heart attack or a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm, following blood poisoning and bronchial pneumonia in Long Branch, New Jersey, exactly two months before his 50th birthday.
Many historians and medical experts now believe that Garfield probably would have survived his wound had the doctors attending him been more capable. Several inserted their unsterilized fingers into the wound to probe for the bullet, and one doctor punctured Garfield's liver in doing so. Some medical experts have opined that this alone would not have brought about death as the liver is one of the few organs in the human body that can regenerate itself, but this physician probably introduced Streptococcus bacteria into the President's body and that caused blood poisoning for which at that time there were no antibiotics.
Chester Arthur was at his home in New York City when word came the night of September 19 that
Garfield had died. After first getting the news, Arthur said "I hope—my God, I do hope it is a mistake." But confirmation by telegram came soon after. Arthur took the oath of office, administered by a New York Supreme Court judge, then left for Long Branch to pay his respects before going on to Washington. Garfield's body was taken to Washington, where it lay in state for two days in the Capitol Rotunda before being taken to Cleveland, where the funeral was held on Sept. 26.