Happy Birthday Jimmy G
On this day (November 19th) in 1831 (180 years ago today) President James Abram Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, was born in Orange Township, now Moreland Hills, Ohio. His father, Abram Garfield, known locally as a wrestler, died when Garfield was 17 months old.
Garfield is not a well-known President, although we were reminded of him in this year's history best-seller Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard.
Garfield rose to the rank of General during the Civil War, where he fought in the battles of Middle Creek, Shiloh and Chickamauga. He served nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, before becoming his party's nominee for President in 1880. In 1880, the Ohio legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate; in that same year, the leading Republican presidential contenders – Ulysses S. Grant, James G. Blaine and John Sherman – failed to garner the requisite support at their convention. Garfield became the party's compromise nominee for the 1880 Presidential Election and successfully campaigned to defeat Democrat Winfield Hancock in the election.
Although he was President for only a few months (and for part of that time he was bed-ridden on account of the gunshot wound that ultimately killed him), Garfield accomplished a number of things as President included taking back Presidential authority over Senatorial courtesy when it came to making executive appointments, strengthening the U.S. navy and purging corruption in the Post Office Department. Garfield also appointed several African Americans to prominent federal positions. President Garfield advocated for more civil rights for African Americans and had proposed a plan for greater education to African-American children in the South. He proposed substantial civil service reform, eventually passed in 1883 by his successor, Chester A. Arthur, as the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act.
Garfield's presidency lasted just 200 days—from March 4, 1881, until his death on September 19, 1881, as a result of being shot by assassin Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881. Only William Henry Harrison's presidency, of 32 days, was shorter. He was an accomplished scholar and an avid reader who had a 3,000-book library that included Horace, Shakespeare, Goethe, Tennyson, and Froude's history of England. From all I've read of Garfield his death was a tragedy. He had the ability and strength of character to bring about positive significant change, but he never got the chance to do so.
Garfield is not a well-known President, although we were reminded of him in this year's history best-seller Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard.
Garfield rose to the rank of General during the Civil War, where he fought in the battles of Middle Creek, Shiloh and Chickamauga. He served nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, before becoming his party's nominee for President in 1880. In 1880, the Ohio legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate; in that same year, the leading Republican presidential contenders – Ulysses S. Grant, James G. Blaine and John Sherman – failed to garner the requisite support at their convention. Garfield became the party's compromise nominee for the 1880 Presidential Election and successfully campaigned to defeat Democrat Winfield Hancock in the election.
Although he was President for only a few months (and for part of that time he was bed-ridden on account of the gunshot wound that ultimately killed him), Garfield accomplished a number of things as President included taking back Presidential authority over Senatorial courtesy when it came to making executive appointments, strengthening the U.S. navy and purging corruption in the Post Office Department. Garfield also appointed several African Americans to prominent federal positions. President Garfield advocated for more civil rights for African Americans and had proposed a plan for greater education to African-American children in the South. He proposed substantial civil service reform, eventually passed in 1883 by his successor, Chester A. Arthur, as the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act.
Garfield's presidency lasted just 200 days—from March 4, 1881, until his death on September 19, 1881, as a result of being shot by assassin Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881. Only William Henry Harrison's presidency, of 32 days, was shorter. He was an accomplished scholar and an avid reader who had a 3,000-book library that included Horace, Shakespeare, Goethe, Tennyson, and Froude's history of England. From all I've read of Garfield his death was a tragedy. He had the ability and strength of character to bring about positive significant change, but he never got the chance to do so.