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James A. Garfield 1831-1881 by LeAndrea Sanders |
James Abram Garfield was the 20th president of the United States of America in 1881. His four-year term of president ended only four months into his four years, he was assassinated. Garfield was an influential member of the House of Represenatives for seventeen years. His presidency was too short to indicate if he was a successful leader of the Republican Party, or not. Garfield is now remembered to be a dark-horse candidate for the Republican presidential nomination of 1880.
James Abram Garfield was born on November 19, 1831. His parents were Abram Garfield and Eliza Ballou Garfield; they were New Englanders who had settled in the Western Reserve region of northern Ohio. Abram was farmer and a canal construction worker; he died when James was only two years old. Abram left his widow and four children, to the rigors of frontier life. James was the man of the house; he grew up into hardship and work to support his family. Garfield had little leisure in his youth life. He did all the farm work until he was sixteen years old, then he found work on a canal boat.
In 1849 Garfield’s mother persuaded him to enter Geauga Academy in Chester, Ohio. In 1951 he entered Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, a Disciples of Christ school at Hiram, Ohio. There Garfield began teaching and preaching. Garfield was a persuasive debater; he had no patience with politics. By 1854 Garfield saved up enough money to enroll in Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Two years later Garfield graduated with high honor. He returned to teach languages and literature at the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute. In September of 1856 Garfield became the principal of the institute and continued to preach in the Disciples of Christ Church.
On November 11, 1858, Garfield married Lucretia Rudolph. They had five sons and two daughters. One of the sons, James Rudolph Garfield served as secretary under President Theodore Roosevelt. Another son, Harry Augustus Garfield, became president of Williams College.
In 1856 Garfield became a presidential candidate of the Republican Party. In 1861 Garfield assembled the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was appointed general of the volunteers. He participated in the second day’s fighting in the Battle of Chickamauga in Shiloh. In 1863 he was promoted major general of volunteers.
In January of 1880, Garfield became involved in the presidential campaign of 1880. He then decided to run for president in the Republican nomination, running against former president Ulysses S. Grant whom was running for president again. Unfortunately Garfield was overruled and lost the campaign. Shortly after the election, Garfield resigned from the House and surrendered the Senate seat, which he had won earlier that year. Garfield was inaugurated as president on March 4, 1881.
Garfield’s life from then on was nothing like he ever expected. He dealt with all federal problems. He was always busy never had time for his wife and kids. He loved the life though; he loved dealing with other people’s problems. In the spring of 1881, Garfield began the prosecution of the star route frauds, an attempt by post office employees. Before the case was brought to trial, private mail carriers came to a conclusion were they defrauded the government. Garfield’s career came to an abrupt end.
On July 2, 1881, Garfield went to Washington’s railroad station to begin a family trip. There Charles J. Guiteau, an insane stalwart and disappointed office seeker, shot him. For eleven weeks Garfield suffered increasing pain and fail of strength. James Abram Garfield died on September 19, 1881 in Elberon, New Jersey. His public and historical memory quickly faded away. The circumstances of his assassination facilitated passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883. Garfield’s death left the Republican Party confused and without a leader throughout much of the 1880s and helped delay its emergence to majority status for fifteen years.