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Time in Office: March – September 1881
Terms: Less than one
Birthday: November 19,1831
Birth Place: Moreland Hills, Ohio (Cuyahoga County)
Date of Death: September 19, 1881
Place of Death: Longbranch, New Jersey
Buried: Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio

Notes:
~ Last President born in a log cabin
~ Garfield’s father died before his second birthday
~ Juggled Indian clubs to build his muscles
~ Garfield was ambidextrous
~ Won one of the closest elections on record
~ Only member of clergy (minister & elder) to be elected President
~ Only Representative to be directly elected as President
~ Second President to be assassinated
~ Second shortest time-in-office (200 days) See: William Henry Harrison

Young James Garfield

James Abram Garfield, America’s 20th President, was born in Moreland Hills (formerly Orange Township), Ohio. An independent youth, Garfield attended school sporadically and at the age of 16, found work as a mariner until illness soon forced him to quit. He returned to his education with renewed interest, excelling as a student and from 1851 to 1859 he was either teaching or preaching in Ohio, Massachusetts or New York. He married Lucretia Randolph in 1858 and by early 1859, Garfield had become a bit bored with teaching. By late 1859 he began studying the law. He was a powerful speaker and debator and just about the time politics and the law began to catch his full interest, along came the Civil War.

Garfield entered the war as a Colonel in the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He spent most of 1862 either in Kentucky or Tennessee where he served at the Battle of Shiloh. He became ill mid-year 1862 and after recuperating with his family at home, headed to Washington, DC to await orders which were constantly offered and then changed. He later found himself Chief of Staff to Rosecrans, Commander of the Army of the Cumberland who apparently did not take full advantage of Garfield’s tactical abilities.

Elected to Congress in October 1862, Garfield returned to Washington, DC from Ohio to await news of any military orders. He resigned his commission in December 1863 and took up his seat in Congress.

For the next 6 years, James A. Garfield continued to serve as a member of Congress and had moved his family to Washington, DC. He continued his lucrative law practice and served several important government posts – in 1872 he made his first trip west of the Mississippi to conclude a Indian relocation agreement.

A Presidency – Interrupted

March 4, 1881 was a snowy day in Washington, DC for Garfield’s Inauguration. He spent a major part of the next 199 days selecting members of his Cabinet – while trying to keep the political waters calm. He also gave government workers a day off to decorate the graves of those lost in the Civil War, appointed a Supreme Court Justice, and 4 other Federal judges.

On his way through town to deliver a speech, Garfield was shot while walking through a station of the Baltimore and Pacific Railroad. His arm was grazed by one of the assassin’s (Charles J Guiteau) bullets – the second lodged in Garfield’s spine. Exactly two months before his 50th birthday on September 19, 1881, Garfield died from infection from his wounds which ultimately led to a massive heart attack. (Gaiteau was hanged June 30, 1882.)

This was the second time the United States had three Presidents in one year. Hayes having left office, Garfield’s election and assassination, and the start of the Presidency of Chester A. Arthur – all taking place in 1881.

Some current news on James A. Garfield.

James A Garfield Monument
Monument to Garfield at the Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco
James A. Garfield National Historic Site

Next: 21st President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur.