One bullet grazed his elbow, but a second lodged in the back of President James Garfield, who was shot JULY 2, 1881, as he waited in a Washington, D.C., train station.
The assassin was Charles Guiteau, who had been a member the socialist utopian "Oneida Community."
The Oneida Community had common ownership of property and abandonment of moral norms. It affirmed free love, polygamy, pederasty, group control over procreation and children raised by "villages."
Legal incidents over psychological cult abuse and rape devolved into dissension, and conflict. Younger members wanted to return to traditional marriages.
By 1879, the socialist experiment was losing members, and it eventually dissolved in failure.
President James Garfield had been in office only four months.
Though not wounded seriously, unsterile medical practices trying to remove the bullet resulted in an infection.
Alexander Graham Bell devised a magnetic metal detector device to locate the bullet, but the metal bed frame confused the instrument.
Two months before his 50th birthday, Garfield died on September 19, 1881.
The next day, Secretary of State James Blaine wrote to James Russell Lowell, the U.S. Minister in London:
"James A. Garfield, President of the United States, died ...
For nearly eighty days he suffered great pain, and during the entire period exhibited extraordinary patience, fortitude, and Christian resignation. Fifty millions of people stand as mourners by his bier."
Vice-President Chester Arthur assumed the Presidency and declared a National Day of Mourning, September 22, 1881:
"In His inscrutable wisdom it has pleased God to remove from us the illustrious head of the nation, James A. Garfield, late President of the United States ...
It is fitting that the deep grief which fills all hearts should manifest itself with one accord toward the Throne of Infinite Grace ... that we should bow before the Almighty ... in our affliction."
James Garfield had been a Disciples of Christ preacher at Franklin Circle Christian Church in Cleveland, 1857-58.
Biographer Frank H Mason wrote in The Life and Public Services of James A. Garfield, Twentieth President of the United States (Bret Harte Publisher: London, Trübner & Co., 1881):
"(Garfield) delivered his powerful and convincing sermons from the pulpit with the consent and encouragement of the Church authorities."
Garfield was principal of Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (Hiram College), 1857-1860, during which time he defended creation in a debate against evolution.
Mason wrote that Garfield:
"... completely overwhelmed his opponent, who, after that defeat, abandoned his theory and gave up the fight against the inspiration of the Bible."
Garfield became a lawyer in 1861, and a Major General during the Civil War.
Elected to Congress, Garfield despised fiat paper "Greenbacks," supporting instead gold-silver backed currency.
Elected a U.S. Senator, James Garfield gave a stirring speech at the 1880 Republican National Convention opposing the rule that all delegates from each State were required to vote for the candidate with the majority of delegates:
"There never can be a convention ... that shall bind my vote against my will on any question whatever."
Garfield won the crowd. In an unprecedented move, after 34 ballots, he was chosen as the Republican Presidential nominee over Ulysses S. Grant seeking a 3rd term.
James Garfield stated in his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1881, just 200 days before his death:
"Let our people find a new meaning in the divine oracle which declares that 'a little child shall lead them,' for our own little children will soon control the destinies of the Republic ...
Our children ... will surely bless their fathers and their fathers' God that the Union was preserved, that slavery was overthrown, and that both races were made equal before the law."
Republican President James Garfield appointed African-Americans to prominent positions:
- Frederick Douglass, recorder of deeds in Washington;
- Robert Brown Elliot, special agent to the U.S. Treasury;
- John M. Langston, Haitian minister; and
- Blanche K. Bruce, register to the U.S. Treasury.
Garfield appointed as U.S. Minister to Turkey the Civil War General Lew Wallace, author of the famous novel Ben-Hur-A Tale of Christ.
Garfield described Otto von Bismark, who united German and served at its first Chancellor, 1871-1890:
"I am struck with the fact that Otto von Bismarck, the great statesman of Germany, probably the foremost man in Europe today, stated as an unquestioned principle, that the support, the defense, and propagation of the Christian Gospel is the central object of the German government."
Otto von Bismark saw the creeping danger of socialism and instituted Germany's Anti-Socialist Laws in 1878.
When Kaiser Wilhelm II forced Bismark to resign it precipitated World War I.
As a Congressman, James Garfield had stated at the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1876:
"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress.
If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption.
If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature ...
If the next centennial does not find us a great nation ... it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."
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American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate.
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Image Credits: Public Domain; Description: An engraving of James A. Garfield's assassination, published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. The caption reads "Washington, D.C.—The attack on the President's life—Scene in the ladies' room of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad depot—The arrest of the assassin / from sketches by our special artist's, A. Berghaus and C. Upham." President Garfield is at center right, leaning after being shot. He is supported by Secretary of State James G. Blaine who wears a light colored top hat. To left, assassin Charles Guiteau is restrained by members of the crowd, one of whom is about to strike him with a cane; Date: Published on 16 July 1881; Source: Image obtained from the Images of American Political History website: https://web.archive.org/web/20090123025041/http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/thumbnail234.html ; https://web.archive.org/web/20070711192520/http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/fi/000000ea.jpg ; Authors: A. Berghaus and C. Upham, published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Garfield_assassination_engraving_cropped.jpg
Thank-you for your enlightening article about James Garfield. I was deeply moved by reading about his life before he became the president. From his debate about creationism vs evolution, and presenting such strong evidence that his opponent gave up fighting against the inspiration of the Bible. As a congressman, despising fiat paper “greenbacks” and supporting instead gold-silver backed currency. It shows us that he was a great man of conviction and integrity. He must have been a freedom loving patriot to be hated by his assassin enough to kill him. He was a member of the socialistic utopian oneida community that had common ownership of property and abandoned social norms. It affirmed free love, polygamy, pederasty, group control over procreation and children raised by villages. This sounds a lot like what the democratic party of today stands for. Today, more than ever, this same group desires to dominate our culture and normalize the things that are evil. We must stand up to this evil and demonstrate the same tenacity that Garfield used in his debate for creationism against the guy he was debating for evolution. I am speculating that he was inspired by the Spirit of God to defend creationism and to do it skillfully and powerfully. His argument was so overwhelmingly strong that his opponent abandoned his evolutionary theory and simply gave up fighting against the inspiration of the Bible. This is what we need today. Men with conviction that are not afraid to stand up for the Truth. We have some who are unafraid to speak out—but we need many more. We must expose evil rather than shrinking back from it.
This is much more than I had planned to say—but knew that I should write down what Holy Spirit was communicating to my heart. In conclusion, we, as Christ followers, must unapologetically stand up for truth and integrity—and encourage others to do the same.