THE ASSASSINATION OF JAMES
GARFIELD JULY 2, 1881
AFTER 36 VOTES GARFIELD BECAME THE
SURPRISE NOMINEE
In 1880, Guiteau became a frequent visitor
to Republican Party headquarters in NYC
CHARLES GUITEAU
TIMELINE OF THE INSANE?
1867 Oneida threats
1869-74 Abusive marriage
1875 Threatens sister with an
axe
May 1881 Idea conceived to
remove the president
May 1881 Guiteau hounds
Blaine
1880 Changes the name in his
speech from Grant to Garfield
June 1881 Purchases .44
revolver
INTEREST IN POLITICS?
Although Guiteau had
written speeches in
support of Grant, a
Stalwart, when Garfield
became the nominee,
Guiteau simply
scratched Grant’s name
from his speech and
substituted Garfield’s.
GUITEAU WROTE GARFIELD ASKING FOR A
DIPLOMATIC APPOINTMENT
Sec. State Blaine to Guiteau:
“NEVER BOTHER ME AGAIN ABOUT
THE PARIS CONSULSHIP SO LONG
AS YOU LIVE.”
THE MURDER WEAPON
ADDRESS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
“I had no ill-will against the
President, the President’s
removal was a political
necessity, because he
proved a traitor to the men
who made him, and
thereby imperiled the life of
the Republic . . . Ingratitude
is the basest of crimes. It is
not murder . . . It will make
my friend Arthur President,
and save the Republic . . . I
leave my justification to
God and the American
people.”
LETTER TO SHERMAN JULY 1
To General Sherman:
I have just shot the President.
I shot him several times as I
wished him to go as easily as
possible. His death was a
political necessity. I am a
lawyer, a theologian, and a
politician. I was with Gen.
Grant and the rest of our men
in New York during the
canvass. I am going to jail.
Please order out your troops
and take possession of the jail
at once. Very respectfully,
Charles Guiteau
BALTIMORE AND POTOMAC STATION
Diagram of the Train Station
“MY GOD, WHAT IS THIS?”
“I DID IT. I WILL GO TO JAIL FOR IT. I AM A
STALWART AND ARTHUR WILL BE
PRESIDENT.”
WOUNDS ON GARFIELD
1. Enters 4 inches to the
right of the spine.
2. Fractures t1th and 12th
ribs.
3. Chipping the first
lumbar vertebra.
4. Coming to rest behind
the pancreas.
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL’S
INDUCTION BALANCE
GARFIELD LYING IN THE CAPITOL
GARFIELD MEMORIAL IN CLEVELAND
Political cartoon created for the cover of Puck Magazine on July 13, 1881. The cartoon shows
Charles J. Guiteau with a gun and a note that reads "AN OFFICE OR YOUR LIFE!" The caption reads:
"A Model Office Seeker". It is accompanied by a quote: "I am a lawyer, a theologian, and a
politician" - Charles J. Guiteau.
Mr. Garfield by Johhny Cash
Mr. Garfield been shot down shot down shot down
Mr. Garfield been shot down low
Me and my brother was down close to the depot when I heard the
report of a pistol. My brother run out and come back in all excited
And I said “what was it?” and he said “it was the report of a pistol”
and then he said:
Mr. Garfield been shot down shot down shot down
Mr. Garfield been shot down low
Lord I knew the President was supposed to be at the depot that day
And we just wouldn't believe that he's shot
But we'd run over there and there was so many folks around
That we couldn't see him but some lady was standin' there cryin'
And I said ma'am what was it that happened ma'am and she said
Mr. Garfield been shot down shot down shot down
Mr. Garfield been shot down low
Well everybody drifted off toward home finally
And they looked like they felt about as bad as I did
But in a few weeks I heard that the President was still alive
And I told my brother I said let's get on that train and go to
where he's laid up hurt
Well when we got to his big house up there I asked the fellow
I said “who was it that did it who was it that shot the
President?”
And he said it was Charlie Guiteau that shot Mr. Garfield and I
said
Charlie Guiteau done shot down a good man good man
Charlie Guiteau done shot down a good man low
I heard some fellow there that had been in the house to see the
President
And I sidled up him to listen to what he was tellin' and he said
Mrs. Lucretia Garfield was always at his side
In the heat of the day fannin' him when he was hot
He said that just that day the President said to Mrs. Lucretia
He said Crete honey (he called her Crete)
Said if somethin' worse happens to me after awhile you get yourself
a good man
And Mrs. Lucretia said James (she called him James)
She said I won't hear to that now she said I love you too much but he
said
You'll make some good man a good wife good wife
You'll make some man a good good good wife
(Don't pull in single harness all your life good gal
Don't pull in single harness all your life)
That's what he said don't pull in single harness all your life
Well a few days later I come back to where the President was
restin'
And it seems everybody was cryin'
The flag was hangin' halfway up to the flagpole in front of the
house
And everybody looked so sad and I asked a soldier boy there
And I said is is is Mr. Garfield and he said yeah he's gone
Gonna lay him in that cold lonesome ground down low
Gonna lay him in that cold lonesome ground
Well they laid the President by that long cold branch Mr.
Garfield's been laid down low
Mr. Garfield has been shot down Mr. Garfield's been shot
(Mr. Garfield been shot down shot down shot down Mr. Garfield
been shot down low)
Is the belief that one has been instructed to act by God a sign of mental imbalance?
Q: You intended to kill him?
A: I thought the Deity and I had done it, sir. I want it distinctly understood that I did not
do that act in my own personality. I unite myself with the Deity, and I want you gentlemen
to so understand it. I never should have shot the President on my own personal account.
I want that distinctly understood.
Q: Who bought the pistol, the Deity or you?
Guiteau argues that there was no malice in his action, and hence no
homicide. Second, he contends that medical malpractice was to
blame for the President's death.
Guiteau argues that the death of Garfield would end the worsening political
strife. He argued that Americans were now coming around to his view, and
he read letters and poems sent to him--many of which predicted a future in
which Americans would accept the divine origin of his inspiration. Guiteau
portrays himself as the victim of an ungrateful nation.
Sentencing
“You will be taken to the
place prepared for the
execution, within the
walls of said jail, and
there, between the
hours of 12 M and 2
P.M., you be hanged by
the neck until you are
dead. And may the Lord
have mercy on your
soul."
SIGNIFICANCE OF GARFIELD
ASSASSINATION
Brought the country together
Civil Service Reform
Question the use of insanity as a defense
Use of sterile instruments and the spread of germs in
the medical field.
• Ignorance is Bliss!
•
•
•
•
Come all you tender Christians, wherever you may be,
and likewise pay attention to these few lines from me.
For the murder of James A. Garfield I am condemned to die
on the thirtieth day of June, upon the scaffold high.
CHORUS:
My name is Charles Guiteau, my name I'll ne'er deny.
I leave my aged parents in sorrow for to die.
But little did they think, while in my youthful bloom,
I'd be taken to the scaffold to meet my earthly doom.
'Twas down at the station I tried to make my escape,
But Providence being against me, there proved to be no show.
They took me off to prison while in my youthful bloom
to be taken to the scaffold to meet my earthly doom.
I tried to [play off] insane but found it ne'er would do,
the people were all against me, to escape there was no clue.
Judge Cox, he read my sentence, his clerk he wrote it down,
I’d be taken to the scaffold to meet my earthly doom.
My sister came to see me, to bid a last farewell.
She threw her arm around me and wept most bitterly.
She says, "My darling brother, this day you must cruelly die
for the murder of James A. Garfield, upon the scaffold high."