Gourt > Society > History > By Region > North America > United States > Presidents > Garfield, James Abram > Assassination
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th President of the United States (1881) and the second U.S. President to be assassinated (Abraham Lincoln was the first). His term was the second shortest in U.S. history, after William Henry Harrison's. Holding office from March to September of 1881, President Garfield was in office for a total of just six months and fifteen days.
Early life
Garfield was born in Orange Township, now Moreland Hills, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, southeast of Cleveland to Abram Garfield and Eliza Ballou. He was named for his older brother James Ballou Garfield, who died in infancy, and his father, who died in 1833, when James Abram was 18 months old. He grew up cared for by his mother and an uncle.
In Orange Township, Garfield attended school, a predecessor of the the Orange City Schools. From 1851 to 1854, he attended the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later named Hiram College) in Hiram, Ohio. He then transferred to Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he was a brother of Delta Upsilon. He graduated in 1856 as an outstanding student who enjoyed all subjects except chemistry. He then taught at the Eclectic Institute. He was an instructor in classical languages for the 1856-1857 academic year, and was made principal of the Institute from 1857 to 1860.
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Aint No Way to Go: President James Garfield - Examines Garfield end as a case of monumental malpractice.
Alexander Graham Bell and the Garfield Assassination - The story of Bell's newly invented metal detector, and why it failed to save the President's life.
Meta Description: [ Extensive Web site focusing primarily on how newspapers and the press covered major, and not so major, events in American history. Also information for newspaper collectors. ]
Charles Guiteau Collection - Includes a biographical profile of the man who shot the President, and links to scanned letters written by Guiteau himself.
Click2Biography - Guiteau's Assassination of President Garfield - Story of President Garfield's assassination including contemporary drawings and the execution of his assassin.
Garfield's Lengthy Demise - Detailed account of the medical misadventures that followed the assassination, from History House.
Meta Description: [ What happens when twenty doctors put their grubby fingers in President Garfield's gunshot wound? ]
Guiteau Head in that Noose - Detailed account of Guiteau's trial and execution, from History House.
Meta Description: [ Garfield's assassin Guiteau finally meets his maker after providing a most entertaining trial. ]
How Alexander Graham Bell Helped Kill the President - Tells how Garfield died from poor medical care and explores the role Alexander Graham Bell's crude metal detector played in the President's death.
Meta Description: [ Find out how Alexander Graham Bell helped to kill the President. ]
Medical History of President James Garfield - Provides a summary of the treatments that led to Garfield's death.
Meta Description: [ Medical history of President James Garfield ]
The Plea of Insanity - An essay by nineteenth century writer Sarah Orne Jewett which opposes Guiteau's insanity plea. Prefaced with a summary of the case and the issues raised.
Who Shot Garfield? - Biography of Garfield's assassin, Charles Guiteau, from History House.
Meta Description: [ Who knows who killed President Garfield? You ought to - what a nutcase! ]
| ,was assassinated by 17-year- old boy. Japanese photographer Yasushi Nagao won the Pulitzer Prize for his photo of this ... | |
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