On July 2, 1881, President James Garfield was at the Baltimore and Potomac railroad station in Washington D.C. Accompanied by Secretary of State James Blaine, Garfield was getting ready to leave for a brief vacation. His assassin, Charles J. Guiteau, was hiding behind a bench, waiting for the perfect chance to attack the President. Finally, the chance came and he closed in on Garfield. He shot at him twice in the back, the first shot missed completely.
The fact that this assassination took place less then 16 years after the death of Lincoln frightened many. How could Guiteau have gotten to fire a second time? President Garfield lingered on for two and a half months, in constant agonizing pain. His plight was watched by 50 million Americans through their daily newspapers. Garfield finally died on September 19, 1881.
Of all the presidential assassins, Guiteau is considered the most mentally ill. A self-styled Chicago attorney, he was a strong supporter of the Democratic party and Horace Greeley during the presidential campaign of 1872. He wrote undeliverable speeches and preached to anyone within earshot, mainly to his wife but even the mirror when no one else was available.
When Greeley lost, Guiteau was devastated. He left his wife for an underage prostitute and switched to the Republican Party. In the 1880 elections, he wrote a speech called Garfield vs. Hancock which he guaranteed would make the Republicans win the election. Guiteau brought it to a number of head Republican officials, but they all refused to read it in public. Finally Guiteau delivered the speech himself at a Negro rally in New York, but he fell apart when the small crowd dispersed as his talk become more and more manic.
After Garfield won the election, Guiteau was convinced that his speech had brought the victory. He was convinced he would be named the ambassador to Austria or Consul to Paris. Guiteau wrote letters to Garfield and Blaine reminding them of their promise to appoint him to a post. When both refused to respond, Guiteau became convinced he had been slighted.
Guiteau then went out and bought a .44 caliber pistol and worked on his aim. He started following Garfield around Washington. Whenever he did not know where the President was going, he would walk up to the White House doorman and ask. Guiteau once had Garfield in his sites during a Church mass but decided against shooting the President when the First Lady was near. He waited until the perfect opportunity, that day in the train station.
Two months after the PresidentΓÇÖs death Guiteau was brought to trial. For ten and a half weeks, he screamed at the court calling the witnesses ΓÇ£dirty liarsΓÇ¥ and the prosecution a ΓÇ£low livered whelpΓÇ¥.
In his cell, Guiteau would strut back and forth so visitors would gawk at him. Finally, the jury came back with a guilty verdict. Guiteau, with his anger building again said ΓÇ£Let your verdict be, it was the DeityΓÇÖs act, not mine.ΓÇ¥ Then he added ΓÇ£You are all low, consummate jackasses,ΓÇ¥ as he waved his finger at the jury box.
Guiteau died by hanging on June 30, 1882. His last words were glory, glory, glory.
