On September 19, 1881 (141 years ago today) James Abram Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, died as the result of gunshot wounds he sustained earlier that year, when he was shot by assassin Charles Guiteau at a Washington DC train station. Garfield was 49 years old when he died.


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Charles Guiteau was arrested for shooting President James A. Garfield on July 2, 1881. He was apprehended immediately after shooting the President. Garfield was operating under the delusion that he was deserving of a federal appointment as Consul General to Paris because of a speech he had given supporting Garfield for President. For weeks he had ( Read more... )

On August 20, 1833 (190 years ago today) Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States, was born. Harrison was the first (and so far the only) grandson of a former President to also become President. His grandfather was William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States, and his great-grandfather, also named Benjamin Harrison ( Read more... )

James Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, held the office for just 200 days, and spent the last 80 of those days in agony, after being shot by a crazed office seeker. He would ultimately die from a combination of his gunshot wounds as well as negligent medical treatment, and is considered to be the second President to be assassinated ( Read more... )

On July 2, 1881 (142 years ago today) President James Abram Garfield was shot twice by assassin Charles Guiteau. Garfield would die from his wounds just over two and a half months later on September 19th. His presidency would last just 200 days.


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At the age of 14, Benjamin Harrison enrolled in Farmer's College near Cincinnati, Ohio in 1847. He attended the college for two years and it was there that he met his future wife, Caroline Lavinia Scott. She was the daughter of the science professor, John Witherspoon Scott. Harrison transferred to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1850 and ( Read more... )

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the son of a Presbyterian minister. In 1850, Cleveland's father took a position at a church in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, and later in Holland Patent, New York, near Utica and the family moved again. After his father died in 1853, 16 year old Grover left school to help support his family. Later that year, ( Read more... )

James Garfield was a very learned man. He is also the only President to have been a clergyman. At age 16, he left home, planning on going to sea. He worked for six weeks as a canal driver on Lake Erie, but he return home due to illness. Once he recovered from his illness, he attended Geauga Seminary, at Chester, Ohio, and his intellectual curiosity ( Read more... )

President Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the son of Rutherford Hayes, Jr. and Sophia Birchard. Hayes's father died ten weeks before Rutherford's birth. His maternal uncle, Sardis Birchard, lived with the family for a time and became a father figure to Hayes. With his uncle's guidance, Hayes studied at Kenyon College, graduating with highest honors ( Read more... )

If you read any history of golden age presidential politics, the name James G. Blaine is recurring one. Republican James Gillespie Blaine was politician from Maine who served as a United States Representative, Speaker of the House of Representatives, U.S. Senator and twice as Secretary of State. In an era when it was believed that being Secretary ( Read more... )