Assassination of James A. Garfield

James A. Garfield, the 20th President of United States, was fatally shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C., at 9:30 am on July 2, 1881. He died in Elberon, New Jersey, 79 days later on September 19, 1881. The shooting occurred less than four months into his term as president. His assassin was Charles J. Guiteau, whose motive was revenge against Garfield for an imagined political debt. Guiteau was convicted of Garfield's murder and executed by hanging one year after the shooting.

Charles Guiteau turned to politics after failing in several ventures, including theology, a law practice, bill collecting, and spending time in the utopian Oneida Community. Former President Ulysses S. Grant was the early front runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 1880 and was supported by the Stalwart faction. Guiteau decided he was a Stalwart and a Grant supporter, and authored a speech called "Grant against Hancock". Grant lost the nomination to dark horse candidate James Garfield, who was not affiliated with either the Stalwarts or their rivals the Half-Breeds. Guiteau then revised his speech to "Garfield against Hancock", and tried to sign on as a campaigner for the Republican ticket. He never delivered the speech in a public setting, but had it printed and distributed several hundred copies. The speech was ineffective, even in written form; among other problems, Guiteau had made a hurried but incomplete effort to replace references to Grant with references to Garfield. The result was that Guiteau appeared to give Garfield credit for accomplishments that he had originally ascribed to Grant, yet he convinced himself that his speech was largely responsible for Garfield's narrow victory over Democratic nominee Winfield Scott Hancock. Guiteau believed he should be awarded a diplomatic post for his supposedly vital assistance, first asking for a consulship in Vienna, then expressing a willingness to "settle" for one in Paris. He loitered around Republican headquarters in New York City during the winter of 1880–1881, expecting rewards for his speech, but to no avail.

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