Official White House Portrait by Calvin Curtis

OVERVIEW:

FULL NAME:
James Abram Garfield

BORN:
November 19, 1831;
Orange, Ohio

DIED:
September 19, 1881 (age 49)
Elberon, New Jersey

EDUCATION:
Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College)
Williams College (MA, 1856)

POLITICAL PARTY:
Republican

SPOUSE:
Lucretia Rudolph (m. 1858)

CHILDREN:
Eliza A. (1860–1863),
Harry A. (1863–1942),
James R. (1865–1950),
Mary (1867–1947),
Irvin M. (1870–1951),
Abram (1872–1958),
Edward (1874–1876)

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
1847:
Driver and Helmsman on Ohio Canal
1849:
Entered Geauga Seminary in Chester, Ohio;
Taught in District Schools in Ohio
1851-1853:
Attended Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, Hiram, Ohio;
Taught in district schools between terms
1854-1856:
Attended Williams College
1857-1861:
Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature, Western Reserve Eclectic Institute;
Principal, Western Reserve Eclectic Institute:
Taught Latin, Greek, mathematics, history, philosophy, English literature, and rhetoric
1859:
Member, Ohio State Senate;
Law student, Office of Attorney Albert Gallatin Riddle in Cleveland, Ohio
1861:
Admitted to Ohio State Bar
1861-1863:
Union Army,
Lawyer in Private Practice
1861:
Lieutenant Colonel, Forty-second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry
1862:
Promoted to brigadier general of volunteers
1863:
Appointed Chief of Staff to General William S. Rosecrans
1863-1880:
Member, U.S. House of Representatives (R-OH)
1867-1869:
Chair, House Military Affairs Committee
1869-1871:
Chair, House Banking and Currency Committee
1871-1875:
Chair, House Appropriations Committee
1877:
Member of the Electoral Commission to decide the disputed 1876 Presidential Election
1880:
Elected to U.S. Senate, Declined to Run for President
3/4/1881- 9/19/1881:
20th President of the United States
7/2/1881:
Shot by Charles J. Guiteau; Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, DC

FIRST LADY:

VICE PRESIDENT:

RESOURCES:

President James Garfield and his Family. , ca. 1881 (Library of Congress)

BIOGRAPHIES:
White House
UVA Miller Center
American Presidents (C-SPAN)
Biographical Directory of Congress
Ohio History Central
Wikipedia

PAPERS:
Library of Congress
James Garfield Collection (Hiram College)
The Works of James. A. Garfield (Vol. 1, Vol. 2)
American Presidency Project
A Century of Congress (The Atlantic, April 1877)

GENERAL BACKGROUND:
Garfield Observer

PORTRAITS:

President James Garfield (Library of Congress)

General James Garfield during Civil War (Library of Congress)

Artist: Ole Peter Hansen Balling (National Portrait Gallery)

RECOMMENDED BOOKS:

**DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC** by Candice Millard

1880 ELECTION:

REPUBLICANS:
JAMES A. GARFIELD (PRESIDENT)
CHESTER A. ARTHUR (VICE PRESIDENT)
Electoral Vote: 214 (58.0%)
Popular Vote: 4,453,611 (48.3%)

DEMOCRATS:
WINFIELD S. HANCOCK (PRESIDENT)
WILLIAM ENGLISH (VICE PRESIDENT)
Electoral Vote: 155 (42.0%)
Popular Vote: 4,445,256 (48.2%)

GREENBACK:
JAMES WEAVER (PRESIDENT)
BENJAMIN CHAMBERS (VICE PRESIDENT)
Electoral Vote: 0
Popular Vote: 306,135 (3.3%)

1881 INAUGURATION:

President James Garfield viewing the inauguration ceremonies on March 4, 1881 . Also pictured are First Lady Lucretia Garfield to the left of Garfield, and President Rutherford B. Hayes and First Lady Lucy Hayes to the right of Garfield. (Library of Congress)

1881 Address (Draft, Transcript)
Library of Congress (1881)
Joint Congressional Committee (1881)

GARFIELD ADMINISTRATION:

President James Garfield with his Cabinet: From Left to Right: Sec. of State James G. Blaine, Sec. of Treasury William Windom, President James A. Garfield, Sec. of Interior Samuel J. Kirkwood, Sec. of the Navy William H. Hunt, Sec. of War Robert Todd Lincoln, Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh, and Postmaster General Thomas L. James (Artist: Joseph Keppler/ National Portrait Gallery)

SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR:
Samuel J. Kirkwood (1881-1882)

ATTORNEY GENERAL:
Isaac Wayne MacVeagh (1881)

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY:
William H. Hunt (1881-1882)

POSTMASTER GENERAL:
Thomas L. James (1881)

SECRETARY OF STATE:
James G. Blaine (1881)

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY:
William Windom (1881)

SECRETARY OF WAR:
Robert Todd Lincoln (1881-1885)

SUPREME COURT NOMINEE:

IlIustration by Joseph Keppler from Puck magazine shows Supreme Court Justices Woods, Blatchford, Harlan, Gray, Miller, Field, Waite, Bradley, and Matthews around a table, struggling to keep up with an overload of cases piling up on the floor (Published on 12/9/1885 by Keppler & Schwarzmann, Library of Congress)

Stanley Matthews (1881)

CONGRESS:

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE:
Joseph W. Keifer (1881-1883)

47th CONGRESS (1881-1883):
U.S. House of Representatives
Wikipedia

HISTORIC SITES:

James Garfield National Historic Site