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Remembering President Garfield

NPR
Published February 2, 2016 at 12:45 PM CST
James Abram Garfield (1831 - 1881) 20th President of the United States being assassinated at Baltimore Station, Ohio. Following his support of civil service reform he was shot by Charles Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker. Original Publication: People Disc - HD0136 (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
James Abram Garfield (1831 - 1881) 20th President of the United States being assassinated at Baltimore Station, Ohio. Following his support of civil service reform he was shot by Charles Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker. Original Publication: People Disc - HD0136 (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

As the Republicans move toward their convention in Cleveland this summer, it’s still anyone’s guess who the nominee will be. Things were even less clear over a century ago, when James A. Garfield emerged as the surprise choice at a brokered convention, back in 1880. Garfield won the White House, but his term was cut short by an assassin’s bullet.

David C. Barnett from Here & Now contributor WCPN reports on the life and death of the president Americans barely got to know. Garfield’s story is also the subject of “Murder Of A President,” a television documentary airing tonight on PBS.

Reporter

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