Comments on: The Stalking of the President

By: Debbie

Debbie — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:32:08 +0000

I recently finished reading Candice Millard’s book “Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and Murder of a President”. A great read!

Since it is Abraham Lincolns 203 birthday today I thought I’d remark on the Garfield detail in the book I had not read before.

In the book Millard writes of James Garfield asking Robbert Todd Lincoln, his Secretary of War and President Lincoln’s only surviving son, to recount his father’s prophetic dream of assassination.

“There was a death like stillness about me” Within the stillness, however, he could hear “subdued sobs” Leaving his room, he searched the White House for the source of the weeping, but every room he entered was empty. Finally, stepping into the East Room, he saw a coffin that was guarded by soldiers. “Who is dead in the White House?” he asked. “Why don’t you know?” one of the soldiers replied. “The President has been assassinated.”

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:13:41 +0000

Fascinating story. It’s amazing how pigheaded doctors were regarding cleanliness. To some degree I agree with Guiteau; it was the doctors who ultimately killed Garfield. Thankfully, we’ve all come to understand the dangers of germs. Unfortunately, some have gone so far that we are still killing ourselves by oversterlizing things.

By: David Shavin

David Shavin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:34:38 +0000

Another disgruntled lone assassin?
Why not inquire into what this disturbed individual might have been alluding to in his repeated comments, where he thinks he is saving the Republican Party? It’s not a big secret: Guiteau’s 5/23/1881 letter to Garfield states: “Mr. Blaine is a wicked man, and you
ought to demand his immediate resignation; otherwise
you and the Republican Party will come to grief.” To responsibly follow that lead, one would next inquire as to whether there were elements of the Republican Party that saw Blaine as the ‘wicked’ influence to be removed. Anton Chaitkin has done that research, and it points to the London-controlled financial sector of New York. Your article has Guiteau going from a Chicago law practice to campaigning for Grant and Garfield, then to Washington – but omits that his new-found political activism has Guiteau working out of the NYC branch of the Party. Would not a responsible article inquire as to whom, if anyone, had capability and/or interest in steering a damaged personality? More could be said, but you get the idea. I hope that your readers are allowed to, also.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:20:14 +0000

As a physician, I believe that the best book on Guiteau is “The Trial of the Assassin Guiteau” by Charles Rosenberg, a far more complete analysis of him than provided by Candice Millard’s book.
Although this article notes that Guiteau appeared delusional at times, Rosenberg’s book demonstrates that he was seriously mentally ill and most probably was suffering from neuro-syphilis. Guiteau fought attempts to defend him by showing he was mentally ill because he felt he had committed the crime for rationale political reasons. Probably if Garfield had lived, Guiteau would have been found not guilty by reason of insanity but Garfield’s death made that virtually impossible at the time. Although many people think the issue of the mental illness of those who tried to assassinate the president arose with John Hinckley in 1981, almost 150 years earlier, in what were considered less enlightened times, when someone tried to assassinate Andrew Jackson when he was president, he was put in a mental institution for the rest of his life. Almost 30 years after Garfield’s death, the man who tried to assassinate Theodore Roosevelt while he was running for president in 1912 suffered the same fate.

By: ReMale

ReMale — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:58:13 +0000

I read the British Bulldog revolver used to assassinate President James Garfield was on display at the Smithsonian, but later disappeared. Has anyone else heard this? Fascinating article.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:11:40 +0000

Joey, one can be prosecuted for murder even if the victim lingers for a time after the actual attack. Death does not need to occur instantly for the act to be labeled a murder.

By: DennyBones

DennyBones — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:58:11 +0000

@Joey – Really? As inept as the doctors were compared to medical treatment today they would not have been sticking unwashed hands into a wound if there was not one to begin with. There is no conundrum; of course there was an assassination and an assassin!

By: John Smith

John Smith — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:32:28 +0000

Good point, Brian.

The metal detector was a two dimensional scanner and the bullet was found. The problem may also have lay in the depth of the wounds which the detector could not calculate. That, and the intruding bed springs, rendered the the metal detector useless.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:13:03 +0000

Good article. I’d once read an account that Alexander Graham Bell’s crude metal detector likely would have found Garfield’s bullet had he not been laying on a mattress with a box spring. Being that box springs had only recently been invented, there is speculation that the metal detector malfunctioned due to the numerous steel springs.

By: Gilbert King

Gilbert King — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:38:09 +0000

Thanks, Jerry. I fixed the typo on the date, and it should have been made clearer that despite Garfield’s abdominal wound, he was, as you note, struck in the back. I revised that as well. And you are also correct about Candice Millard’s book, Destiny of the Republic. It’s terrific.