Garfield’s Assassin
Garfield’s assassin is generally described as a “Disappointed Office Seeker,” but Charles Guiteau was more than a malcontent with a chip on his shoulder. He was clever and smart and a lunatic. An opportunist lunatic whose brand of lunacy was delusions of grandeur.
Guiteau had been a lawyer and evangelist and for a short time lived in a free love commune known as the Oneida Community in upstate New York. He failed at everything. In the free love commune the ladies nicknamed Guiteau “Charles Get Out.”
He traveled all over the country by rail without buying a single train ticket. He moved from boarding house to boarding house without paying rent. When he was cornered at it was time to pay, he simply got up and left.
He was a bill collector who kept the money he collected. He campaigned for the Republicans in 1880 and thought he was owed a job. He liked the idea of being an ambassador.
During the spoil system you could walk into the White House, meet with president and ask for a job. Guiteau tried his luck and Garfield turned him down. He didn’t like Garfield.
When Guiteau shot Garfield, it was generally considered the act of a madman, but in reality, his assassinating of Garfield was the only successful coup in American history.
Guiteau was a Stalwart as was Vice President Chester A. Arthur. Garfield was a Half Breed. Guiteau wanted to replace Garfield with Arthur, and it worked. After the shooting Garfield said I’m a Stalwart and now Arthur will be President.
At the trial Guiteau said he had only shot Garfield, the doctors killed him. A year later he was hung.
Standing on the gallows they let him recite a poem he had written complete with a cue for the hangman to drop the door.
He said the poem was intended to indicate his feelings right at the moment he was about to turn room temperature. He said if was set to music it would be more effective.
Garfield wanted ivory handles. He thought the murder weapon would look better on display in a museum if it had ivory handles. When he was at O'Meara's Store in Washington it came down to either a .442 Webley, or a British Bulldog. He preferred the Bulldog, but it had wooden grips. It was a buck more than ivory, too much for Guiteau to afford. The store owner dropped the price and Guiteau was in business.