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James A. Garfield: Civil War
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In December 1863 Garfield resigned his commission to take his seat in Congress. He initially joined the ranks of Republicans who were impatient with President Abraham Lincoln's seemingly cautious moves toward full emancipation, but after the war Garfield 's radicalism moderated. Although in 1868 he supported the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, he felt increasingly uncomfortable in the role of firebrand. His interests shifted to matters of financial policy. He worked tenaciously for these policies on the House Ways and Means Committee and as chairman of the Appropriations Committee during the 42nd and 43rd Congresses.
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Born near Cleveland, Ohio, in 1831, Garfield was serious and deeply religious. After studying at Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College), he traveled east to Williams College in Massachusetts. A year after he returned to Ohio to teach at the Eclectic Institute, at age 26, he was named president of the school. He spoke out often against slavery, and in 1859 he was elected to the Ohio senate as a Republican. He served with distinction as a soldier in the Civil War (186165), rising to the rank of major general in the Union Army. Then in 1862, his home district elected him to the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Between his election and his inauguration, Garfield was occupied with constructing a cabinet that would balance all Republican factions. Blaine was rewarded with the State Department. William Windom of Minnesota was named secretary of the Treasury. The Navy Department was headed by William H. Hunt of Louisiana; the War Department by Robert Todd Lincoln; and the Interior Department by Iowa's Samuel J. Kirkwood. Wayne MacVeagh of Pennsylvania was asked to be Attorney General, and New York was represented by Postmaster General Thomas Lemuel James. This last appointment infuriated Garfield's Stalwart rival Roscoe Conkling, who demanded nothing less for his faction and his state than the Treasury Department.
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According to Doenecke, Garfield saw the office of chief executive primarily in administrative terms, and his great battle was over keeping the power of appointment in his own hands. His victory over the Stalwarts enhanced both the power and prestige of the office. His knowledge of how government worked was unmatched; long before Woodrow Wilson made his mark, Garfield was "the scholar in politics." The diplomacy of Secretary of State James G. Blaine comes under critical scrutiny. Doenecke evaluates his performance in the Chile-Peru War (War of the Pacific), the Guatemala-Mexico dispute, the isthmian-canal issue, Irish-American activities in Britain, and efforts to secure markets in Korea.
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Benannt wurde er nach seinem älteren Bruder James Ballou Garfield, der als Kind starb, und nach seinem Vater, Abram Garfield, der starb, als sein Sohn 18 Monate alt war. Danach wurde er von seiner Mutter und seinem Onkel großgezogen. Er arbeitete sich aus ärmlichen Verhältnissen nach oben (er gilt als der letzte Präsident, der in einer Blockhütte zur Welt gekommen war). Er heiratete Lucretia Rudolph und hatte mit ihr sieben Kinder.
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In 1859 Garfield was elected to the Ohio Senate and became a leading Union supporter in the Civil War. He accepted a commission as colonel and, typically, set about studying military strategy and organization. His readings must have been well selected because his rise in rank was rapid even for the Civil War era. An active role in the Battle of Middle Creek on Jan. 10, 1862, made him a brigadier general, and, in April, he fought during the bloody second day at Shiloh. After that he left the lines to become chief of staff through the Chickamauga campaign, organizing a division of military information and being promoted to major general.
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