LYCOS RETRIEVER 
James A. Garfield: Civil War
built 642 days ago
Garfield was assassinated less than six months after he entered office; he had yet to be tested on major issues of public policy. Chester A. Arthur was ill prepared to be chief executive, was in poor health much of the time while he was in office, and was faced with a hopelessly divided party. Nevertheless, he was one of the nation's great political surprises. His administration pioneered in the development of the navy, sought foreign markets for American surpluses, fostered civil-service reform, and pressed for a scientific tariff. Doenecke devotes one chapter to the spoils system and the background to the Pendleton Act, one to Arthur's strategy regarding the South, and then offers an in-depth analysis of diplomacy during Arthur's tenure.
Source:
Garfield may have accomplished more for civil service reform in his death than he did during his short time as president. On July 2, 1881, a mentally unbalanced man named Charles J. Guiteau shot Garfield in a Washington D.C. train station. Guiteau was angry because Garfield had refused to appoint him to a federal job. After being shot, Garfield was taken to the White House. Doctors could not find the bullet, which had lodged in his back.
Source:
Garfield ging 1863 wieder in die Politik und ließ sich in das Repräsentantenhaus wählen (bis 1878 regelmäßig wiedergewählt). 1876 wurde er Fraktionsführer der Republikaner in Washington. Er war Finanzfachmann und trat für hohe Schutzzölle und die „Radical Reconstruction“ der Südstaaten ein. 1880 wurde er als Vertreter des Bundesstaates Ohio in den Senat entsandt und im selben Jahr in einer turbulenten Abstimmung zum Präsidentschaftskandidaten gewählt. Als Mitglied der „Half-Breeds“ stand Garfield für eine Reform des öffentlichen Dienstes und (nunmehr auch) für moderate Behandlung der unterlegenen Südstaaten. Auch trat er ein für eine moralische Erneuerung der korrupt gewordenen Republikanischen Partei, was ihm einerseits großen Respekt einbrachte, andererseits aber auch sein Verhängnis bedeutete: Garfield wurde an der (später so genannten) Pennsylvania-Station in Washington D.C. am 2.
Source:
Although his presidency lasted only 200 days, Garfield's full public life intersected much of American history--from the Ohio state legislature, to Civil War battlefields, to the halls of Congress, to the White House. In recent years, as historians have come to place greater importance on the Gilded Age, acknowledging that this age of transformation was more complex, diverse, and significant than previous stereotypes allowed, Garfield has ... increased in importance. Although he was shot 120 days after his inauguration, Garfield was one of the most politically experienced presidents in decades, and his life provides a valuable perspective on a pivotal time of transition. This bibliography provides a useful guide to the Garfield literature.
Source:
When Garfield took office in 1881, the people thought that Garfield’s administration would be another Grant’s with all the scandals. The people made these assumptions due to the deal he had made with Roscoe Conkling. Garfield had told Conkling if he had his support that he would consult Conkling when he made federal civil service appointments. As a result of this Garfield obtained all the New York electoral votes which got him the Presidency.
Source:
Garfield did not die immediately. But doctors could not locate one of the bullets, and infection eventually sapped his strength. Conkling was not reelected in the shocked aftermath of the shooting, and a civil service reform bill aimed at Conkling-style politics eventually passed Congress. But Garfield never left his bed; he died at Alberon, N.J., on Sept. 19, 1881.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Civil War