LYCOS RETRIEVER 
James A. Garfield
built 642 days ago
During one period of time, James began to keep a private journal, He was excited to continue with his life... by age sixteen, he had become useful enough to work and earn a good wage. Usually, though, they were jobs that took him away from the farm,
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Garfield was a classics professor and would amaze people by his skill of writing Latin with one hand and Greek with the other, at the same time. He was ... a lawyer, and at 30 years old, was at one time the youngest Union general in the Civil War.
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Scandal nearly wrecked Garfield's career when he was accused of accepting money in return for supporting a congressional subsidy of the transcontinental railroad's construction company. But he managed to sidestep and survive the accusation, and he ... weathered the revelation that he had accepted a legal fee from a company involved in government-contracted improvement of Washington streets. These lapses in ethics were more the result of carelessness than personal corruption, and Garfield in his last years was extremely careful to avoid any possible conflicts of interest. On the whole, he had a good record in the graft-sullied political world of the day, and reformers who could not support James G. Blaine were willing to accept Garfield.
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Garfield proved himself to be a capable military commander, and demonstrated great courage and ingenuity. Once, when his brigade's supplies ran low, Garfield made the trip for food himself, and ferrying the food across a dangerous river by using his skills as a former canal boat worker.
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On the next ballot, Garfield found himself the unanimous choice of the convention and the unwitting beneficiary of his own floor maneuvering. Chester A. Arthur was named his running mate. Blaine followers supported the ticket, and most Sherman followers were willing to overlook the manner in which the nomination had been secured, but Grant's forces never forgave Garfield for his opposition.
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James A. Garfield