The President America Never Got

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, the country is once again revisiting the presidents who shaped the Republic. 

Some are remembered for triumph and progress. Others for scandal or national division. Thanks in part to Netflix’s new series, “Death by Lightning,” more Americans are learning about a president who never truly got started.

James Garfield served only 200 days before an assassin’s bullet cut his presidency short in 1881. Today, most Americans remember him, if at all, as one of four presidents killed in office. 

That may be one of the great forgotten tragedies in American political history. 

Born in a log cabin in Ohio, Garfield’s childhood was marked by hardship. His father died when he was just two years old, leaving his mother to raise the family alone. Largely self-educated, Garfield eventually graduated from Williams College and later studied law.