Episode 61 — James A. Garfield: Dark Horse, Brief Tenure, Big Turning Point

pplpod Episode 61 follows James A. Garfield’s improbable climb—from canal boy and scholar-preacher to Civil War general, congressman, and the only sitting House member ever elected president. We trace the 1880 convention surprise, a front-porch campaign built on sharp debate and calm confidence, and the early fights of a presidency cut short: taming machine politics, tangling with Roscoe Conkling over the New York Custom House, and edging the country toward civil service reform. Then the tragedy—Charles Guiteau’s bullet at a Washington depot, months of infection and experimental treatment (yes, even Bell’s metal detector), and a nation keeping vigil. We close on consequence: how Garfield’s death jolted America into the Pendleton Act and a new idea of merit in government—proof that even a brief tenure can bend the future.