The Story of President James Garfield
James A. Garfield
Born November 19, 1831 in Moreland Hills, Ohio as James Abram Garfield , he was named after an older brother who died during infancy, his father also passed away when he was very young and he was raised pretty much solely by his mother , who he grew very close with.
Garfield grew up very poor and left home at the age of sixteen and found work on a canal boat, taking care of the livestock but after only six weeks away , illness forced Garfield to return home where he was convinced to attend school rather than going back to work on the canal boat.
He attended Geauga Academy for two years where he also met his wife Lucretia Rudolph and would also attend the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute from 1851 - 1854 and attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts shortly after that and would go on to teach, join the Union army and to practice law before entering into politics.
Political Career & Death
After a short but important career in the Union Army and climbing rank all the way to Major General Garfield would retire from the military to run for Congress and won a seat in the 38th Congress and although he considered himself a Republican he would often vote against his own party , especially involving matters to do with slavery and abolishing it, Garfield had a long political and law career before being elected president in 1881 but his presidency would only last six and a half months due to his assassination at the hands of Charles Guiteau , Garfield would remain hospitalized for eleven weeks before succumbing to his injuries and passing away on September 19, 1881 at the age of 49.
He was an early proponent for civil rights and was a great president and all around good guy, can't say that about many politicians these days can you?