tapbirds reviewed a book.
Garfield
“James Garfield, 20th President of the United States, held office for approximately six months prior to his assassination in 1881. The killer, Charles Julius Guiteau, was a deranged excommunicate of the utopian Oneida Community, who felt God had "selected him as the instrument of the President's...”
“James Garfield, 20th President of the United States, held office for approximately six months prior to his assassination in 1881. The killer, Charles Julius Guiteau, was a deranged excommunicate of the utopian Oneida Community, who felt God had "selected him as the instrument of the President's removal." Biographer Allan Peskin provides much insight into the life of Garfield, perhaps best summarized in the final pages: "Garfield's life was actually tangled in contradictions: a pacifist turned (Civil War) soldier, an educator turned politician, a preacher turned economist, a man of essentially literary tastes cast in the role of party chieftain, a husband who, at length, fell in love with his wife, and a man racked by self-doubts, who was, at the same time, convinced of his high destiny" (p.612). What I also learned about Garfield is that prior to becoming President, he served nine consecutive terms as Congressman representing the 19th district of Ohio. Even though his time in the White House was cut short, Garfield left a legacy of fighting for laissez-faire economics and hard currency, epitomized by his famous quote, " "the chief duty of the government is to keep the peace and stand out of the sunshine of the people." Would that more presidents governed by such a standard.”
(read full review)
