Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
The inspiration for the Netflix series Death by Lightning – now streaming! • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The extraordinary account of James Garfield's rise from poverty to the American presidency, and the dramatic history of his assassination and legacy, from the bestselling author of The River of Doubt.
"Crisp, concise and revealing history.... A fresh narrative that plumbs some of the most dramatic days in U.S. presidential history." —The Washington Post
James Abram Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, a renowned congressman, and a reluctant presidential candidate who took on the nation's corrupt political establishment.
But four months after Garfield's inauguration in 1881, he was shot in the back by a deranged office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. Garfield survived the attack, but became the object of bitter, behind-the-scenes struggles for power—over his administration, over the nation's future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care.
Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic brings alive a forgotten chapter of U.S. history.
Look for Candice Millard’s latest book, River of the Gods.
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Readers say **Destiny of the Republic** is a gripping, well-researched narrative that enhances understanding of President Garfield’s life, his era, an...
This nonfiction account of President Garfield’s assassination is so well written that it kept my interest throughout. The author weaves together the story of Garfield’s election, the politics behind it, the assassin’s life, Alexander Graham Bell’s inventions, and the medical “attempts” to save Garfield’s life. Highly recommend- would make a great book club pick.
The title makes it sound like a boring book but I read it in one day since I could not put it down. James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the US shot by a lunatic at a train station died of massive sepsis causing by doctors sticking unclean instruments and sometimes fingers into a bullet wound that would have otherwise been nonfatal. This book has not just the life of the President but of his assassin and of the people who tried to save his life-- Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone who also tried to invent a machine to locate the bullet inside the President) and Dr Bliss, Lincoln's and now Garfield's primary physician who put his reputation before what was best for his patient. Even after the Secret Service was formed after Lincoln's assassination, they only investigated counterfeiting. The President had no bodyguards and the public had access to the White House and to petition the President-- the American people thought the President should not be separated from the people he serves. It would take a 3rd assassination of a President, William McKinley in 1901 for the Secret Service to be assigned to protect the President. Another weird fact I learned was that Robert Todd Lincoln was present at the president's side after 3 of the 4 presidential assassinations. Overall this book made me greatly admire a President that I formerly knew very little about (like being raised in poverty and using his love of learning and discipline and near death experience to raise himself up) and wish that this great man had been able to finish out his presidency.
Well, now I know something about President James A. Garfield and I have a great new respect for the caliber of person this man was. I'll never drive past Garfield Street--there between Hayes and Arthur--again without thinking about this good man and his tragic and unneccessary death. A big thanks to Candice Millard for bringing so much deatail and insight into this book and also including so much about the time and personalities of this era -- especially those linked so closely with President Garfield and his death. I'm happy to have knowledge of a few new real-life villans in my mind now, Charles Guiteau, Roscoe Conkling and Dr. Willard Bliss. And, in this book,I learned a little bit more about Alexander Graham Bell and Lister as well.
I recommend this book to anyone who might enjoy a well-written non-fiction novel of an unknown era (at least to me) in American history.
I recommend this book to anyone who might enjoy a well-written non-fiction novel of an unknown era (at least to me) in American history.
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