Garfield, James A(bram) (1831-1881)

James A Garfield, 20th president of the USA, who was shot by an assassin on 2 July 1881, finally dying on 19 September.

20th president of the USA 1881, a Republican. A compromise candidate for the presidency, he held office for only four months before being assassinated in a Washington, DC, railway station by a disappointed office-seeker. His short tenure was marked primarily by struggles within the Republican Party over influence and cabinet posts.

He was born in Orange, Ohio, and graduated from Williams College, Massachusetts. He practised law, and was elected to the Ohio senate 1859. In the Civil War he served with the Union forces, commanding a volunteer regiment. He resigned his command 1863 and entered Congress, where, after the war, he was a supporter of radical Reconstruction.

As president, he identified himself with the movement for the reform of the civil service, alienating many of his supporters.