U.S. Presidents / James A. Garfield

James A. Garfield

1831 - 1881

James A. Garfield

…under our institutions there was no middle ground for the negro race between slavery and equal citizenship. There can be no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the United States. Inaugural Address

Overview

James A. Garfield is remembered as one of the four "lost presidents" who served rather uneventfully after the Civil War. Of the four lost Presidents—Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, and Harrison—Garfield is best remembered for his dramatic assassination a mere 100 days after he assumed office.

Life In Depth Essays

Fast Facts

Orange Township, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College), Williams College (graduated 1856)
Disciples of Christ
Teacher, Public Official
Republican
None
November 11, 1858, to Lucretia Rudolph (1832–1918)
Eliza A. (1860–1863), Harry A. (1863–1942), James R. (1865–1950), Mary (1867–1947), Irvin M. (1870–1951), Abram (1872–1958), Edward (1874–1876)
20
Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio
Justus Doenecke

Chicago Style

Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. “James A. Garfield.” Accessed October 25, 2024. https://millercenter.org/president/garfield.

Professor Emeritus of History

Justus Doenecke

Professor Doenecke is a professor emeritus of history at the New College of Florida.

Featured Video

2011-03-04

By one vote: The disputed presidential election of 1876

Watch Michael F. Holt talk about his book on the 1876 election