Leaders & Notable People
![C. W. Goodyear - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B0731KSG77.jpg)
President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier
"An eloquent and moving biography of our twentieth President." -James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom
"A meticulously researched reappraisal." -Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs
The first comprehensive biography in decades of the extraordinary, tragic life of America's twentieth president-James Garfield.
In this magisterial biography, C.W. Goodyear charts the life and times of one of the most remarkable Americans ever to win the Presidency. Progressive firebrand and conservative compromiser; Union war hero and founder of the first Department of Education; Supreme Court attorney and abolitionist preacher; mathematician and canalman; crooked election-fixer and clean-government champion; Congressional chieftain and gentleman-farmer; the last president to be born in a log cabin; the second to be assassinated. James Abram Garfield was all these things and more.
Over nearly two decades in Congress during a polarized era-Reconstruction and the Gilded Age-Garfield served as a peacemaker in a Republican Party and America defined by divisions. He was elected President to overcome them. He was killed while trying to do so.
President Garfield is American history at its finest. It is about an impoverished boy working his way from the frontier to the Presidency; a progressive statesman, trying to raise a more righteous, peaceful Republic out of the ashes of civil war; the tragically imperfect course of that reformation, and the man himself; a martyr-President, whose death succeeded in nudging the country back to cleaner, calmer politics.
"A meticulously researched reappraisal." -Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs
The first comprehensive biography in decades of the extraordinary, tragic life of America's twentieth president-James Garfield.
In this magisterial biography, C.W. Goodyear charts the life and times of one of the most remarkable Americans ever to win the Presidency. Progressive firebrand and conservative compromiser; Union war hero and founder of the first Department of Education; Supreme Court attorney and abolitionist preacher; mathematician and canalman; crooked election-fixer and clean-government champion; Congressional chieftain and gentleman-farmer; the last president to be born in a log cabin; the second to be assassinated. James Abram Garfield was all these things and more.
Over nearly two decades in Congress during a polarized era-Reconstruction and the Gilded Age-Garfield served as a peacemaker in a Republican Party and America defined by divisions. He was elected President to overcome them. He was killed while trying to do so.
President Garfield is American history at its finest. It is about an impoverished boy working his way from the frontier to the Presidency; a progressive statesman, trying to raise a more righteous, peaceful Republic out of the ashes of civil war; the tragically imperfect course of that reformation, and the man himself; a martyr-President, whose death succeeded in nudging the country back to cleaner, calmer politics.
Editorial Reviews
"The most comprehensive Garfield biography in almost 50 years, and the most readable ever. Mr. Goodyear is a stylish and energetic writer, whose passion for his subject is reminiscent of a youthful Edmund Morris in The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt." -- Richard Norton Smith ― The Wall Street Journal
"Authoritative. . . . With his engaging writing and comprehensive research, Goodyear's biography offers a reassessment of Garfield that's a welcome introduction to the statesman." -- Andrew Demillo ― AP News
"James A. Garfield has long been too narrowly remembered for his untimely end. This spirited biography gives us the man in full, suggesting the president he might have become. A fine first book from an energetic young scholar whose skills enhance every page." -- John Lewis Gaddis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of George Kennan
"Goodyear relates his subject's life in fascinating, comprehensive detail. . . . A masterful portrait of a man of great intellect, patience, and ability who should not be overlooked by history." ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A] gloriously readable, fascinating biography." -- Susan Larson ― The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
"Mr. Goodyear has given us an eloquent and moving biography of our 20th president. Born and raised in rural poverty, James Garfield raised himself up by his bootstraps, fought as a general in the Civil War, rose to leadership in postwar Congresses, challenged the tawdry politics of the Gilded Age, and suffered martyrdom by assassination that launched the beginnings of the end of the system that killed him. Goodyear's lucid prose disentangles the complexities and ambiguities of this story." -- James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom
"In an era polarized like our own, James Garfield went from being a firebrand to an engineer of compromise and healing. Goodyear chronicles his evolution in a meticulously researched reappraisal." -- Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs
"This fresh appraisal sheds new light on the history of American political polarity." ― Publishers Weekly
"James Garfield, an American President known most for his death, is brought to life and sharply into focus in President Garfield.
"Authoritative. . . . With his engaging writing and comprehensive research, Goodyear's biography offers a reassessment of Garfield that's a welcome introduction to the statesman." -- Andrew Demillo ― AP News
"James A. Garfield has long been too narrowly remembered for his untimely end. This spirited biography gives us the man in full, suggesting the president he might have become. A fine first book from an energetic young scholar whose skills enhance every page." -- John Lewis Gaddis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of George Kennan
"Goodyear relates his subject's life in fascinating, comprehensive detail. . . . A masterful portrait of a man of great intellect, patience, and ability who should not be overlooked by history." ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A] gloriously readable, fascinating biography." -- Susan Larson ― The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
"Mr. Goodyear has given us an eloquent and moving biography of our 20th president. Born and raised in rural poverty, James Garfield raised himself up by his bootstraps, fought as a general in the Civil War, rose to leadership in postwar Congresses, challenged the tawdry politics of the Gilded Age, and suffered martyrdom by assassination that launched the beginnings of the end of the system that killed him. Goodyear's lucid prose disentangles the complexities and ambiguities of this story." -- James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom
"In an era polarized like our own, James Garfield went from being a firebrand to an engineer of compromise and healing. Goodyear chronicles his evolution in a meticulously researched reappraisal." -- Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs
"This fresh appraisal sheds new light on the history of American political polarity." ― Publishers Weekly
"James Garfield, an American President known most for his death, is brought to life and sharply into focus in President Garfield.
Readers Top Reviews
Naia Sancta
I read this book from cover to cover and Mr. Goodyear has written an excellent biography that does not disappoint. With sources weaved together from President Garfields life, he transports you through time following the amazing life of this President. Plus it looks good on the shelf too. 👌
bargainsleuth
I’ve read Destiny to the Republic by Candace Millard about the assassination and subsequent botching of his care by his lead physician, which led to his death, and I saw the PBS program based upon the book called Murder of a President. So, I knew some of Garfield’s story. This book purports to be the most comprehensive look at James Garfield in decades, and on the whole, I’d have to agree. Clocking in at over 600 pages, this tome covers a lot of the ill-fated President’s life. If you enjoy Presidential history, you’ll enjoy this book, but I suggest you take your time reading it because there is a lot to absorb. From Garfield’s impoverished childhood to his days in college when he met his reserved love, Lucretia, to his days as a soldier in the Civil War, rising to the rank of General. When asked to serve in the House of Representatives during the war, he thought he’d be better use on the field instead of in the halls of Congress. Abraham Lincoln personally asked him to serve, saying he can get generals anywhere, but he couldn’t get honest, like-minded Republicans in Congress. Garfield served as a Congressman for 17 years and became a very well-liked man for his fairness and geniality and the ability to bring opposing sides to an agreement on a variety of subjects. He was deeply involved in the great compromise of 1876 when Rutherford B. Hayes was chosen as President, and Republicans remembered that four years later when looking for a candidate. Garfield did not necessarily want the presidency, but after consulting his wife, decided to accept the nomination. President Garfield was in office for a mere six months when he was shot by a deranged campaigner, and due to the medical practices of the day, mostly likely died due to doctors’ negligence two months later of sepsis. It’s a shame, because Garfield had accomplished quite a few important tasks during his brief tenure. As with anyone whose life is cut short, the what ifs surrounding the assassination are many. Featured with lots of quotes from letters and testimonials and public record, this tome is a must for any lover of Presidential history.
Casey Wheeler
This was the first biography of President James Garfield that I have read and found it to be well written and researched. It is divided into sections of his early life, time in Congress and his two years as President. He is best remembered as the second president to be assassinated, but actually accomplished much prior to being President and also a few things while President. I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Presidential biographies.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Prologue PROLOGUE
"Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered."
-Shakespeare's Cymbeline, as quoted in Garfield diary entry for August 17, 1878
Rain drums Chicago's gridded streets on the early morning of June 9, 1880. Decorations sag and calcium lights hiss; warm, glowing lobbies lure celebrants inside as the night air is washed of the tang of fireworks. Then peace rules the city, with only newfangled electric lampposts-exuding soft light and a soothingly industrial thrum-left holding out against the black and the quiet.1
This brief calm falters before dawn, when a murmuring crowd packs the entrance of the Grand Pacific Hotel on Jackson Street. A band soon arrives to beat out patriotic tunes-thereby spoiling an ambush: the weather is unseasonably dismal, the hour unreasonably early, but hundreds have defied both to escort the new Republican nominee for president on his journey home.2
His attempt at escape fails almost immediately. At eight-thirty, a distinctively large head (two feet in circumference) is seen bobbing under a side-exit, and the mob catches up to it within a half-block. Thus overtaken, James Garfield can only politely surrender to popular will. His hat lifts to reveal a kindly smile. Eyes like summer lightning invite the people to come along, if they'd like.3
They do, in a human tide-its noise, the pumping lyrics of "See, The Conquering Hero Comes" and less rhythmic swells of cheers. The candidate at its center has been buffeted by thousands of congratulations in the last eighteen hours.4
Upon finally reaching a train station, Garfield climbs onto a car festooned with flags. He shelters within until nine o'clock sharp-a time that is marked by engines firing, wheels chugging, and the car's back door creaking open. Then, as a witness recorded:
Gen. Garfield yielded to popular demand and appeared on the rear platform, where he was greeted with a succession of cheers from a thousand pairs of patriotic lungs.
His outline recedes into the rain, leaving behind a depot of soggy supporters who are exultant despite the weather and their wetness. Their happiness had been well-stoked since yesterday, when Garfield yielded to a far more pressing demand from a larger audience. "I am not a candidate, and I cannot be," he had repeatedly told a convention packed with senators and generals, governors and congressmen.5
Editors now opine the Republican Party (so dreadfully divided) had little choice but to force Garfield to accept the nomination for president anyway. "He was so aggressive, and yet so conciliatory."6
Under bluer skies and across a nation now stretching unbroken from Atlantic to Pacific, millions of citizens learn the rough, remarkable outlines of a life driven by those traits. James Garfield's story had begun in a setting so rudimentary as to be alien to most Americans in this mechanized age: a one-room log cabin on the Ohio frontier.
Erudite readers would describe his reported upbringing as almost Dickensian. Garfield's father (indistinguishable "from the other plodding farmers" of early Ohio) had not survived their harsh surroundings for long-leaving his widow and four children to fend for themselves on a lonely homestead. "Mrs. Garfield… managed to support herself and the family on the little farm left by her husband, and James, from his earliest years, was obliged to aid… in the general work about his home," describes one northeastern outlet. "James had a tough life of it as a boy," another in Illinois summarizes.7
Other columnists take pains to specify the toils of the nominee's childhood. Early years splitting firewood, plowing, and working a carpenter's bench had ended when he ran away for the Twainish exploit of piloting a canal boat. But brawls and a bout of malaria evidently set the teenager straight: Garfield enrolled in nearby schools-paying for one by working as its janitor. Readers from Manhattan, New York, to Manhattan, Kansas, peek over their papers to tell their children to never complain again.
"Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered."
-Shakespeare's Cymbeline, as quoted in Garfield diary entry for August 17, 1878
Rain drums Chicago's gridded streets on the early morning of June 9, 1880. Decorations sag and calcium lights hiss; warm, glowing lobbies lure celebrants inside as the night air is washed of the tang of fireworks. Then peace rules the city, with only newfangled electric lampposts-exuding soft light and a soothingly industrial thrum-left holding out against the black and the quiet.1
This brief calm falters before dawn, when a murmuring crowd packs the entrance of the Grand Pacific Hotel on Jackson Street. A band soon arrives to beat out patriotic tunes-thereby spoiling an ambush: the weather is unseasonably dismal, the hour unreasonably early, but hundreds have defied both to escort the new Republican nominee for president on his journey home.2
His attempt at escape fails almost immediately. At eight-thirty, a distinctively large head (two feet in circumference) is seen bobbing under a side-exit, and the mob catches up to it within a half-block. Thus overtaken, James Garfield can only politely surrender to popular will. His hat lifts to reveal a kindly smile. Eyes like summer lightning invite the people to come along, if they'd like.3
They do, in a human tide-its noise, the pumping lyrics of "See, The Conquering Hero Comes" and less rhythmic swells of cheers. The candidate at its center has been buffeted by thousands of congratulations in the last eighteen hours.4
Upon finally reaching a train station, Garfield climbs onto a car festooned with flags. He shelters within until nine o'clock sharp-a time that is marked by engines firing, wheels chugging, and the car's back door creaking open. Then, as a witness recorded:
Gen. Garfield yielded to popular demand and appeared on the rear platform, where he was greeted with a succession of cheers from a thousand pairs of patriotic lungs.
His outline recedes into the rain, leaving behind a depot of soggy supporters who are exultant despite the weather and their wetness. Their happiness had been well-stoked since yesterday, when Garfield yielded to a far more pressing demand from a larger audience. "I am not a candidate, and I cannot be," he had repeatedly told a convention packed with senators and generals, governors and congressmen.5
Editors now opine the Republican Party (so dreadfully divided) had little choice but to force Garfield to accept the nomination for president anyway. "He was so aggressive, and yet so conciliatory."6
Under bluer skies and across a nation now stretching unbroken from Atlantic to Pacific, millions of citizens learn the rough, remarkable outlines of a life driven by those traits. James Garfield's story had begun in a setting so rudimentary as to be alien to most Americans in this mechanized age: a one-room log cabin on the Ohio frontier.
Erudite readers would describe his reported upbringing as almost Dickensian. Garfield's father (indistinguishable "from the other plodding farmers" of early Ohio) had not survived their harsh surroundings for long-leaving his widow and four children to fend for themselves on a lonely homestead. "Mrs. Garfield… managed to support herself and the family on the little farm left by her husband, and James, from his earliest years, was obliged to aid… in the general work about his home," describes one northeastern outlet. "James had a tough life of it as a boy," another in Illinois summarizes.7
Other columnists take pains to specify the toils of the nominee's childhood. Early years splitting firewood, plowing, and working a carpenter's bench had ended when he ran away for the Twainish exploit of piloting a canal boat. But brawls and a bout of malaria evidently set the teenager straight: Garfield enrolled in nearby schools-paying for one by working as its janitor. Readers from Manhattan, New York, to Manhattan, Kansas, peek over their papers to tell their children to never complain again.
