Destiny of the Republic
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Average rating4.4
James A. 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, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back. But the shot didn't kill Garfield. The drama of what happened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in turmoil. The unhinged assassin's half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation's future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his condition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet. Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic will stand alongside The Devil in the White City and The Professor and the Madman as a classic of narrative history. - Publisher.
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Very informative book about Garfield and the man who assassinated him, Charles Guiteau. Drags a bit toward the end.
A great pick for my personal tastes - good narrative progression with lots of primary source, highlights a famous figure who you're secretly embarrassed to know nothing about, and it weaves together history and science, with a touch of “truth is stranger than fiction”.
Really excellent book. I read The President and the Assassin earlier this year, about the McKinley assassination, and this book is what I wish that one had been. Millard really makes you feel for James Garfield being thrust into the presidency, but then coming to terms with his position. She really gets into who Charles Guiteau was, also; he seems insane, but not over the top crazy. Dr. Doctor Bliss (seriously, I love that his first name was Doctor) was quite the character who, unfortunately, caused the whole situation to be worse than it should've been. Alexander Graham Bell felt that he'd failed but it was because of Bliss. There's just so much to love about this book. I really recommend it and the accompanying PBS program, Murder of a President, to anyone at all interested in the presidents, assassinations, the 19th century, etc.
eta: This interview with Millard popped up on my facebook last night. Good timing. :)
http://www.signature-reads.com/2016/02/candice-millard-on-james-garfield-and-pbss-murder-of-a-president/
