Biography of Garfield, James - Archontology
Garfield, James

James Abram Garfield

b. 19 Nov 1831, near Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
d. 19 Sep 1881, Elberon, New Jersey

Title: President of the United States
Term: 4 Mar 1881 - 19 Sep 1881
Chronology: 9 Feb 1881, election to the office of President of the United States is declared upon counting electoral votes (cast 1 Dec 1880 and 8 Dec 1880), joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [1]
4 Mar 1881, commencement of term
4 Mar 1881, took an oath of office as President of the United States, inaugural ceremony as part of the special session of the Senate, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [2]
19 Sep 1881, died (as a result of assassination attempt) [3]
Biography:
Attended district school; driver and helmsman on the Ohio Canal; entered Geauga Seminary, Chester, Ohio, in 1849; attended the Eclectic Institute, Hiram, Ohio, 1851-1854; graduated from Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1858; teacher; professor of ancient languages and literature in Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio; president of Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio, 1857-1861; member of the Ohio state senate 1859; lawyer, private practice; Union Army, Ohio Volunteer Infantry 1861-1863; elected as a Republican to the 38th and to the eight succeeding Congresses; chair, Committee on Military Affairs (40th Congress); chair, Committee on Banking and Currency (41st Congress); chair, Committee on Appropriations (42nd and 43rd Congresses); member of the Electoral Commission created by act of Congress approved 29 Jan 1877, to decide the contests in various States in the presidential election of 1876; elected to the United States Senate on 13 Jan 1880, for the term beginning 4 Mar 1881, but declined to accept having been elected President of the United States; wounded (2 Jul 1881) at the railroad station in Washington, D.C., by Charles J. Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker; for 80 days lay ill and performed only one official act - the signing of an extradition paper; died from the effects of the assassin's attack.
Biographical sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (2005); The New-York Times, New-York, Tuesday, September 20, 1881, vol. XXXI, No. 9371, pp. 1, 5 (obituary).
Elections:

Candidate Electoral vote (1 Dec 1880) *
  including votes from Georgia excluding votes from Georgia
James Abram Garfield 214 214
Winfield Scott Hancock 155 144
total number of electors appointed 369 358
number of votes for a majority 185 180
* As Georgia had cast her vote on the second Wednesday of December (8 Dec 1880), a day different from that prescribed by law, two tabulations were made, one including and the other not including Georgia's eleven votes (Concurrent Resolution of the U.S. Congress of 5 Feb 1881, Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1129-1141, 1257-1263).
Source of electoral results: Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1387.

[1] Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1386-1387.
[2] Congressional Record, 47th Congress, Special Session of the Senate, 1-4.
[3] The New-York Times, New-York, Tuesday, September 20, 1881, vol. XXXI, No. 9371, pp. 1, 5.
Image: photograph created between 1870 and 1881.