 |
James Abram Garfieldb. 19 Nov 1831, near Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio |
| Title: | President of the United States of America |
| Term: | 4 Mar 1881 - 19 Sep 1881 |
| Chronology: | 2 Nov 1880, electors appointed/popular voting |
| 1 Dec 1880, elected by vote of the electors | |
| 4 Mar 1881, sworn in, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. | |
| 19 Sep 1881, died (as a result of assassination attempt) |
| 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 [1]; died from the effects of the assassin's attack. [2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Election results: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| Sources and notes: | ||||||||||||||||
| [1] | It was generally agreed that, in such cases, the vice president was empowered by the Constitution to assume the powers and duties of the office of president. But should he serve merely as acting president until Garfield recovered, or would he receive the office itself and thus displace his predecessor? Because of an ambiguity in the Constitution, opinion was divided, and, since Congress was not in session, the problem could not be debated there. On 2 Sep 1881, the matter came before a Cabinet meeting where it was finally agreed that no action would be taken without first consulting Garfield. But in the opinion of the doctors this was impossible, and no further action was taken before the death of the president on 19 Sep 1881. | |||||||||||||||
| [2] | Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (web site). | |||||||||||||||
| Image: photograph of James A. Garfield (created between 1870 and 1881), Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. | ||||||||||||||||
Main Projects
RSS feed 