James Garfield, The Last Republican President Cut From The Same Cloth As Abraham Lincoln

Dear Rich

Thanks for your email.

Here is a highly informative video-interview with Candice Millard, author of the Garfield autobiography you extoll. This interview was conducted by the Library of Congress, September 18, 2019. https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-8936/

https://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President-ebook/dp/B004J4X33O

As you may remember, Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin, grew up dirt poor and did not have shoes until age 4. Garfield's wide-ranging brilliance, his scholarship (e.g., during Garfield's sophomore year at college, he was made professor of literature, mathematics and ancient languages... and then at age 26 he was made president of Williams College). 

Garfield's kindness, his ferocious abolitionism (... as a young man Garfield personally hid slaves), his passionate advocacy for black suffrage, and a presidency that "fell in his lap" without Garfield seeking it.

Our 20th president (for less than 5 months in 1881) is remembered as the last Republican president cut from the same cloth as Lincoln.

Here is Garfield's inaugural address. https://millercenter.org/issues-policy/governance/first-words-james-garfield-march-4-1881

Here is the House floor speech which Candice Millard recommends to everyone near the beginning of her interview.

https://archive.org/stream/generalgarfielda00garf/generalgarfielda00garf_djvu.txt

And here are Garfield's collected papers. https://www.loc.gov/collections/james-a-garfield-papers/about-this-collection/

I could not help noting that Garfield's father moved from New York to Ohio to woo a woman named Mehitabel Ballou. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Garfield

In the early 70s -- during my year-long residence in Cincinnati, I wooed a kind, audacious woman named Kat Ballou who hailed from Hazard, Kentucky.

James Garfield Wikiquotes

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_A._Garfield

*****

Hugs to you and your clan!

Pax et amor

Alan

PS Please "say hey" to the Santa Cruz beach and boardwalk for me!

On Sun, Mar 12, 2023 at 11:03 AM RS wrote:

Good morning, Alan.  It was Candice Millard.  She’s been recommended to me for other books she’s written as well.  Well respected.

Holly and I are visiting Indy in CA.  Lucky us!

Be well,

Rich

On Fri, Mar 10, 2023 at 7:22 AM Alan Archibald <alanarchibaldo@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Rich

Who wrote the biography of James Garfield you so enjoyed?

Pax et amor

Alan 

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: One Good Fact <noreply@email.britannica.com>
Date: March 10, 2023 at 9:05:11 AM EST
To: Lifelong Learner <alanarchibaldo@gmail.com>
Subject: Who actually killed President James Garfield?
Reply-To: hello@eb.com



March 10th, 2023 After being shot, President James Garfield received such poor medical treatment that his assassin confessed to the shooting but argued that the doctors actually murdered him. Show Me Another ONE GOOD LINK   BRITANNICA.COM 9 Infamous Assassins and the World Leaders They Dispatched Meet the people behind the guns. March 09 What bird can kill a lion?   March 08 Why do people pelt each other with colorful powder on Holi?   March 07 What animal part is Denmark’s throne made of? March 06 What language doesn’t have a word for “blue”?   March 05 What wild animals help some librarians maintain their books?   March 04 How loud are breaking icebergs? See All Good Facts

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