A sense
of having been wronged, together with a warped idea of political duty,
brought Charles Julius Guiteau to the Baltimore and Potomac Station in
Washington on July 2, 1881. On that same Saturday morning,
President James Abram Garfield strode into the station to catch the
9:30 A.M. limited express, which was to take him to the
commencement ceremonies of his alma mater, Williams College--and from
there, Garfield planned to head off on a much-awaited vacation.
He never made the 9:30. Within seconds of entering the station,
Garfield was felled by two of Guiteau's bullets, the opening act in
what be a drama that included rising and then falling hopes for
the President's recovery, the most celebrated insanity trial of the
century, and finally civil service reform that backers hoped might
discourage future disappointed patronage seekers from taking revengeful
actions.
[CONTINUED]
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