Monday, July 02, 2007

President Garfield is shot 1881

Who? you're probably wondering. Yes, he was a US president - the 19th. Yes, he was shot. But who was he? The second president to be assassinated. He was in office for 4 whole months, and was killed by a disgruntled non-employee. You really do have to be careful of all the lunatics out there.


"...an attorney and political office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. He was a
relative stranger to the president and his administration in an era when federal
positions were doled out on a “who you know” basis. When his requests for an
appointment were ignored, a furious Guiteau stalked the president, vowing
revenge." History.com



Where were the Secret Service? As we know it, they didn't exist. Garfield was walking to the train that was to take him on a short vacation when Guiteau walked up behind him and fired 2 rounds. The first grazed Garfield’s arm, and the second lodged below his pancreas.

History of the Secret Service:

  • Created on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency.
  • In 1867 their responsibilities were broadened to include "detecting persons perpetrating frauds against the government." This appropriation resulted in investigations into the Ku Klux Klan, non-conforming distillers, smugglers, mail robbers, land frauds, and a number of other infractions against the federal laws.
  • 1894 they began informal part-time protection of President Cleveland.
  • 1901 Congress informally requested Secret Service Presidential protection following the assassination of President William McKinley. (The 3rd President assassinated.)
Historical accounts vary as to the exact cause of Garfield’s death. Some believe
that the physicians’ treatments—which included the administration of quinine,
morphine, brandy and calomel and feeding him through the rectum--may have
hastened his demise. Others insist Garfield died from an already advanced case
of heart disease. History.com
I'm going with A...I'm sure the B cause of death was circulated by the idiot doctors who fed him through the rectum. Ewwww.

1 comment:

Kristin-Marie said...

Good points. The USSS evolved out of a group Pres. George Washington hired to spy for the Oval Office. They, in turn, were modeled on one of the spy-teams designed by the founder of the Boy Scout movement, Sir Robert Baden Powell. We seem to value protecting our presidents' lives more now, than we did back then.