James A. Garfield

James A. Garfield was the 20th president. He was a Republican from Ohio and served only a few months in 1881 — one of the shortest presidencies. People called him the Preacher President because he had been a preacher as well as a teacher. He believed a free country especially needed popular education. As a young man he taught school. He later became a Civil War general, a longtime member of Congress, and president of the college that became Hiram College. He was the last president born in a log cabin.

He was not the early favorite in 1880. The Republican convention was stuck, and delegates turned to him on the 36th ballot — a surprise “dark horse.” He took office in March 1881. In July, Charles Guiteau shot him at a Washington train station. Guiteau was a disappointed office-seeker who wanted a government job and felt cheated. The shock later helped end the spoils system of handing out jobs as party prizes.

Garfield lingered through the summer. Newspapers covered his fight to live like a national vigil. Doctors probed the wound with unwashed hands, and infection almost certainly killed him. He died on September 19, 1881. Vice President Chester A. Arthur became president. Under Arthur, Congress passed the Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883, so many jobs required tests, not favors. Compared with Lincoln or Grant, Garfield’s time in office was very short — and it still changed how the government hires.