Free Republic

James Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, had all the makings of a great president. So why didn’t he become one? Louis Picone, author of The President Is Dead!, answers this tragic question.

America's 20th President, Republican James A Garfield, was assassinated in Elberon, New Jersey, at the age of 49, on September 19, in 1861. This was only six and a half months after his inauguration. He spoke powerful words for freedom: "The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable." "Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained." This libertarianism is at the heart of America's soul.

John Hay was President Lincoln's personal secretary, a position that began nearly five decades of public service. A diplomat who served multiple Administrations from Lincoln to Roosevelt, he was a central figure in defining the U.S. foreign policy that would be the basis of the United States role on the world stage in the twentieth century.This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for...

On this date in 1882, America’s weirdest assassin recited fourteen verses of the Gospel of Matthew and (sans requested orchestral accompaniment) a poem of his own composition entitled “I am Going to the Lordy,” and was hanged in the District of Columbia jail for shooting forgettable Gilded Age president James Garfield. Mad as a march hare, Charles Julius Guiteau had irritated the obscure reaches of the Republic near four decades, trying his hand at free love, law, newspapering* and evangelism....Having failed at each characteristic American monkeyshine more comprehensively than the last, he naturally gravitated to politics; while today Guiteau might...

One bullet grazed his elbow, but a second lodged in the back of President James Garfield, who was shot JULY 2, 1881, as he waited in a Washington, D.C., train station. The assassin was Charles Guiteau, a free-love polygamist who had been a member the communist cult called the "Oneida Community." President James Garfield had been in office only four months. Though not wounded seriously, unsterile medical practices trying to remove the bullet resulted in an infection. Alexander Graham Bell devised a magnetic metal detector device to locate the bullet, but the metal bed frame confused the instrument. Two months...

It's President James Garfield's birthday - when he was shot, Alexander Graham Bell showed up with a metal detector to try to locate the bullet. Born in Moreland Hills, Ohio to a widowed farm wife, Garfield worked at a series of menial jobs but eventually attended Williams College, graduating in 1856. He entered politics as a Republican and served in the Ohio State Senate until the outbreak of the Civil War, in which he saw combat as a Union major general. In 1862 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in that body until 1880, after...

Today is the anniversary of the birth of James A(bram) Garfield (1831-1881), 20th President of these United States, in Moreland Hills, Ohio. Born to a widowed farm wife, Garfield worked at a series of menial jobs but eventually attended Williams College, graduating in 1856. He entered politics as a Republican and served in the Ohio State Senate until the outbreak of the Civil War, in which he saw combat as a Union major general. In 1862 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in that body until 1880, after 1876 as Republican Leader of the House....

In July of this year approximately 50,000 people will attend the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump is presently leading his opponents in the race to get enough delegates to secure the party nomination.However, many have expressed concern over the controversial Trump becoming the nominee and have looked for an anti-Trump to get the nomination in spite of lacking a larger share of votes and delegates.As a result, there is a chance that this year's GOP Convention will resemble the party's 1880 convention, which had a brokered result. In the...

On front page of website, no registration required.Shockingly, neither Carter nor the present occupant of the White House are choices...