PRESIDENT GARFIELD

The first extensive biography of the scholar, soldier, and statesman whose short-lived presidency influenced change and even unity in American government.

In his debut book, Washington, D.C.–based historian Goodyear chronicles the life of James Garfield (1831-1881). In the acknowledgments, the author describes himself as “an embarrassingly starstruck” admirer of renowned biographer Edmund Morris, and his vividly descriptive style, buttressed by an exhaustive use of primary and secondary sources, effectively echoes the approach and prose in Morris' brilliant trilogy of the life of Theodore Roosevelt. Goodyear relates his subject’s life in fascinating, comprehensive detail, from his remarkable climb from onerous poverty in what was known as the Ohio Western Reserve to college president, state legislator, brigadier, major general in the Civil War, U.S. congressman, and president and his relationship with his indispensably patient, tolerant, and loving wife, Lucretia, whom Garfield labeled "unstampedable." The author displays a smooth aptitude for the complex postwar political workings of 19th-century machine politics and internecine Republican Party patronage squabbles, and he ably explores Garfield's relationships and tussles with the likes of James Blaine, Roscoe Conkling, and Conkling's lieutenant, Chester Arthur. Goodyear describes Garfield’s remarkably even, conciliatory deportment, which made him a friend to nearly all in his various stations and won him the 1880 Republican presidential nomination. He also offers a gripping account of a deranged office seeker's attack that would eventually end the president’s life and how his legacy helped foster comity and reform in American politics and government. Goodyear's invaluable biography breaks Garfield free from the group of late-19th-century presidents seemingly crystallized as interchangeable, bearded figures occupying the first chair of a weakened executive branch and offers a compelling profile of one of the ablest men to serve as president.

A masterful portrait of a man of great intellect, patience, and ability who should not be overlooked by history.