Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard (PDF)

Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The extraordinary account of James Garfield’s rise from poverty to the American presidency, and the dramatic history of his assassination and legacy, from the bestselling author of The River of Doubt. James Abram Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, a renowned congressman, and a reluctant presidential candidate who took on the nation’s corrupt political establishment. But four months after Garfield’s inauguration in 1881, he was shot in the back by a deranged office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. Garfield survived the attack, but become the object of bitter, behind-the-scenes struggles for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic brings alive a forgotten chapter of U.S. history.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is a delightfully engaging and readable book about a president and a time period that most of us probably have little knowledge of. History education in schools seems to generally hit the American Revolution, the Civil War and the World Wards, but the “peacetimes” in between seem to get blurred together such that there is no sense of continuity or causality. This book makes a significant dent in that traditional view of history, not only by exploring little known events, but by relating disparate events of the period into a unified whole.This story is actually much more than the story of the assassination of President Garfield. It is the story of how the lives of many men – and a few women – came together in unexpected ways. It’s a story of the battle between political patronage vs. reform. It’s a story of a young nation in the grip of massive scientific and industrial change. It’s the story of medicine in the pre-modern era. And it’s a story of heroes, saviors, frauds and madmen; a story of loss and redemption.The story is written in a soul-stirring, almost epic manner chock full of heroes to love, villains to hate and, if it weren’t for the fact that history has already told us the ending, enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. Who knew history could be so exciting? The protagonist, as it were, is the noble, humble, brilliant, devoted (and Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent to boot) General James A. Garfield who, despite never having campaigned for public office nonetheless finds himself, reluctantly, nominated for and elected to the highest office in the country. Garfield’s loyal supporting cast includes his devoted yet painfully reserved wife Lucretia, his efficient and diligent young private secretary Joseph Stanley Brown, and former presidential candidate turned Secretary of State, James Blaine.Although the vast majority of the country rallies around the noble Garfield, like any good hero, he must face some adversaries. Roscoe Conkling, arguably the most powerful man in the country, is set to oppose Garfield from the opening curtain. Conkling is the greatest supporter (and perhaps biggest user) of the “spoils” system of political patronage, which Garfield seeks to replace with a merit system. Unfortunately for Garfield, Conkling’s most loyal minion and protégé is Garfield’s own vice president, Chester Arthur.Against this backdrop comes the deranged yet determined Charles Guiteau who feels he is owed an appointment due to his (delusional) role in getting Garfield elected. In what may seem astonishing to modern readers, Guiteau makes almost daily visits to the White House and to Secretary of State Blaine to petition endlessly for his well-deserved reward. So long as he thinks said appointment is in the works, he is little more than a harmless annoyance. But when Blaine, in a fit of pique, snaps at Guiteau in no uncertain terms that he has no such chance, it triggers a tragic series of events. God has always directed Guiteau in His will; He saved Guiteau from a sinking ship for a purpose and He has revealed this purpose.If it’s difficult for modern readers to grasp how ordinary citizens had open access to the White House, it’s even more astounding to realize how little security early presidents had. Standing between Garfield and Guiteau’s bullet was little more than one private secretary and one aging policeman. The president was even able to – and frequently did – walk the streets of Washington alone and unprotected. In fact, it’s pretty incredible – and unsettling – just how many chances Guiteau had to shoot Garfield before he actually did.Although nearly a dozen doctors attended the president in the first few hours after the shooting, one determinedly stepped to the fore and shut out most of the others. Unfortunately, Dr. D. Willard Bliss was perhaps the least qualified to do so. After all the other doctors had already probed the wound with unwashed fingers in the middle of a filthy railroad station, Bliss made so many of his own probes that another doctor begged him to stop. Bliss was a stubborn man, and he knew the eyes of the nation were on him and he wasn’t going to let his chance slip away. Unfortunately, he also “knew” that the bullet was on the right side of the president’s body and that Joseph Lister’s new sterilizing techniques were a bunch of quackery.In great pain and slowly rotting from the inside due to infection, Garfield lingered over two months while surgeons, supervised by Bliss, continued to probe for the bullet. The recently famous Alexander Graham Bell, had a revelation that a nuisance he encountered while perfecting the telephone could be the key to locating the bullet without further probing. Despite being already overwhelmed by the success of his invention (and the attendant lawsuits), Bell threw himself into developing the “induction balance”, only to finish just a hair too late (and hindered anyway by the obstinate Dr. Bliss). However, the invention was a boon to many wounded soldiers before the invention of the X-ray.All the characters in this book are larger than life, almost to the point of caricature. Garfield, Brown and bell, for instance, are painted so nobly and majestically that we have to wonder if they had any faults at all. I’m reminded of the classic answer to the job interview question, “What is your greatest weakness?” “Well, I work too hard and I get too involved in my work.” While this portrayal makes for a stirring read, it ultimately feels less than honest. Surely these men had some faults, no? Perhaps they left the toilet seat up or the cap off the toothpaste?Conkling, on the other hand, is portrayed purely as an unrepentant villain. As the leader of the Stalwarts, Conkling fights ruthlessly for the spoils system, yet the book never gives the pros or cons of such a system – it is basically left to the reader to assume that only greed or lust for power must underlie such system. But the system had been in place for decades (and often still is), and humans are always driven by a mixture of noble and selfish motivations, so I have to believe it was a bit more complicated than that. Conkling’s selfish, controlling greed, contracted with Garfield’s generous nobility makes Chester Arthur’s conversion from one to the other all the more touching and stirring, but again we feel like perhaps we’re missing some shades of gray. I tend to be quite leery of both hero-worship and villainization because humans are such mixed, flawe, unpredictable creatures. A more balanced approach might have deflated the epic quality of the book, but it would given it a more sober, truer resonance.In any case, this book provides a thrilling, if not terribly nuanced, romp through a much overlooked period of American history and connects many dots, and for that reason alone I recommend it highly. If the only thing you learned in high school history class is that history is boring, you could do far worse than this book to disabuse yourself of that notion. 4.5 stars

⭐This is my third novel by Canice Mallard and it did not disappoint like the others. I had no idea what an amazing president Garfield was in spite of his short tenure. So many things you read sound like the same old ting of today…politics. Good luck putting this one down!

⭐An excellent book about a president I feel that is very much been overlooked. I enjoy history and during my education do not remember being told anything about this president. A man to be admired and respected for his service to our country. I learned a great deal reading this book and respect the author’s time spent on research.

⭐This is the second book I’ve read by Candace Millard.

⭐Another great work of historic narrative by Candace Millard. She is the best at her craft. Couldn’t put it down.

⭐In our modern times, the name James A. Garfield sounds familiar to only a few people. The 20th President of the United States has certainly gone down in history as one of the more obscure Presidents in American history likely due to a lack of a real legacy caused by his shortened presidency. In fact, he was in office for only about six and a half months, the second shortest presidency after William Henry Harrison’s one month stint in office.Destiny of the Republic is not meant to be a definitive biography of the man. Rather, Millard instead chooses to focus on the details surrounding his nomination for President by the Republican Party, his short time in office, his assassination, and eventual death.James Garfield is shown as a man with many interests. He spoke multiple languages and had a lifetime love of reading and learning. He also loved politics and spent about two decades in the United States House of Representatives before becoming President. He also felt it necessary to serve his country in the Union Army during the Civil War. However, he was convinced by President Lincoln to take his seat in Congress where Lincoln felt he would be most helpful to the war effort.Moving ahead to 1880, a splintered Republican Party was looking for a candidate for President. Some wanted former President Ulysses S. Grant, but other candidates included John Sherman and James G. Blaine. In a wild turn of events that would be impossible to imagine happening today, Garfield gave such a rousing nomination speech for Sherman, that it propelled him to be given the nomination by the convention after several ballots. He never sought nor wanted the nomination but accepted it anyway. He was elected President in the general election later that year barely beating out the Democratic candidate Winfield Scott Hancock.Despite his short presidency, the author tells the story of one major event Garfield had to deal with: his major feud with New York Senator Roscoe Conkling. Conkling represented the opposing faction of the Republican Party: the Stalwarts. He opposed reform to the civil service and instead supported the old-style “spoils system.” The old style made him probably the most powerful man in New York. It was a feud that would ended in a spectacular fashion when Conkling decided to resign his Senate seat confident that the New York legislature would immediately re-elect him. He was wrong. Conkling now found himself powerless and Garfield was on top.Unfortunately, Garfield would not have much time to enjoy his new freedom. At a train station in early July, he was shot in the back by Charles Guiteau. The life of Guiteau is also explored in the book. His life was one mostly of failures both as an author and as a lawyer. He ended up living by cheating or stealing off of other people. At one point, he gave an un-notable speech supporting Garfield for President. After Garfield won the election, Guiteau was convinced he made a President and thus deserved to be appointed to an ambassadorship. After several refusals by the Department of State, Guiteau came to the conclusion that President Garfield must simply be “removed.”After Garfield was shot, doctors immediately tried to assist him. He was looked over for about the two and a half months he lived often in dreary conditions. Due to the lack of widespread acceptance of antiseptic procedures at the time, the work doctors did on him did more harm than good. They probed his wound with dirty fingers and unsterlized equipment. This led to terrible infections. Ironically, Garfield would have been far better off, and maybe even survived the ordeal, had doctors never tried to probe him. During this period, the book also recounts Alexander Graham Bell’s attempts to assist Garfield. He worked furiously on a type of early metal detector that he hoped could be able to locate the bullet lodged in Garfield’s body, but ultimately to no success. Despite that, Bell would continue work and his invention would be used in the future to more success.When it became evident that Garfield would not survive, he was taken to a more peaceful and relaxing location on the coast of New Jersey. Garfield would die of his infections on September 19.Guiteau was arrested and the American public was enraged at his actions. He tried to use the insanity defense in order to avoid harsh punishment, but to no avail. He was executed in 1882.In conclusion, I found this to be an excellent book on the events surrounding James Garfield’s presidency and assassination. I would highly recommend this to those interested in American history or U.S. Presidents.

⭐Candice Millard has written a very interesting book, focusing on a President few Americans have thought about. And actually we discover that President Garfield, had he lived, may have been one of America’s most respected Presidents. Among the few things he did during his extremely short tenure were to strengthen the President’s authority over executive appointments, energise US naval power, purge corruption in the Post Office, and appoint several African Americans to prominent federal positions. As Millard points out, two of his most important causes were civil rights for former slaves and their descendents and civil service reform, banishing the old corrupted spoils system. In the end, President Arthur enacted the Pendleton Civil Service Act in honour of Garfield’s Presidency and his work, in which government appointments were given based on merit rather than as political “gifts.” This was actually one of my favourite parts of the book, the political transformation of Chester Arthur, from a Conkling puppet to a well-respected leader of the American people.The book focuses on Garfield’s ascension to the Presidency, his assassination, and the medical catastrophe that caused his death. Along the way we learn about Guiteau, his troubled life and psychological problems, and even Alexander Graham Bell’s attempt to help save Garfield’s life. Unfortunately, we get only a cursory biography of Garfield and little background information regarding the political issues of the day. I would have liked to know a little more about the history of the issues facing the candidates in the election of 1880 and more details on Garfield’s political career and the aftermath of his death. Also, I found some things confusing, particularly when she mentions Tom Platt, who she says was a “stalwart who had, months earlier, promised to confirm any appointment Garfield made in exchange for help in winning a senate seat.” This seems as if Garfield, himself, was at times involved in some shady political deals. More historical background would have greatly improved the book and given it more depth. Millard’s main point, however, seems not to be political, as much as medical. She spends a great deal of time stressing how medical missinformation of the past actually caused President Garfield’s death. Had they left him alone or, as she writes, had he been shot fifteen years later, he most likely would have survived. An unfortunate tragedy and why she ends the book with a salute to Joseph Lister.As most Americans know, studying American history in school tends to focus on the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, sometimes a little President Jackson and Reconstruction, but rarely do we focus on the Presidents who served between Grant and McKinley. This was a refreshing look at American history, covering a little known, but actually fascinating, era and President. Candice Millard is a good writer, tells a great story, and keeps you interested until the last page. I’m so glad I read this book and highly recommend it.

⭐What an incredible life of an incredible man. Personally I’ve been reading recently on the lives of Alexander Hamilton, Miles Davis, and now James A Garfield, and what sets these people apart is their constant desire to strive, not fearing exhaustion or death, towards their passion. For Garfield, it seems his passion was America, its people, and its furtherment. And by people, he meant ALL people. Black and white.Millard sets out with excellent structure and presents the research of the life of her characters so they’re no longer names in history, but real people, ramping up the tension gradually towards the tragic end.I bought this as a Christmas present for somebody else and read it in 4 days straight. Hopefully the receiver will enjoy it as much as the giver did!Credit to The Tim Ferriss Show for illuminating me.

⭐This Candice Millard’s book and it is just as ‘unputdownable’ as ‘River of Doubt’ was. About the assassination of James Garfield and the terrible agony he went through for two months. Even you know how it ends she writes in such a way that you find yourself hoping he WILL be OK. Strongly recommended.

⭐This is a wonderful book, that I would highly recommend. Focused on the assassination of President James Garfield and the failures of his doctors, alongside the political scheming that occurred. A real page turner that I found difficult to put down.

⭐wonderful book

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