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at Dana farber.org/everywhere. July

0:42

2nd 1881. President James

0:45

A. Garfield is about

0:47

to board a train

0:49

at the Baltimore Potomac

0:51

train station, which is

0:53

in Washington DC. He's

0:55

headed to New Jersey

0:57

with his sons to

1:00

visit his ailing wife.

1:02

It's about 9.30 a.m.

1:04

And what he doesn't

1:06

know is there's a

1:08

man named Charles Gutto.

1:10

who has been stalking

1:12

him for weeks. Garfield

1:15

has no security detail

1:17

with him. Garfield walks

1:19

into the train station

1:21

and Guto almost immediately

1:23

steps out of the

1:25

shadows with a pistol

1:27

in his hand. He

1:39

fires two shots at President

1:41

Garfield. He shoots him once

1:43

in his arm and then

1:46

he shoots him again in

1:48

his back. One bullet gets

1:50

lodged just below his pancreas.

1:52

There's this sort of moment

1:55

of shock and silence. and

2:04

then just the

2:06

entire station just

2:09

erupts and screams.

2:11

Garfield is lying

2:14

on this floor

2:16

in a train

2:18

station with two

2:20

bullet holes in

2:22

him. A group of men

2:25

rushed to President Garfield and

2:27

grabbed him. And they get this

2:29

old horse hair and hay mattress

2:31

and they put Garfield on it

2:33

and they take him to a

2:35

room above the train station. He's

2:37

still alive and a parade

2:39

of local doctors arrived to

2:41

look at his

2:44

wounds. Every doctor

2:46

who comes sticks,

2:49

unsterilized fingers and

2:51

instruments in his

2:54

back again and

2:56

again. I mean,

2:59

it's incredibly, like,

3:01

unbelievably painful,

3:04

but also

3:07

obviously introducing

3:13

so much

3:16

infection. And

3:19

it's best not to worry

3:21

about either. James A.

3:24

Garfield. Charles Gato, the

3:26

man who shot President

3:29

Garfield, is arrested right

3:31

away at the train

3:34

station. He's immediately taken

3:36

to a prison. And he

3:39

wastes no time in telling

3:41

police why he did it.

3:43

He believed that God had

3:45

chosen him for a great

3:47

purpose. So he thinks that

3:49

he helped Garfield win the

3:52

White House. Guttel had delivered

3:54

a single speech for

3:56

Garfield's campaign. And when

3:58

Garfield won the... presidency,

4:01

he believed he was owed

4:03

a major government job in

4:05

return. When he didn't receive

4:07

it, he thought killing Garfield

4:09

would make things right. He

4:11

was mentally ill and he

4:13

was delusional. He believed very

4:15

happily and vigorously in the

4:17

spoil system. That's referring to

4:19

the way federal government jobs

4:21

were filled at that time.

4:23

Basically, when a new president

4:25

would come into office, he

4:27

doled out plumb jobs, everything

4:29

from postmen to cabinet secretaries,

4:31

as a reward to people

4:33

in his party, to his

4:35

supporters, his loyalists. It was

4:38

a controversial issue at the

4:40

center of American politics, even

4:42

then. And over the next

4:44

several months after President Garfield's

4:46

shooting in 1881, Americans would

4:48

read the newspapers every day

4:50

to find out the latest

4:52

about his condition and the

4:54

trial of Charles Guo. The

4:56

fallout of the shooting on

4:58

that hot day in July

5:00

would forever change the very

5:02

nature of the US government.

5:04

It's a story of redemption

5:06

and corruption and how one

5:08

event can bring the best

5:10

and worst out of politicians.

5:12

Ultimately, this is a story

5:14

about the origins of the

5:17

modern federal civil service. an

5:19

institution that's today being fought

5:21

over again. I'm Randab Del

5:23

Fattar. And I'm Ram teen

5:25

Arablui. On this episode of

5:27

Through Line from NPR, the

5:29

long shadow of 1881. This

5:31

is Alatiko Ishala from Maryland,

5:33

USA. You are listening to

5:35

Through Line from M. From

5:37

M. U.S.A. You are listening

5:39

to Fouline from M. M.

5:41

M. M. M. M. M.

5:43

M. M. M. M. M.

5:45

M. M. M. M. M.

5:47

M. M. M. M. M.

5:49

M. M. M. M. M.

5:51

M. M. M. M. M.

5:53

M. M. M. This message

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and trade on Think or Swim. Visit

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schwab.com to learn more. Around

7:12

20 miles from Cleveland,

7:14

a fire is burning.

7:16

The year is 1833.

7:18

It's three years since

7:21

President Andrew Jackson signed

7:23

the Indian Removal Act,

7:25

aiming to force the

7:27

last native populations from

7:29

the state. Ohio is

7:31

still largely undeveloped, and

7:34

this part of the

7:36

state is full of

7:38

trees. The

7:43

thickly wooded forest is

7:46

the perfect tender for

7:49

the fire that is

7:51

racing towards a loan

7:54

log cabin The Garfield

7:56

family's home The outcome

7:59

seems inevitable, but Abraham

8:02

Garfield the father of

8:04

James Garfield, the country's

8:07

future president, won't let

8:09

everything he saved and

8:12

fought for, disappear just

8:15

like that. All day

8:17

through the flames and

8:20

smoke, he and his

8:22

brothers fight the fire.

8:25

Somehow, he does it.

8:28

The cabin and his

8:30

family survive. But days

8:33

later, Abram gets very

8:35

ill. On the brink

8:38

of death, he turns

8:41

to his wife, Eliza,

8:43

and says, I have

8:46

planted four saplings in

8:48

these woods. I leave

8:51

them in your care.

8:54

James Garfield was the

8:56

youngest. He was born

8:59

into extreme poverty. He

9:01

didn't have shoes until

9:04

he was four. This

9:07

is Candace Millard. She's

9:09

the author of. Destiny

9:12

of the Republic. Which

9:14

is all about the

9:17

country's 20th president, James

9:19

Garfield. This guy was

9:22

extraordinary and he's been

9:25

completely forgotten. raised

9:31

by a widowed mother in

9:33

Ohio. He was our last

9:35

president born in a log

9:37

cabin. Garfield grew up surrounded

9:39

by trees and his thoughts

9:41

were nowhere near the machinations

9:43

of the White House. Instead,

9:45

he jumped of the sea.

9:47

I remember especially the pirate's

9:49

own book, which became a

9:51

sort of Bible or general

9:53

authority with me. A tropical

9:56

climate is... suited to a

9:58

roving life, and liquor as

10:00

well as dissolute women being

10:02

in great abundance to gratify

10:04

him during his hours of

10:06

relaxation, make this a congenial

10:08

region for the lawless. As

10:10

an adult, Garfield recalled how

10:12

reading about the ocean pirates

10:14

and sailors fueled his nautical

10:16

ambitions. I formed a determination

10:19

to become a sailor. Although

10:21

Garfield didn't even know how

10:23

to swim. He set off

10:25

at the age of 16

10:27

against the protests of his

10:29

mother who wanted him to

10:31

get an education. He started

10:33

working in Lake Erie's canals.

10:35

I knew almost nothing about

10:37

the water except what I

10:39

had read. The consequence was

10:42

I fell into the canal

10:44

just 14 times and had

10:46

14 almost miraculous escapes from

10:48

drowning. After

10:51

so many near drownings and then

10:53

a terrible case of malaria, Garfield

10:55

headed back home, where his mother

10:58

and brother had been hatching a

11:00

plan to get Garfield back in

11:02

school. They saved a little bit

11:04

of money, they put together $0.17

11:07

to be able to send him

11:09

to college. So he enrolls at

11:11

a local school, but it's expensive.

11:13

He finished the term with just

11:15

six cents to his name. To

11:18

help... pay his tuition, he was

11:20

a carpenter and a janitor. But

11:22

he's brilliant and just a few

11:24

years after graduating he returns to

11:27

his local college. They made him

11:29

a professor of literature, mathematics, and

11:31

ancient languages. And not long after

11:33

that, he became the college's president.

11:35

And okay, I know at this

11:38

point you're probably thinking this sounds

11:40

a lot like the plot line

11:42

for goodwill hunting, but this is

11:44

real. This is really how it

11:47

goes down for James Garfield. He

11:49

wrote an original proof of the

11:51

Pythagorean theorem, so he was also

11:53

this amazing mathematician. For him, education

11:55

was his path out of poverty

11:58

and into a new life. He

12:00

was an incredible classist. He

12:02

knew Greek, he knew Latin,

12:05

he knew a huge sections

12:07

of the Aniyid by heart

12:09

in Latin. He was just

12:12

off the charts, brilliant.

12:14

But honestly, what was more

12:16

interesting to me and

12:19

more important to me

12:21

about Garfield than his

12:23

brain was his heart.

12:28

Garfield grew up in a devout

12:30

Christian family and that definitely

12:32

influenced the way he saw the world.

12:35

He belonged to the disciples of

12:37

Christ that was very informative in

12:39

his life. I think in their family

12:41

they really took seriously the idea of

12:44

that you try to do the best

12:46

not just for yourself and for your

12:48

family but for those around you and

12:50

for civilization and for history. So when

12:53

it came to the country's fierce

12:55

debate over the ongoing system of

12:57

slavery, Garfield had already

12:59

become a lawyer and entered

13:02

state politics. At such hours

13:04

as this, I feel like throwing

13:06

the whole current of my life

13:08

into the work of opposing this

13:10

great evil. He was this

13:12

incredibly powerful speaker, not

13:15

shy and always happy to stand

13:17

up for what he believed in.

13:19

Garfield, who by this point

13:22

had already become a lawyer

13:24

and entered state politics, had

13:26

won a seat in the Ohio Senate.

13:29

So long must this circle

13:31

of states be undivided, the

13:34

bonds of union unbroken. And

13:36

after the Confederate attack on

13:38

Fort Sumter in 1861, the

13:41

war will soon assume the

13:43

shape of slavery and freedom.

13:46

The world will understand it,

13:48

and I believe the final

13:51

outcome will redound to the

13:53

good of humanity. Garfield new

13:56

war. was probably inevitable. He

13:58

was never not going to... in a

14:00

war that at its heart

14:02

was about abolishing slavery. So

14:04

he joins the fight. He's

14:07

not a trained military strategist,

14:09

but again, he is a

14:11

thinker. They make him the

14:13

leader of the 42nd regiment,

14:15

which is tasked with fighting

14:17

back the Confederate army in

14:20

Kentucky. It's a key state

14:22

to win, and everyone knows

14:24

it. President Abraham Lincoln hails

14:26

from there and is widely

14:28

reported to have said. I

14:30

hope to have God on

14:32

my side, but I must

14:35

have Kentucky. It all comes

14:37

down to one battle, the

14:39

Battle of Middle Creek. He

14:41

was completely outnumbered by the

14:43

Confederates. So Garfield tries something

14:45

bold. He divided his regiment

14:48

into three and had them

14:50

come at them from three

14:52

different directions. The Confederates felt

14:54

like they were being swarmed

14:56

on all sides. He tricked

14:58

them. And it worked. They

15:00

thought that they were completely

15:03

overwhelmed when the opposite was

15:05

true. Garfield went out and

15:07

surveyed the aftermath and he

15:09

saw a lot of young

15:11

men spread out on a

15:13

field and at first it

15:15

looks as if they're sleeping

15:18

and then you know he

15:20

realizes that they're they're dead

15:22

and the enormity of that

15:24

you know stayed with him

15:26

for the rest of his

15:28

life. After his decisive win

15:31

at the Battle of Middle

15:33

Creek, Garfield was elected to

15:35

the U.S. Congress as a

15:37

representative of Ohio. He had

15:39

decided to keep fighting instead

15:41

of reporting to DC. But

15:43

then... Abraham Lincoln asks him

15:46

to come back to serve

15:48

because he said he needed

15:50

him. I did this with

15:52

great regret, for I had

15:54

hoped to not leave the

15:56

field till every insurgent state

15:59

had returned to its allegiance,

16:01

but the president told me

16:03

he did not risk a

16:05

single vote in the House.

16:07

Lincoln knew that he needed

16:09

men like Garfield to make

16:11

sure important legislation was passed,

16:14

and Garfield soon found out

16:16

that he could achieve more

16:18

for the union from his

16:20

seat in Congress. than at

16:22

the helm of a battle.

16:24

What legislation is necessary to

16:27

secure equal justice to all

16:29

loyal persons without regard to

16:31

color at the nation's capital?

16:33

During the war, he introduced

16:35

a resolution that allowed black

16:37

people to walk freely through

16:39

Washington DC without any sort

16:42

of pass or documentation, something

16:44

that had long been required

16:46

to prove their status as

16:48

freedmen. Yeah, he was a

16:50

radical Republican. I mean, he

16:52

was very much involved in

16:55

the Freedmen's Bureau, and he

16:57

has not great things to

16:59

say about Lincoln. He was

17:01

frustrated with him because, you

17:03

know, Lincoln's trying to keep

17:05

everything together, but he's angry,

17:07

and he felt that Lincoln

17:10

had kind of dragged his

17:12

feet and taken too long

17:14

to release the emancipation proclamation.

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cancers. On

20:38

June 2nd, 1880, the Republican

20:40

Party, the party of Abraham

20:42

Lincoln, met in Chicago for

20:44

its national convention. There are

20:46

15,000 people there. They're going

20:48

to choose the Republican ticket

20:50

for the 1880 presidential election.

20:52

Everyone expects that Ulysses S.

20:54

Grant is going to get

20:57

this nomination. Ulysses S. Grant

20:59

was the union's commanding general

21:01

during the Civil War. a

21:03

national hero who served two

21:05

terms as president from 1869

21:07

to 1877. He's hoping for

21:09

a third term. Back then

21:11

there were no limits on

21:13

how many times you could

21:15

be president. He's obviously still

21:17

beloved even though his past

21:20

administrations have been sort of

21:22

riddled with corruption. Corruption that

21:24

partly came from the spoil

21:26

system. The

21:32

spoil system really is as old

21:35

as democracy in this country. The

21:37

spoil system is exactly what it

21:39

sounds like. It's the idea that

21:41

whoever wins the presidency should be

21:43

able to fill all those federal

21:45

government jobs with people who are

21:48

loyal. To the winner goes the

21:50

spoils. So this meant that jobs

21:52

like postmen or tax collector weren't

21:54

filled by the most qualified person,

21:56

but instead the job was given

21:58

out like a perk to party

22:01

loyalty. It had been in use

22:03

for decades at all levels of

22:05

government. But when the civil war

22:07

happened, suddenly the federal government grew

22:09

exponentially to support the war effort.

22:12

And there were a lot of

22:14

jobs to be filled via the

22:16

spoil system. The Republican Party, which

22:18

controlled every branch of government at

22:20

that point, used it to their

22:22

advantage. But when the war ended,

22:25

many people started to call the

22:27

system out as corrupt and unfair.

22:29

In fact... Within the Republican Party

22:31

you had this deep divide, there

22:33

were the stalworts. Stallwarts. Who believed

22:35

that the spoil system was great,

22:38

and it made a lot of

22:40

sense, and they needed to protect

22:42

it, to keep it going. And

22:44

then there were what some people

22:46

derisively called. Pathbreeds, who believed that

22:49

it was essentially corrupt and needed

22:51

to be reformed. The term half-breed

22:53

was an insulting way to describe

22:55

someone of mixed native and European

22:57

descent, and the stalewards used that

22:59

term to insult Republicans who criticized

23:02

the spoil system, meaning they were

23:04

only half-Republican. It's hard for Americans

23:06

in the 21st century to understand

23:08

how civil service reform could be

23:10

like the number one issue at

23:12

the top of the national agenda,

23:15

but it was in the late

23:17

1870s. This is Scott Greenberger. He's

23:19

the executive editor of a news

23:21

site called State Line and has

23:23

written extensively about this time in

23:26

American politics. He says going into

23:28

the 1880 election, the spoil system

23:30

was the major issue. So

23:34

at the convention, Ulysses S. Grant

23:36

was the candidate for the stalwart

23:38

faction. His opponent, the candidate for

23:41

the spoil system reformers, was a

23:43

guy named John Sherman. And he

23:45

desperately wanted this nomination. The custom

23:47

at that time was for candidates

23:50

to not attend the convention and

23:52

to have someone else give a

23:54

speech on their behalf, making the

23:57

argument for why they would be

23:59

the right candidate. No one wanted

24:01

to appear too thirsty for the

24:04

presidency. So Grant sends... Sort of

24:06

the King of the Star Wars.

24:08

He was this man called Rosco

24:11

Conkling. Rosco Conkling. And he was

24:13

a senior senator from New York.

24:15

He also had control over the

24:18

New York City custom house where

24:20

most of America's imported goods came

24:22

in, where custom taxes on those

24:24

goods were collected. They were a

24:27

form of tariffs. So bringing in

24:29

tons of money has a lot

24:31

of power. And he used that

24:34

power to make sure Republicans stayed

24:36

in power. He is very pro-reconstruction

24:38

and pro-civil rights, but he is

24:41

also a great defender of the

24:43

soil system, in his view, when

24:45

a new party comes in, whoever

24:48

won the election, the president should

24:50

be able to put his people

24:52

in the position. So in that

24:55

sense, it's not unlike the argument.

24:57

In fact, it's the same argument

24:59

that the Trump... administration is making

25:02

now, which is that, okay, the

25:04

people elected me, and my job

25:06

as the executive is to implement

25:08

the policies that I've been elected

25:11

to implement, and therefore, why shouldn't

25:13

my people be in those positions?

25:15

Conkling argued that the spoil system

25:18

was the most realistic way for

25:20

the Republican Party to achieve its

25:22

goals, like civil rights for black

25:25

Americans, expanding access to education and

25:27

building more railroads. He said people

25:29

disparage our political machine, but a

25:32

machine is just something that gets

25:34

things done. So that's the person

25:36

giving this speech for the stalwords,

25:39

conchling. In Sherman, the half-breeds faction

25:41

candidate, the person he chooses to

25:43

give his speech, is none other

25:45

than James A. Garfield. So he

25:48

goes to Chicago, and he's up

25:50

all night the night before. On

25:52

the fourth day of the convention,

25:55

Saturday, speeches were given on behalf

25:57

of each candidate. Roscoe Conklin takes

25:59

the stage. And it was fantastic.

26:02

I rise. in behalf of the

26:04

state of New York to propose

26:06

a nomination with which the country

26:09

and the Republican Party can grandly

26:11

win. Just fantastic. Conkling was in

26:13

his bag, fiery and direct. He

26:16

presented Grant as a noble war

26:18

hero. Never defeated in war or

26:20

in peace. His name is the

26:23

most illustrious born by any living

26:25

man. And

26:28

he's got everybody completely worked

26:30

up and they're pounding their

26:33

fists and they're stomping their

26:35

feet and they're cheering. He

26:37

never betrayed a cause or

26:40

a friend and the people

26:42

will never betray or desert

26:45

him. The crowd is going

26:47

nuts. They are cheering for

26:50

grant, grant, grant, grant. Conkling

26:52

finishes a speech and the

26:54

cheering just continues. And in

26:57

the middle of this, Garfield

26:59

has to get up and

27:02

give the nominating address for

27:04

John Sherman. Gentlemen of the

27:07

Convention, your present temper may

27:09

not mark the healthful pulse

27:12

of our people. When your

27:14

enthusiasm has passed, when the

27:16

emotions of this hour have

27:19

subsided, We shall find below

27:21

the storm and passion that

27:24

calm level of public opinion

27:26

from which the thoughts of

27:29

a might people are to

27:31

be measured, and by which

27:34

their final actions will be

27:36

determined. And he's a completely

27:38

different person from Rosco Conkling.

27:41

He's quiet and intellectual and

27:43

thoughtful, but he's very, very

27:46

powerful. Twenty-five years ago. This

27:48

Republic was bearing and wearing

27:51

a triple chain of bondage.

27:53

Long familiarity with traffic in

27:56

the bodies and souls of

27:58

men had paralyzed the conscience.

28:00

of a majority of our

28:03

people. Garfield praises the great

28:05

effort it took to erase

28:08

slavery from the United States.

28:10

He calls to renew that

28:13

spirit. At that crisis, the

28:15

Republican Party was born. Then,

28:17

after the storms of battle

28:20

were heard the calm words

28:22

of peace, spoken by the

28:25

conquering nation. There were a

28:27

lot of reporters there, and

28:30

I've read every single article

28:32

about this, and they all

28:35

describe this hall just slowly

28:37

becoming mesmerized. This is our

28:39

only revenge, that you join

28:42

us in lifting into the

28:44

serene firmament of the Constitution,

28:47

to shine like stars forever

28:49

and ever the immortal principles

28:52

of truth and justice, that

28:54

all men, white or black,

28:57

shall be free. and shall

28:59

stand equal before the law.

29:01

In the middle of all

29:04

this, he pauses and... He

29:06

says... And now, gentlemen of

29:09

the convention, what do we

29:11

want? Someone in the crowd

29:14

shouts, we want Garfield. And

29:16

everybody just goes crazy. And

29:22

he's trying to quiet them

29:25

down and he literally says,

29:27

you know, my friends, my

29:29

friends, please, I ask you,

29:31

quiet down so you can

29:34

hear what I have to

29:36

say. He was there to

29:38

get John Sherman the nomination.

29:41

So he's horrified that instead

29:43

of cheering his name, they're

29:45

saying Garfield. He finishes his

29:47

nominating address and he sits

29:50

down. And then suddenly, out

29:52

of nowhere, someone stands up

29:54

and gives... one of their

29:56

votes to Garfield and he

29:59

was like, what? And he

30:01

stands up and he objects,

30:03

but they shout him down.

30:05

When the balloting begins. things

30:08

proceed normally at first. Then

30:10

round after round more and

30:12

more and more votes start

30:15

coming from him. Again, he's

30:17

not a candidate. Garfield does

30:19

not want to be the

30:21

nominee. But this trickle becomes

30:24

a stream, becomes a river,

30:26

and then just this flood

30:28

of votes. And Garfield suddenly

30:30

finds himself the Republican nominee

30:33

for president of the United

30:35

States. Garfield is in total

30:37

shock. Over the next few

30:39

days, it's not just shock

30:42

that he feels, it's grief,

30:44

because he knows that if

30:46

he does then become president,

30:49

he's going to have to

30:51

give up so many of

30:53

the things he loves. He

30:55

was not happy. He's furious.

30:58

And suddenly he feels like

31:00

his interests are threatened. But

31:02

they need him for the

31:04

general election. They need his

31:07

help. So Garfield and his

31:09

allies start looking to smooth

31:11

things over with the stalwart.

31:13

And what they decide on

31:16

is that they're going to

31:18

use his man. Conkling's protege.

31:20

Chester Arthur, who will be

31:22

Garfield's running mate. Chester

31:27

Arthur was a man who had

31:29

never held office. Yet here he

31:31

was being placed on the ticket

31:34

as vice president as a way

31:36

to appease the stalwart. And he

31:38

was an unlikely running mate for

31:40

Garfield. He was from Vermont, but

31:43

moved to New York City as

31:45

a young man to chase fame

31:47

and fortune. Arthur

31:50

actually as a young man

31:52

was involved in the case

31:54

that ended up desegregating New

31:57

York City's streetcars. He was

31:59

a progressive. And he was

32:01

also great at schmoozing it

32:03

up with the elites in

32:05

the city. He was considered

32:07

to be extraordinarily handsome. He

32:09

was tall. He had those

32:11

terrific mutton chop sideburns. Like

32:13

a Civil War era, great

32:15

Gatsby. Sort of the backslapping

32:18

guy who was interested in

32:20

staying up all night, drinking

32:22

and smoking cigars. That was

32:24

Chester Arthur. During the Civil

32:26

War, he met a number

32:28

of political leaders. And after

32:30

the war ended, he used

32:32

those connections to become a

32:34

lobbyist. From there, he became

32:36

a very important part of

32:39

the New York political machine.

32:41

Rosco Conkling took him under

32:43

his wing and helped him

32:45

become the head of the

32:47

New York custom house. where

32:49

he got very involved in

32:51

the spoil system. There were

32:53

close to a thousand patient

32:55

jobs there, and it was

32:58

very, very important to the

33:00

New York Republican machine, the

33:02

statewide machine, to be able

33:04

to reward its supporters with

33:06

jobs at the custom house.

33:08

Classic spoil system. He's fully

33:10

invested in the spoil system.

33:12

He's a creature of the

33:14

spoil system. He was completely

33:16

loyal to Conkling. So this

33:19

is Chester Arthur on the

33:21

eve of the 1880 Republican

33:23

Convention. So you can imagine.

33:25

Arthur is very surprised when

33:27

he's asked to join the

33:29

Republican ticket with Garfield. He

33:31

was an emotional person and

33:33

he was flabbergasted. But he

33:35

says, you know what, this

33:37

is the greatest honor that

33:40

anyone has ever given me

33:42

and I'm going to do

33:44

it. And he does it.

33:46

They do it. Garfield and

33:48

Arthur, the divided ticket. They

33:50

win the election. But obviously,

33:52

it's still awkward. especially for

33:54

Garfield. The person closest to

33:56

him and his administration is

33:58

his sort of sworn enemy.

34:01

And the tension rises even

34:03

more when Garfield dedicates a

34:05

part of his inauguration speech

34:07

to calling for reform of

34:09

the spoil system. The civil

34:11

service can never be placed

34:13

on a satisfactory basis until

34:15

it is regulated by law

34:17

He had freed men and

34:20

former slave owners in the

34:22

crowd before him tears in

34:24

their eyes You know because

34:26

there's so much promise and

34:28

possibility for this still very

34:30

young country For the good

34:32

of the service itself for

34:34

the protection of those who

34:36

are entrusted with the appointing

34:38

power against the waste of

34:41

time and obstruction to the

34:43

public business caused by the

34:45

inordinate pressure for place and

34:47

for the protection of incumbents

34:49

against intrigue and wrong. But

34:51

not everyone was inspired by

34:53

his message of reform. Kunkling

34:55

is not going to back

34:57

down and he's got his

34:59

man right there in the

35:02

White House. Chester Arthur. the

35:04

new vice president. While Garfield

35:06

is trying to set up

35:08

his administration, conkling is pulling

35:10

every single person that Garfield's

35:12

like, okay, maybe this guy,

35:14

conkling gets to them first

35:16

and pulls him into his

35:18

apartment which they had nicknamed

35:20

the morgue and terrifies them

35:23

and threatens them. He basically

35:25

tells them, don't take a

35:27

job with Garfield if you

35:29

want a future in the

35:31

Republican Party. person after person

35:33

starts backing out like I

35:35

thought I wanted that position

35:37

in your administration Garfield, but

35:39

I'm sorry I can't take

35:42

it. President Garfield is getting

35:44

sabotaged by conchling and the

35:46

stalwords and on top of

35:48

all that he has to

35:50

face the realities of the

35:52

spoil system every single day

35:54

in the White House. At

35:56

that time people didn't think

35:58

that there should be any

36:00

protections for the president or

36:03

any separation from the president.

36:05

So every day random people

36:07

would walk into the White

36:09

House and cue to ask

36:11

the president for a job.

36:13

Say you want to be

36:15

in charge of your post

36:17

office in your little town,

36:19

go to the White House

36:21

and make your case to

36:24

the president himself. And Garfield?

36:26

He hated it. This is

36:28

what made life hell really

36:30

for Garfield when he was

36:32

president. He specifically said, I

36:34

don't know why anyone would

36:36

ever want to be president.

36:38

He was one of these

36:40

office seekers. Gutto was Garfield's

36:43

opposite in every way. He

36:45

had failed at everything he

36:47

had tried. He once started

36:49

a newspaper. That failed. He

36:51

had tried to be a

36:53

lawyer. At one point he

36:55

was a member of a

36:57

cult, basically a free love

36:59

commune. They had nicknamed him

37:01

Charles Get Out. He had

37:04

campaigned for Garfield in 1880,

37:06

which he felt entitled him

37:08

to a big government job

37:10

as a reward. I should

37:12

be given the ambassadorship to

37:14

France. And so, you know,

37:16

no, no, no qualifications, but

37:18

that's a spoil system, he

37:20

thinks. So, then he starts.

37:22

Writing to the White House,

37:25

saying, yes, this is what

37:27

I've done, and this is

37:29

what I'd like in return.

37:31

He doesn't get a response.

37:33

And so, Guto starts showing

37:35

up to the White House

37:37

almost daily to personally ask

37:39

Garfield for a job. At

37:41

one point, he even walks

37:43

into the president's office with

37:46

Garfield there. He doesn't get

37:48

the job offer he wanted,

37:50

so he's furious and getting

37:52

desperate. He doesn't have any

37:54

money. He's moving from boarding

37:56

house to boarding house. He's

37:58

becoming hungrier and more delusional.

38:00

He thinks God wants him

38:02

to kill the president, to

38:05

make Chester Arthur president, so

38:07

to get the stalwart in

38:09

office. He buys a pistol

38:11

and for weeks he stocks

38:13

President Garfield looking for the

38:15

right moment to strike. He

38:17

reads that Garfield's going to

38:19

be in the train station

38:21

on July 2nd and so

38:23

he goes there and And

38:26

he's waiting for him when

38:28

Garfield arrives. These

38:37

are the words Charles

38:39

Grudow screamed after shooting

38:42

Garfield. Meanwhile, Vice President

38:44

Chester Arthur is in

38:46

New York with Roskoe

38:48

Conkling. Someone tells them

38:50

what has happened, that

38:52

Garfield's been shot. And

38:54

Arthur's reaction is he

38:56

basically just collapses in

38:58

the chair. He can't

39:00

even believe that this

39:02

has happened. This

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40:52

3 Metamorphosis To the Honorable

40:54

Chester A. Arthur The people

40:56

are bowed in grief, but

40:58

do you realize it? Not

41:01

so much because he is

41:03

dying as because you are

41:05

his successor. As President Garfield

41:07

lies in the White House,

41:10

an infection spreading through his

41:12

body, Vice President Chester Arthur

41:14

starts getting a series of

41:16

letters. from this mysterious woman

41:19

in New York. A 31-year-old

41:21

single woman. She was just

41:23

this invalid, shot in. But

41:25

she was a political junkie,

41:28

who clearly knows all about

41:30

Chester Arthur and his background

41:32

and how he grew up.

41:34

Your kindest opponent say, Arthur

41:37

will try to write, adding

41:39

gloomily, he won't succeed though,

41:41

making a man president cannot

41:43

change him. Her name is

41:45

Julia Sand. They had never

41:48

met before. At first, it

41:50

seems that she, like most

41:52

of the country, doesn't have

41:54

high hopes for Arthur. But

41:57

then she writes, But making

41:59

a man president can change

42:01

him. Great emergency. agencies awaken

42:03

generous treats which have lain

42:06

dormant half a life if

42:08

there is a spark of

42:10

true nobility in you now

42:12

is the occasion to let

42:15

it shine so she really

42:17

she zeros in on what

42:19

he's feeling your past you

42:21

know best what it has

42:24

been you have lived for

42:26

worldlyly things fairly or unfairly

42:28

you have won them you

42:30

are rich powerful Tomorrow, perhaps,

42:32

you will be president. What

42:35

is it all worth? She

42:37

urges him. She says, listen,

42:39

you can now make up

42:41

for all these years of

42:44

shady machine politics by doing

42:46

the right thing, by championing

42:48

civil service reform, by finally

42:50

solving this issue that has

42:53

resulted inevitably in this horrible

42:55

event, the shooting of Garfield.

42:57

You are the guy. Faith

42:59

in your better nature, forces

43:02

me to write you. but

43:04

not to beg you to

43:06

resign. To what is more

43:08

difficult and more brave. Reform.

43:10

Meanwhile, Garfield's condition is getting

43:13

worse. Doctor after doctor visits

43:15

him. Even Alexander Graham Bell

43:17

brings his prototype for a

43:19

metal detector to help doctors

43:22

find where the bullets were

43:24

lodged. It's the front page

43:26

of the newspapers every day.

43:28

It was just horrific. By

43:31

August, it becomes clear to

43:33

Garfield and his doctors that

43:35

he's probably not going to

43:37

recover. Garfield demands to be

43:40

taken out of the White

43:42

House. He wants to go

43:44

to the sea. So

43:49

they get a train and they

43:51

got the inside of one of

43:53

the train cars and they totally

43:55

changed it out. They put his

43:57

bed in there and they take

44:00

him. to New Jersey. One of

44:02

the most touching scenes

44:04

is when they get

44:06

to the house that's

44:08

on a hill and the

44:10

train tracks don't go up

44:13

the hill, they stop. And

44:15

all these people who are

44:18

there waiting, they themselves lift

44:20

this train car and pull

44:22

it up the last few

44:25

feet to the door of

44:27

this house to. try to

44:30

save him some more misery.

44:32

He spends the next

44:34

several days there by

44:36

the beach with his

44:39

wife and family, staring

44:41

out at the ocean.

44:43

And that's where he

44:45

dies. He died in

44:47

September, September 19th. A

45:05

few days later, Chester Arthur is

45:07

sworn in as the 21st president

45:10

of the United States, and Julia

45:12

Sand never stops believing

45:14

in him. She kept sending him

45:17

letters. Nothing can be more beautiful

45:19

than the manner in which you

45:21

have borne yourself through this long,

45:23

hard, ordeal. Less than a

45:25

year after becoming president, Arthur

45:27

visited Julia Sand at her home.

45:30

He just showed up on her

45:32

doorstep in Manhattan one day. He

45:35

came and said, you know what, you don't

45:37

fully understand how hard it

45:39

is to be in my position. You

45:42

know, you criticize me for some things.

45:44

You expect me to be an angel

45:46

and it's impossible to be an angel

45:48

on this job. But I really

45:50

do appreciate these letters and they've

45:52

meant a lot to me. She believed in

45:55

him and I think it was that

45:57

belief, you know, that helped him find

45:59

the strength. to try to do

46:01

the right thing at last. Not

46:03

long after he became president, Chester

46:06

Arthur turned his back on his

46:08

old mentor, Roscoe Conkling. For the

46:10

vice presidency, I'm indebted to you

46:13

and my role in the party,

46:15

but for the presidency, I'm indebted

46:17

to Almighty God. I'm in charge

46:20

of the country, and I need

46:22

to serve all the American people

46:24

and not just the political machine.

46:27

So the first surprising thing that

46:29

Arthur did was in his first

46:32

annual message, which is what we

46:34

now call the State of the

46:36

Union. Chester Arthur does what nobody

46:39

thought he would do. He surprised

46:41

everyone by endorsing civil service reform.

46:43

Congress should deem it advisable at

46:46

the present session to establish competitive

46:48

tests for admission to the service.

46:50

No doubts, such as have been

46:53

suggested, shall deter me from giving

46:55

the measure my earnest support. Mr.

46:58

Arthur, the stalwart of stalwart, says,

47:00

we need to do something about

47:02

this. It's a total 180 that

47:05

tips the scales in favor of

47:07

civil service reform. And there's already

47:09

an Ohio senator who's been working

47:12

on the issue. George Pendleton. George

47:14

Pendleton was a prominent Democrat, and

47:16

at that time, many Democrats were

47:19

openly sympathetic to the former Confederacy.

47:21

Pendleton did believe that Africans were

47:23

inferior to white Americans. This is

47:26

Tom Mac. He's a history professor

47:28

at Cedarville University and the author

47:31

of gentleman George Hunt Pendleton, party

47:33

politics and ideological identity in 19th

47:35

century America. He believed that slavery

47:38

was a state issue. Pendleton was

47:40

not a progressive like Garfield or

47:42

Arthur, but he did agree with

47:45

them on one thing. He is

47:47

concerned about the spoil system. that

47:49

the system's become elitist once again

47:52

and the only way to fix

47:54

that is to reform civil service.

47:56

And in order to do something

47:59

about it, he has to go

48:01

beyond his own party for support.

48:04

Much of his party opposed him

48:06

in the civil service reform. There

48:08

is no question that most of

48:11

his support comes from across the

48:13

aisle. From Republicans. He puts together

48:15

a civil service reform bill that

48:18

would come to be called the

48:20

Pendleton Act. It did things like

48:22

set up a test for all

48:25

federal government job seekers. You had

48:27

to pass the exam in order

48:30

to be able to be considered

48:32

for a government job. This is

48:34

the concept of civil service by

48:37

merit. If you're going to be

48:39

working in the accounting office of

48:41

the Treasury Department, you can actually

48:44

keep a ledger. At this time,

48:46

it was a revolutionary idea. You

48:48

get the government job because of

48:51

your ability, not just party loyalty.

48:53

The spoil system was so entrenched

48:55

in American politics, it was going

48:58

to be hard to pass this

49:00

bill. But President Garfield's death galvanized

49:03

a movement for reform that couldn't

49:05

be stopped. Finally gets past both

49:07

houses of Congress in 1883. And

49:10

shortly after, on January 16th, 1883,

49:12

a little over a year after

49:14

Garfield's death, President Chester Arthur signed

49:17

the Pendleton Act into law. of

49:19

the professional civil service that we

49:21

have now, and in subsequent decades,

49:24

they added civil service protections for

49:26

more workers, and it grew and

49:28

grew and grew. At first, the

49:31

Pendleton Act only covered about 10%

49:33

of federal jobs, a few thousand

49:36

federal workers. But as time went

49:38

on, it expanded to eventually cover

49:40

the vast majority of the federal

49:43

workforce, which now measures in the

49:45

millions. these people who are professional

49:47

civil servants many of whom have

49:50

been there for decades through administrations

49:52

Democratic and Republican they serve the

49:54

American people they're not serving whoever

49:57

happens to be in the White

49:59

House and they have expertise and

50:02

yes they're supposed to be implementing

50:04

the law. laws faithfully, but their

50:06

jobs are not to advance the

50:09

agenda of any party or particular

50:11

president. Less than a year after

50:13

he shot President Garfield, Charles Guttel

50:16

was executed. His madness had driven

50:18

the country into mourning and inadvertently

50:20

sparked a chain of events that

50:23

would alter the future of the

50:25

federal government of the United States.

50:27

It doesn't always take a big

50:30

event to change the course of

50:32

history, right? It can be something

50:35

as small as one man's madness,

50:37

one woman's faith, one man's sort

50:39

of personal ambition, and one man's

50:42

death. To completely change the course

50:44

of history. And

51:02

that's it for the

51:04

week show. I'm Rand

51:06

Abd al-Fat-Dah. I'm Rahm-Tin

51:08

Arab-Lui, and you've been

51:11

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was produced by me,

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and me, and... Lion

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Thu? Julie Kane. Anya

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Stein. Anya Steinberg. Casey

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Minor. Gristina Kim. Devin

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Khadiyama. Irene Noguchi. Voice

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over work for this

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episode was done by

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Micah Basqueer, Ashley Strachey,

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Emmanuel Martinez, and Ari

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Steinberg. Thank you to

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Johannes Durgi, Edith Chapin,

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Louise Clemens, Tony Cavin,

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and Colin Campbell. This

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episode was mixed by

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Maggie Luthar. Music for

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this episode was composed

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by Romtine and his

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band Drop Electric, which

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includes... back checking for

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this episode was done

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by Andrea Lopez Crusado

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we have to shout

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out the book by

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Scott Greenberger one of

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our guest on his

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show called the unexpected

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president the life in

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times of Chester A.

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