On this
date, September 19, 1881, the 20th President of the United States,
James A. Garfield passed away, as a result of being shot by assassin Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881. In loving memory of this President, who is a devout
Christian, I will post one of his quotes.
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The Garfield Monument at the U.S. Capitol
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James A. Garfield on security, not revenge
[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/1072338]
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QUOTE: For mere vengeance I would do nothing. This nation is too great to look for mere revenge. But for security of the future I would do everything. [Speech in New York city (15 April 1865) on the occasion of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, as reported in John Clark Ridpath, The Life and Work of James A. Garfield (1882 memorial edition), p. 194. Several biographers include this speech, but accounts of his remarks that day vary.]
AUTHOR: James
Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) served as the
20th President of the United States (1881), after completing nine consecutive
terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1863–81). Garfield's
accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of
Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive appointments;
energizing U.S. naval power; and purging corruption in the Post Office
Department. Garfield made notable diplomatic and judiciary appointments,
including a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Garfield appointed several
African-Americans to prominent federal positions.
Garfield was raised
in humble circumstances on an Ohio farm by his widowed mother and elder
brother, next door to their cousins, the Boyntons, with whom he remained very
close. He worked at many jobs to finance his higher education at Williams
College, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1856.
A year later,
Garfield entered politics as a Republican, after campaigning for the party's
antislavery platform in Ohio. He married Lucretia Rudolph in 1858 and, in 1860,
was admitted to practice law while serving as an Ohio State Senator
(1859–1861). Garfield opposed Confederate secession, served as a Major General
in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and fought in the battles of
Middle Creek, Shiloh and Chickamauga. He was first elected to Congress in 1862
as Representative of the 19th District of Ohio.
Throughout Garfield's
extended Congressional service after the Civil War, he fervently opposed the
Greenback, and gained a reputation as a skilled orator. He was Chairman of the
Military Affairs Committee and the Appropriations Committee and a member of the
Ways and Means Committee. Garfield initially agreed with Radical Republican
views regarding Reconstruction, then favored a moderate approach for civil
rights enforcement for Freedmen. In 1880, the Ohio legislature elected him to
the U.S. Senate; in that same year, the leading Republican presidential
contenders – Ulysses S. Grant, James G. Blaine and John Sherman –
failed to garner the requisite support at their convention. Garfield became the
party's compromise nominee for the 1880 Presidential Election and successfully
campaigned to defeat Democrat Winfield Hancock in the election. He is thus far
the only sitting Representative to have been elected to the presidency.
Garfield's presidency
lasted just 200 days—from March 4, 1881, until his death on September 19, 1881,
as a result of being shot by assassin Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881. Only
William Henry Harrison's presidency, of 31 days, was shorter. Garfield was the
second of four United States Presidents who were assassinated. President
Garfield advocated a bi-metal monetary system, agricultural technology, an
educated electorate, and civil rights for African-Americans. He proposed
substantial civil service reform, eventually passed by Congress in 1883 and
signed into law by his successor, Chester A. Arthur, as the Pendleton Civil
Service Reform Act.
PLEASE
GO TO THESE LINKS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 20TH PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES:
1. Biographical Sketch On The Life Of
James A. Garfield.
2. Christian Quotes by James A.
Garfield.
3. Bible Verses that were used by
James A. Garfield.
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