 |
James Abram Garfield
b. 19 Nov 1831, near Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
d. 19 Sep 1881, Elberon, New Jersey |
| Title: |
President of the United States |
| Term: |
4 Mar 1881 - 19 Sep 1881 |
| Chronology: |
9 Feb 1881,
the election to the office of the President of the United States is declared upon the ascertainment and counting of the electoral vote (cast 1 Dec 1880 and 8 Dec 1880),
joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [1] |
|
4 Mar 1881,
commencement of term |
|
4 Mar 1881,
took the oath of office as the President of the United States, inaugural ceremony as part of the special session of the Senate, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [2] |
|
19 Sep 1881, died (as a result of assassination attempt) [3] |
| Biography: |
| Attended district school; driver and helmsman on the Ohio Canal; entered Geauga Seminary, Chester, Ohio, in 1849; attended the Eclectic Institute, Hiram, Ohio, 1851-1854; graduated from Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 1858; teacher; professor of ancient languages and literature in Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio; president of Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio, 1857-1861; member of the Ohio state senate 1859; lawyer, private practice; Union Army, Ohio Volunteer Infantry 1861-1863; elected as a Republican to the 38th and to the eight succeeding Congresses; chair, Committee on Military Affairs (40th Congress); chair, Committee on Banking and Currency (41st Congress); chair, Committee on Appropriations (42nd and 43rd Congresses); member of the Electoral Commission created by act of Congress approved 29 Jan 1877, to decide the contests in various States in the presidential election of 1876; elected to the United States Senate on 13 Jan 1880, for the term beginning 4 Mar 1881, but declined to accept having been elected President of the United States; wounded (2 Jul 1881) at the railroad station in Washington, D.C., by Charles J. Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker; for 80 days lay ill and performed only one official act - the signing of an extradition paper; died from the effects of the assassin's attack.
|
| Biographical sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (2005); The New-York Times, New-York, Tuesday, September 20, 1881, vol. XXXI, No. 9371, pp. 1, 5 (obituary). |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (1 Dec 1880) * |
| |
including votes from Georgia |
excluding votes from Georgia |
| James Abram Garfield |
214 |
214 |
| Winfield Scott Hancock |
155 |
144 |
| total number of electors appointed |
369 |
358 |
| number of votes for a majority |
185 |
180 |
|
| * As Georgia had cast her vote on the second Wednesday of December (8 Dec 1880), a day different from that prescribed by law, two tabulations were made, one including and the other not including Georgia's eleven votes (Concurrent Resolution of the U.S. Congress of 5 Feb 1881, Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1129-1141, 1257-1263). |
| Source of electoral results: Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1387. |
| |
| [1] |
Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1386-1387. |
| [2] |
Congressional Record, 47th Congress, Special Session of the Senate, 1-4. |
| [3] |
The New-York Times, New-York, Tuesday, September 20, 1881, vol. XXXI, No. 9371, pp. 1, 5. |
|
Image: photograph created between 1870 and 1881. |
