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"The Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President" by Candice Millard (Doubleday, ISBN 9780385526265, $27.95, available September 2011) 

First there was madness. Charles Giteau was a man of dreams and delusions; in his personal life, he had failed at every venture he tried. His wife had left him and his family thought he was insane and should be institutionalized. Arrogant and audacious, poor and threadbare, he drifted from Chicago to New York and, finally, to Boston where he became obsessed with politics. The year is 1880 and on a day in June, God gave a special mission to Giteau, one of His chosen.   

Then there was medicine. In 1876, a British surgeon, Joseph Lister presented to an audience of American surgeons and physicians his revolutionary system of antisepsis, preventing infection by destroying germs. Antiseptic medicine, largely accepted and practiced in England and on the continent, found little acceptance in the United States. In 1880 most physicians did not believe in germs; they operated in their street clothes using unsterilized instruments, with unwashed hands. The probing of wounds with a finger and the subsequent “open-air treatment” was common practice.   

And finally there was the murder of a president. James A Garfield was elected president of the United States November 1880. A Republican from Ohio, he did not want and did not seek the office. By 1880 the party had divided into two sides, the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds, the party reformers. Sharp division, partisan exchanges and boisterous behavior marked the National Convention held in Chicago. On June 9, Garfield, on the thirty-sixth ballot, was selected as the party’s candidate. With little competition since President Hayes did not run for a second term, Garfield was elected president. On July 2, 1881, not quite four months after his inauguration, he was shot twice by Giteau. He lingered for almost three months and died on September 19. Millard writes a relay race of stories, focusing on these three elements. If you want to “be there” and experience the unfolding of Garfield’s marriage, his character, his political life, and his death, you will also experience the dread as Giteau carries out his decision, the repugnance as the doctors treat Garfield, the loss of hope and the sadness of the nation. 

As she explores this specific event, she, masterfully, links other events and people to it. Alexander Graham Bell, in an attempt to locate the bullet in Garfield, devises an induction machine; Dr. Willard Bliss took charge, with no authority, of Garfield’s treatment—these men give Millard the opportunity to explore the medical profession and its practices and ask relevant questions. What if Garfield had been left alone, would he have survived? What if Bliss had allowed Bell to search both sides of Garfield’s body? What did Dr. Agnew, present at the autopsy, refer to when he said, “Gentlemen, this was the fatal wound. We made a mistake.”? 

President Rutherford B. Hayes, Garfield’s predecessor, called Roscoe Conkling, a senator from New York, a “thoroughly rotten man.” Powerful due to the spoils system in place in national politics, arrogant and ruthless, Conkling was an excellent speaker known for his canary-yellow waistcoat and his wavy blond hair formed in a spit curl in the middle of his forehead. Chester A. Arthur, Garfield’s Vice President, had “never held an office except the one he was removed from.” A creation of Conkling and the spoils system, as president he will surprise everyone, including Conkling, by instituting civil service reform. These men and James G. Blaine “the Magnetic Man from Maine,” the Half-Breed who was the top candidate for the nomination in 1880 allow Millard to describe American politics at the time.  

Inaugurated on March 4, 1881, shot on July 2, and dying September 19, the question, “What is Garfield’s place in history?” can be posed. Millard offers a reasoned answer to that question as she wraps up the many threads of the story. As a speaker, she is passionate and thoughtful. If you heard her talk about her first book, "The River of Doubt" about Teddy Roosevelt, you know what a treat it will be when you attend September 29. 

Review by Joyce Suellentrop

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President (Hardcover)

By Candice Millard

$28.95

ISBN-13: 9780385526265
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Doubleday, 9/2011

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