James A. Garfield – 1831-1881

Garfield, who served with distinction in the Union army during the Civil War, was an Ohio representative and Senator before he was elected president in 1880. Inaugurated on March 4, 1881, he was shot in the back on July 2, 1881, by a disgruntled office seeker, Charles J, Guiteau. Garfield lingered until September 19, 1881. His long incapacity raised critical constitutional questions concerning the circumstances under which the vice president should assume the role of the chief executive.