--- title: "An award-winning book about the assassination of President Garfield is now a four-part Netflix series" description: "James Garfield once wrote “Assassination can no more be guarded against than death by lightning; and it is not best to worry about either.”" date: "2025-10-29" modified: "2025-10-29" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/entertainment/an-award-winning-book-about-the-assassination-of-president-garfield-is-now-a-four-part-netflix-series/" categories: - "Entertainment" - "Movies and TV" tags: - "Civil War" - "Entertainment" - "Television" --- # An award-winning book about the assassination of President Garfield is now a four-part Netflix series ![Michael Shannon stars as James Garfield in the Netflix series "Death By Lightning."]() *Michael Shannon stars as the unlikely president, James Garfield, in the Netflix series "Death By Lightning." (Netflix)* Some people reading this may not remember that President James Garfield was assassinated. Others won’t even remember that he was the 20th President of the United States. Some still don’t know that James Garfield was the president at all. And that’s okay, because before he was nominated to run in 1880, most Americans back then didn’t know who he was either. But when perennial failure and former Democrat Charles Giteau shot the president, it was a shock to the nation. Garfield lingered and struggled for 80 days as doctors made a comedy of errors around his recovery, and Americans held constant vigils for a presidential recovery that never came. Award-winning author Candice Millard covered Garfield’s election, presidency, and death in detail in her 2011 book, “[Destiny of the Republic.]()” #### Related: [The first head of the VA was so corrupt, President Harding tried to kill him]() That book has now been adapted as a new Netflix limited series, “Death by Lightning,” starring Michael Shannon (“12 Strong”) as President Garfield and Matthew Macfadyen (“Succession”) as Giteau. The cast also includes Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation”) as Chester A. Arthur and Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing”) as James Blaine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jopqrSojQE At the Republican National Convention that year, everyone was reasonably sure Ulysses S. Grant was going to be nominated for (and likely win) a third term. The sitting president, another Union veteran, Rutherford B. Hayes, promised not to run again as a condition of winning the previous election. When support for Grant began to crumble almost immediately, a Pennsylvania delegate voted for Ohio congressman James Garfield, [who didn’t really want the job](). After six days and 36 ballots, and even though [Garfield was campaigning for John Sherman](), the crowd began to chant “We want Garfield!” and it was Garfield who picked up the nomination for president, much [to the would-be president’s chagrin](). Not only would he have to serve, but Chester Arthur, a colleague Garfield didn’t even like, was going to be his vice-president. ![Nick Offerman is Chester A. Arthur in "Death By Lightning" Netflix]() *Nick Offerman is Chester A. Arthur in "Death By Lightning" and frankly, he needs a movie of his own. (Netflix)* At the same time, Giteau believed it was a speech he wrote that swayed the Republican delegates’ votes for Garfield. Giteau, who had a history of mental problems, decided to ask the new president for a position in Vienna or Paris for writing the speech that got him elected. Instead of that, Garfield decided to do away with patronage, and that’s why Giteau decided \*spoiler alert\* that Garfield had to go. It’s not often that the lesser-known presidents get an adaptation for any screen, anywhere, short of [being called mediocre and forgettable on]() “The Simpsons.” But Garfield was something extraordinary, even before accidentally being nominated for president. He was a Union veteran of the Civil War who believed the war was a holy crusade against slavery and fought at Corinth, Shiloh, and Chickamauga. [He spoke]() ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and German, and [proved the Pythagorean theorem](). Giteau was correct about one thing, however. Garfield ended the patronage system that rewarded an elected official’s supporters with cushy government jobs. He was a civil rights reformer who drafted the first law to create a Cabinet-level Department of Education. But that all ended when the president was shot in Baltimore—in front of Robert Todd Lincoln, no less. ![shooting of president james garfield]() *Seriously. Giteau shot President Garfield right in front of Abraham Lincoln's son.* When doctors began looking to extract the bullet, they famously made the problem worse. President Garfield didn’t get an infection until the doctors stuck their grimy fingers in his wound, looking for the bullet. Even though Alexander Graham Bell invented a metal detector[ for the purpose of saving the president](), Garfield’s death was only inevitable because of his doctors’ ineptitude. This was even an argument Giteau made at his murder trial. Be sure to catch this rare Hollywood retelling of an era of presidential history not dominated by wars, and focused on one of the least memorable American leaders. It’s almost enough to generate excitement for watching President Warren G. Harding [choke out the first VA secretary](). “Death by Lightning” streams on Netflix beginning Nov. 6, 2025. ### Don’t Miss the Best of We Are The Mighty #### • [8 Presidents who actually saw combat in a big way]() #### • [Ronald Reagan may have been packing heat the entire time he was President]() #### • [President Nixon’s Secret Service uniform was almost unbelievable]() ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()