James Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men elected president. Born in poverty in rural Ohio, by dint of his brilliance and work ethic he became a wunderkind scholar…a bold Civil War General…a passionate advocate of freed slaves… and gave spellbinding speeches in Congress and at the 1880 Republican Convention. Though Garfield was shot in July 1881 and died in September, he defeated the corrupted leadership of the Radical Republicans and changed the “destiny of the Republic” by bringing North – South – East – and West together after the bitter Civil War reconstruction period.