Destiny of the Republic (39 page)

Chapter 8: Brains, Flesh, and Blood

1
From an open window: The Oval Office would not be used as the president’s office until 1909, when William Howard Taft was president. Taft also renovated the room to change its shape from a rectangle to an oval.

2
“The eyes of Washington”: “Letter from Washington,” unnamed newspaper, June 3, 1881, Library of Congress.

3
“sat down to a good rattling talk”: Lucretia Garfield,
Diary
, April 15, 1881, in Garfield,
Diary
, 4:640.

4
With their help, she convinced: Seale,
The President’s House
, 516. Hayes’s wife, Lucille, was widely known as Lemonade Lucy because she refused to serve alcohol in the White House.

5
“abreast of current literature”: Theodore Clarke Smith,
The Life and Letters of James Abram Garfield
, 752.

6
“Every day I miss Spofford”: Ibid., 753.

7
While home in Mentor: Garfield,
Diary
.

8
“It is a pity”: Quoted in Theodore Clarke Smith,
The Life and Letters of James Abram Garfield
, 923.

9
For Garfield, being able to work: Feis,
Mollie Garfield in the White House
, 60.

10
While nine-year-old Abe: Whitcomb and Whitcomb,
Real Life at the White House
, 174. The East Room is the largest room in the White House, and as such has often been used as a playroom by presidents’ children. Tad Lincoln tied a goat to a chair so that it could pull him through the room. Theodore Roosevelt’s children roller-skated through it, as did Jimmy Carter’s daughter, Amy.

11
“Whatever fate may await me”: Rockwell, “From Mentor to Elberon,”
Century Magazine
, 434. (
Hoc opus, hic labor est
. “That is the work, that is the task.” From
The Aeneid
, Book VI.)

12
“I am the first mother”:
New York Times
, March 23, 1881.

13
“cozy and home like”:
New York Times
, July 8, 1881.

14
“Slept too soundly”: Lucretia Garfield,
Diary
, March 5, 1881, in Garfield,
Diary
, 4:628.

15
“This is the way in which”: “Patronage in Our Politics,”
New York Times
, March 27, 1881.

16
“Almost everyone who comes to me”: Quoted in Peskin,
Garfield
, 515.

17
“Let us go into the Executive mansion”: Quoted in Mr. Lincoln’s White House,
http://mrlincolnswhitehouse.org
.

18
“My day is frittered away”: Garfield,
Diary
, June 13, 1880, 4:610.

19
“My God!”: Peskin, Garfield, 551.

20
“beasts at feeding time”: Peskin,
Garfield
, 551.

21
“These people would take”: Stanley-Brown, “Memorandum Concerning Joseph Stanley-Brown’s Relations with General Garfield,” 9.

22
“Secretary Blaine is especially sought after”: “A Crowd of Office Seekers,”
Washington Post
, March 9, 1881.

23
“When Dr. Johnson defined patriotism”: Quoted in Peskin,
Garfield
, 452–53.

24
The Secret Service had been established: Melanson,
The Secret Service
, 22.

25
“strong dispatch of sympathy”: Garfield,
Diary
, March 19, 1881, 4:561.

26
“allusion to our own loss”: Garfield,
Diary
, March 19, 1881, 4:561.

27
“We cannot protect our Presidents”: “A Lesson,”
New York Times
, July 4, 1881.

28
“Assassination can no more”: Sherman,
Recollections of Forty Years in the House, Senate and Cabinet
, 789.

29
Brown had met Garfield: Stanley-Brown, “Memorandum Concerning Joseph Stanley-Brown’s Relations with General Garfield.”

30
“Good morning, what can I do for you?”: Ibid., 2.

31
“Aspirations for the reflected glory”: Stanley-Brown,
Stanley-Brown Family History
, 1.

32
Brown’s grandfather Nathaniel Stanley: “Scope and Content Note,” Joseph Stanley-Brown Papers, 1. When Joseph, an avid genealogist, learned that his grandfather had changed his name from Stanley to Brown, he added Stanley to the end of his own name. Years later, Lucretia Garfield suggested that he hyphenate the two names, and he was thereafter known as Joseph Stanley-Brown. Feis,
Mollie Garfield in the White House
, 114–15; “Scope and Content Note,” Joseph Stanley-Brown Papers, Library of Congress.

33
In America, Nathaniel’s son: Unnamed newspaper, Hiram College archives.

34
When he was twelve: Stanley-Brown, “Memorandum Concerning Joseph Stanley-Brown’s Relations with General Garfield,” 1.

35
“The gracious, affectionate home life”: Ibid., 4.

36
“Where have you been”: Ibid.; Stanley-Brown, “My Friend Garfield,” 50.

37
“He is very bright and able”: Garfield,
Diary
, January 9, 1881, 4:522.

38
“Well, my boy”: Stanley-Brown, “Memorandum Concerning Joseph Stanley-Brown’s Relations with General Garfield,” 7–8.

39
Immediately following Garfield’s nomination: “Gen. Garfield’s Letters,”
New York Times
, June 29, 1880.

40
“There was no organized staff”: Stanley-Brown, “My Friend Garfield,” 50.

41
“How the President and his Private Secretary”: “An Hour Spent in the President’s Private Office,” unnamed newspaper, June 3, 1881.

42
The day after Garfield’s inauguration:
United States v. Guiteau
, 630–31.

43
“We have cleaned them out”: Ibid., 115–16.

44
“I have practiced law”: Ibid., 210.

45
“Being about to marry”: Beard, “The Case of Guiteau—A Psychological Study,” 30–31.

46
While still in New York, Guiteau:
United States v. Guiteau
, 585.

47
“All those leading politicians”: Ibid., 584.

48
“I have seen him at least ten times”: Ibid., 896.

49
“on free-and-easy terms”: Ibid., 896, 584–85.

50
Within days of his arrival in Washington: Ibid., 208.

51
“No day in 12 years”: Garfield,
Diary
, March 8, 1881, 4:555.

52
“I think I prefer Paris”:
United States v. Guiteau
, 209.

53
“The inclosed [
sic
] speech”: Ibid., 209.

54
“so that the President would remember”: Hayes and Hayes,
A Complete History
, 424.

55
“Of course, [Garfield] recognized me”:
United States v. Guiteau
, 586–87.

56
“His visits were repeated”: Ibid., 208.

57
“very large attendance”: Garfield,
Diary
, March 12, 1881, 4:557.

58
“the great roaring world”: Lucretia Garfield,
Diary
, March 12, 1881, in Garfield,
Diary
, 4:628.

59
Suddenly, Lucretia heard someone say: Ackerman,
Dark Horse
, 280; Rosenberg,
The Trial of the Assassin Guiteau
, p. 29.

60
Guiteau had a strikingly quiet walk: Rosenberg,
The Trial of the Assassin Guiteau
, 38; “Guiteau in Jail,”
New York Times
, July 3, 1881.

61
“one of the men that made”: Ackerman,
Dark Horse
, 280.

62
“aching in every joint”: Lucretia Garfield,
Diary
, March 12, 1881, in Garfield,
Diary
, 4:628.

63
“chatty and companionable”: Whitcomb and Whitcomb,
Real Life at the White House
, 175.

Chapter 9: Casus Belli

1
“She is not well”: Garfield,
Diary
, May 3, 1881, 4:586.

2
“Crete”: Ibid., May 4, 1881, 4:587.

3
“My anxiety for her”: Ibid., May 8, 1881, 4:588.

4
Lucretia was the center: Shaw,
Lucretia
, 1–8.

5
“big, shy lad with a shock of unruly hair”: Typed paragraph, apparently written by Mary “Mollie” Garfield Brown, from the Western Reserve Historical Society archives.

6
“over and over upon the ground”: Peskin,
Garfield
, 349.

7
“never elated”: Quoted in Shaw,
Lucretia
, 2.

8
“generous and gushing affection”: Quoted in ibid., 31.

9
“The world”: Shaw,
Crete and James
, xii.

10
“Please pardon the liberty”: Ibid., 2.

11
“It is my desire”: Ibid., xii.

12
“I do not think I was born”: Quoted in Shaw,
Lucretia
, 2.

13
“For the past year”: Garfield,
Diary
, September 10, 1855, 4:271–72.

14
“Never before did I see”: Ibid., September 11, 1855, 4:272.

15
“I am not certain I feel”: Ibid., June 24, 1854, 4:251.

16
“There are hours when my heart”: Shaw,
Crete and James
, xii.

17
If their courtship was difficult: Ibid., ix, xiv.

18
“Before when you were away”: Ibid., 165–66.

19
“It seemed a little hard”: Ibid., 104.

20
“I believe after all”: Ibid., 210.

21
“gushing affection”: Ibid., 240.

22
“I here record”: Ibid., 242–43.

23
“You can never know”: Ibid., 374.

24
“Dear wife”: Quoted in Shaw,
Lucretia
, 84.

25
“It is almost painful”: Shaw,
Crete and James
, 233.

26
“life of my life”: Garfield,
Diary
, May 13, 1881, 4:590.

27
“the continent, the solid land”: Quoted in Peskin,
Garfield
, 347.

28
“to get her further from the river air”: Garfield,
Diary
, May 10, 1881, 4:589.

29
“I am sorry to say”: Harriet S. Blaine and Beale,
Letters of Mrs. James G. Blaine
, 202.

30
“I refused to see people”: Garfield,
Diary
, May 11, 1881, 4:590.

31
“I try to be cheerful”: Peskin,
Garfield
, 230.

32
Every day, Garfield consulted: Garfield,
Diary
, May 9, 1881, 4:589.

33
“fever powders”: Ibid., May 11, 1881, 4:589–90.

34
“If I thought her return”: Shaw,
Lucretia
, 101.

35
“In the majority of cases”: Crook,
Through Five Administrations
, 269.

36
“The President says it will be impossible”:
United States v. Guiteau
, 589.

37
“I will tell you how I do it”: Ibid., 633.

38
The technique had worked: Ibid., 221.

39
“Mr. Guiteau came into my office”: Ibid., 220.

40
“I lived”: Hayes and Hayes,
A Complete History
, 459.

41
Despite the constant humiliations: Ibid., 513–14.

42
“possessed of an evil spirit”: Ibid., 504.

43
“very proud and nice”: Ibid., 499.

44
After years of living as a traveling evangelist: “A Great Nation in Grief,”
New York Times
, July 3, 1881.

45
While everyone else was wearing:
United States v. Guiteau
, 446.

46
“somewhat haggard and weak”: Ibid., 222.

47
When Guiteau did have an opportunity: Hayes and Hayes,
A Complete History
, 38.

48
“Do you know who I am?”: Crook,
Through Five Administrations
, 267.

49
“elected the President”:
United States v. Guiteau
, 445–46.

50
“He did not strike me”: Ibid., 446.

51
“The first time that I see”: Ibid., 446–47.

52
“to have a consulship”: Ibid., 128–29.

53
“We have not got to that yet”: Ibid., 647.

54
So frequent were Guiteau’s visits: Ibid., 202.

55
“he had, in my opinion”: Ibid., 647, 117.

56
Before Lucretia had fallen ill: Hinsdale,
Garfield-Hinsdale Letters
, 489.

57
“perfidy without peril”: Shaw,
Lucretia
, 95.

58
Not only had Garfield not consulted: Peskin,
Garfield
, 470.

59
“treacherously betray[ed] a secret trust”: Connery, “Secret History of the Garfield-Conkling Tragedy,” 149.

60
“
casus belli
”: Garfield,
Diary
, March 27, 1881, 4:565.

61
“I owe something”: Hinsdale,
Garfield-Hinsdale Letters
, 490.

62
Of more than one hundred newspapers: Peskin,
Garfield
, 569.

63
“has recognized Republicans”: “What the Newspapers Say,”
New York Times
, May 6, 1881.

64
Just two years earlier: “Marriage Starts Bride Down Aisle to Misery,”
Washington Times
, July 13, 2002. Kate Sprague’s husband would eventually divorce her, leaving her not only publicly humiliated and a social pariah, but penniless. By the end of her life, she would be reduced to selling eggs door to door, and, in 1899, would die from disease and malnutrition at the age of fifty-eight.

65
It was not until early May: Connery, “Secret History of the Garfield-Conkling Tragedy,” 146.

66
“Garfield has not been square”: Ibid.

67
After Robertson’s appointment: Doenecke,
The Presidencies of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur
, 42.

68
“smiled and looked at me”: Connery, “Secret History of the Garfield-Conkling Tragedy,” 147.

69
“God will be merciful”: Garfield,
Diary
, May 15, 1881, 4:592.

70
“rebuke the President”: Peskin,
Garfield
, 571–72.

71
“Sir, Will you please”: “A Sensation in Politics,”
New York Times
, May 17, 1881.

72
“seemed to stupefy”: Ibid.

73
“a great big baby”: Peskin,
Garfield
, 572.

74
“a very weak attempt”: Garfield,
Diary
, May 16, 1881, 4:593.

75
A few days later, he announced: Ibid., March 21, 1881, 4:561.

76
“Having done all I fairly could”: Ibid., May 16, 1881, 4:593.

77
“with emphasis, it is ended”: Ibid., May 31, 1881, 4:602.

78
“Stung with mortification”: “Conkling’s Few Friends,”
New York Times
, June 2, 1881.

79
“A deep strong current”: Garfield,
Diary
, May 31, 1881, 4:602.