Destiny of the Republic

In this short chapter, Millard explains that Lucretia returned to Washington and Garfield was moved from the train station back to the White House. The telegram sent by the president’s friend arrived in New Jersey, where his wife was staying, and arrangements were made for a special train to take her home to the capital.

Back in Washington, Garfield had asked to be taken to the White House. He was moved downstairs, through the station, and into an ambulance, which drove very slowly through the streets to avoid any unnecessary bumps. At the White House, the president’s secretary had taken charge from the moment he heard the news. Brown ordered that a room be prepared for Garfield’s arrival, secured the grounds, requested police protection, and set about issuing press passes so journalists could get timely information. When the ambulance arrived, Garfield was carried upstairs. His wife did not arrive until that evening, as there had been a mishap with her train and a second one had to be procured to take her the rest of the way. At the White House, she steeled herself before entering the president’s room and prepared to take over his care.

Millard continues the narration of Garfield’s care in this chapter, but she begins and ends with reference to Alexander Graham Bell. He had been in Boston when he heard the news and soon began thinking of ways to try to identify the location of the bullet using less crude methods than physically probing the wound. In fact, Millard states, if this had taken place only fifteen years later, Garfield would have access to an X-ray machine to reveal where the bullet was. In addition, in that short time, the antiseptic techniques of Lister, still disapproved of in much of the US in 1881, would be accepted. Going one step further, Millard argues that even if Garfield had received minimal or no care, he probably would have survived. She reminds the reader that many veterans of the Civil War at that time carried a bullet in their body, with the wound healing on its own. Ironically, because Garfield was such an important person, he received the best of care and lots of it. However, the care given was flawed.

For Dr. Bliss, Millard writes, the events of the day presented “a rare and heady intersection of medicine and political power–an opportunity for recognition he would never see again” (178). He had forcefully taken over the president’s care, isolating Garfield’s bed behind screens within the room he was resting in and restricting access to all but his closest friends and family. Bliss also, however, isolated Garfield from other doctors, including the president’s personal physician, Dr. Jedediah Hyde Baxter, who arrived the morning after the attack. When Bliss prevented Baxter from seeing Garfield, the two exchanged words. The argument escalated a bit, with Bliss’s son coming to his father’s defense, until Baxter decided to leave so as not to cause a disturbance outside Garfield’s room. After dispatching Baxter, Bliss then sent a letter to each of the physicians who had helped the previous day, informing them that the situation was under control and their services would no longer be needed. He would later state that Garfield and his wife had both asked him to lead the president’s care, only to be contradicted by Lucretia’s denial of this.

Lucretia, however, had two other doctors in mind, with whom she wanted to consult. The first was her own personal physician, Dr. Susan Ann Edson, who was well known by the family and had directed the first lady’s treatment only two months earlier. Lucretia also sent for Dr. Silas Boynton, a first cousin of Garfield and someone who had grown up with him. Bliss was unable to send them away as he had Baxter, but allowed them to stay only on the condition that they act in a nursing capacity and were not to be consulted in terms of treatment.

The chapter ends with Bell, back in Boston, finally lighting on an idea to find the bullet in Garfield’s body. When he had been working on his telephone four years earlier, he had discovered that telegraph wires caused interference in the telephone wires, which created a humming sound. By separating the two kinds of wires and placing them opposite each other, the sound disappeared. If any metal object were brought close to them, however, the sound returned. He surmised that if he applied the same technique to two sets of coiled wires, and moved them along Garfield’s body, the resulting sound would indicate the location of the bullet. He asked his assistant, Charles Sumner Tainter, to come up from Washington to help, and the two got to work. 

This chapter moves the action to New York, where Vice President Chester Arthur learns of the president’s attempted murder. He was with Roscoe Conkling, both returning to the city from Albany, where they had been lobbying for Conkling’s former Senate seat, when Arthur was given a telegram. Conkling immediately took Arthur to the Fifth Avenue Hotel, where he had a suite of rooms, to strategize. The hotel was a hotbed of activity, with leading Republicans awaiting further news by telegraph and reporters looking for leads on the story of the day.

Many people across the country lamented the prospect of Arthur becoming president if Garfield were to die. While he was never considered presidential material, he was seen as a safe pick as vice president for political reasons, and Garfield seemed too healthy and strong for anyone to think about him possibly dying while in office. The concern was not only about Arthur’s lack of experience, but about the fact he was controlled by Conkling, whose stature and power would immediately rise with Arthur as president. Given that Conkling was Garfield’s primary enemy within the party and considering his strong attacks on the president just before the shooting, rumors began to spread that Conkling was actually behind the attack, with Guiteau simply doing the dirty work. In the midst of such talk, Conkling had police posted outside his door at the hotel.