On the morning of July 2, 1881, the 20th President of the United States, James Abram Garfield was preparing for a trip to New England, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech. While waiting for his train at a Washington D.C Railroad station, the newly elected president was felled and gravely wounded by the shots of an assassin. He was shot twice at the back. Garfield was carried to the presidential mansion, the White House.
For weeks, President James Abram Garfield was nursed there by his doctors led by Dr. Willard Bliss. He was later moved to Elberon, New Jersey, to be with his family. The president never left his sickbed. On September 19, 1881, 11 weeks after the shooting, President James Abram Garfield died.
But who actually killed President Garfield? Was it the assassin who shot him? His doctors led by Dr. Willard Bliss or Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone?
Who Shot Garfield?
James Abram Garfield’s assassin was Charles J. Guiteau, a religious fanatic and a Stalwart, who was apparently angered because he had been refused a government job. He stated that he shot Garfield in order “to unite the Republican Party and save the Republic.” Guiteau readily gave himself up after the shooting, certain that the people would understand the high-mindedness of his purpose. He was found guilty of murder, however, and was executed in 1882.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. He also made other notable inventions some of which are the photophone, which transmits speech by light rays; the audiometer, used to measure acuity in hearing; the induction balance, used to locate metal objects in human bodies and the first wax recording cylinder, introduced in 1886.
Dr. Willard Bliss was an American physician and expert in ballistic trauma. He studied at Cleveland Medical College and during the American Civil War, was a surgeon with the Third Michigan Infantry.
Garfield’s Travails
After President James Abram Garfield had been shot, Bliss was summoned by Garfield’s Secretary of War, Robert Lincoln (President Abraham Lincoln’s son) and he (Bliss) examined Garfield’s bullet wounds with his fingers and an unsterilized metal probe and concluded that the bullet was in the President’s liver.
Garfield was carried back to the White House. Although doctors told him that he would not survive the night, the President remained conscious and alert. Subsequently, his condition fluctuated. Fevers came and went and he spent most of that summer taking liquids and was unable to take solid food.
Doctors continued to probe Garfield’s wounds with dirty, unsterilized fingers and instruments, attempting to find the location of the bullet…Wilhelm Roentgen had not invented the X-ray machine until 1885.
In the years following the American Civil War, there was a theory in the medical community that germs could be spread by introducing unwashed hands to an open wound. It was common practice at the time for surgeons to use unsterilized instruments in multiple surgeries while wearing a bloody gown.
Joseph Lister, for whom Listerine was named, worked tirelessly to promote the theory of antiseptic surgery. He taught that infection could be lessened by sterilising instruments and washed hands. But Bliss disregarded the theories of Dr. Lister.
Alexander Graham Bell
In a desperate measure to find the elusive bullet, Bliss brought in Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone who attempted to locate the bullet with an electrical device he called the Induction Balance, a metal detector. Bell discovered what he thought was the bullet and had doctors cut the President to remove it. Alas, Bell was wrong. His metal detector had found a metal spring in the mattress under the President.
James Abram Garfield became increasingly ill over a period of several weeks due to infection, which caused his heart to weaken. He remained bedridden in the White House with fevers and extreme pains. His weight dropped drastically as he was unable to keep down and digest food. Blood poisoning and infection set in and for a brief period the President suffered from hallucinations. His body oozed pus as the infections raged.
Who Killed President James A. Garfield?
On September 6, 1881, he was taken to Elberon, New Jersey to escape the Washington D.C heat and with the vain hope that he might recover. But the ailing president died exactly two months before his 50th birthday and remains one of the only two Presidents who died before their 50th birthday, the other being John F. Kennedy, who was also assassinated when he was just 46 years old in 1963.
So, who killed Garfield? Bell, Bliss or Guiteau? You can know more in the video below…
We always have more stories to tell, so make sure you are subscribed to our YouTube Channel and have pressed the bell button for interesting historical videos. You can also follow us on all our social media handles and don’t hesitate to as well share this article with your friends.
