The "Other" Assassinations: The Political Murders of Presidents Garfield and McKinley

Ohio V. The World

Four American Presidents have been assassinated in office. Two of them are among the most infamous moments in US history, the Lincoln and JFK assassinations. The "other" two assassinated Presidents were both from the Buckeye State: William McKinley and James Garfield. Unfortunately, the events of this campaign season have brought presidential assassinations back into the news. Alex looks at the extraordinary events surrounding James Garfield's killing in 1881 and McKinley's assassination 20 years later in 1901. We talk with 6 different leading experts on both presidents in new interviews and re-edited interviews from our original McKinley and Garfield episodes from 2020.

We visit with the city historian for Buffalo, NY, Lindsey Lauren Visser, about the death of our 25th president, Canton, Ohio's own William McKinley. McKinley was shot at the Pan American Exhibition in Buffalo by a deranged anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. Czolgosz's journey to political murder begins as a factory worker in Cleveland, Ohio who is radicalized following the Panic of 1893 to an ardent anarchist, a popular subculture at the turn of the century. We also revisit conversations with Anthony Greco, the Director of Exhibits at the Buffalo History Museum and the host of the excellent Buffalo History Museum Podcast. Link below for that show and give a listen to their 3 part episode on the McKinley assassination. We also talk to University of Akron history professor Kevin Kern and excellent biographer Robert Merry buy his book President McKinley: Architect of the American Century with link below.

The "other" assassination is the killing of Mentor, Ohio's James A. Garfield the 20th President of the United States. Garfield was shot by a mentally ill office seeker at a DC train station in the Summer of 1881. His shooting by Charles Guiteau is just the start of the story as Garfield lives for 80 days after the shooting. His terrible and negligent medical care was the cause of his slow, painful death. We replay our great interview with our favorite current historian, Candice Millard, and her excellent 2012 book Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President (2012). Buy this book! Link below as well. We also talked to the former Site Manager of the James A. Garfield National Historic Site, Todd Arrington. Also, check out Todd's book The Last Lincoln Republican: The Presidential Election of 1880 on President Garfield's unlikely election victory.

Contact Alex and the show at [e-mail] or on the podcasts' Facebook, Instagram and Twitter page. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts www.evergreenpodcasts.com.

Historian Lindsey Lauren Visser homepage: https://lindseylaurenvisser.com/

Listen to the Buffalo History Museum Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-buffalo-history-museum-podcast/id1532344009

Buy Robert Merry's President McKinley: Architect of the American Century here: https://www.amazon.com/President-McKinley-Architect-American-Century/dp/1451625448

Buy Candice Millar's award-winning book Destiny of the Republic HERE! https://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0385526261/

Check out Todd Arrington's 2020 book The Last Lincoln Republic. https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lincoln-Republican-Presidential-Elections-ebook/dp/B08P3WBWD8/

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