Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President

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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Sep 20, 2011 - Biography & Autobiography - 368 pages
The inspiration for the Netflix series Death by Lightning – now streaming! • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The extraordinary account of James Garfield's rise from poverty to the American presidency, and the dramatic history of his assassination and legacy, from the bestselling author of The River of Doubt.

"Crisp, concise and revealing history.... A fresh narrative that plumbs some of the most dramatic days in U.S. presidential history." —The Washington Post


James Abram Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, a renowned congressman, and a reluctant presidential candidate who took on the nation's corrupt political establishment.

But four months after Garfield's inauguration in 1881, he was shot in the back by a deranged office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. Garfield survived the attack, but became the object of bitter, behind-the-scenes struggles for power—over his administration, over the nation's future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care.

Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic brings alive a forgotten chapter of U.S. history.

Look for Candice Millard’s latest book, River of the Gods.
 

Contents

Prologue Chosen
1
PART ONE PROMISE
5
The Scientific Spirit
7
Providence
18
A Beam in Darkness
30
Gods Minute Man
48
Bleak Mountain
58
PART TWO
65
All Evil Consequences
150
BloodGuilty
163
PART FOUR TORTURED FOR THE REPUBLIC
171
Neither Death nor Life
173
One Nation
181
Keep Heart
191
On a Mountaintop Alone
204
Terror Hope and Despair
215

Hand and Soul
67
Real Brutuses and Bolingbrokes
75
Brains Flesh and Blood
85
Casus Belli
98
The Dark Dreams of Presidents
113
A Desperate Deed
125
PART THREE FEAR
133
Thank God It Is All Over
135
Its True
143
After All
222
All the Angels of the Universe
230
Epilogue Forever and Forever More
247
Acknowledgments
261
Notes
267
Bibliography
313
Illustration Credits
325
Index
327
Copyright

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About the author (2011)

CANDICE MILLARD is the New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt. She lives in Kansas City with her husband and children.

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