Trivia

Among those at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station when Garfield was shot was Robert Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln. When then-Major General Garfield was elected to the House of Representatives for Ohio's 19th district in 1862 while he was in the Army and without ever campaigning, the elder Lincoln urged Garfield to claim his seat, saying: "I have enough generals".

20th President of the United States. Shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881 at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station (Washington, D.C.) as the president was en route to join his family in Elberon, New Jersey. Garfield, who was taken to Elberon as his last request, died from massive infection and blood poisoning. Guiteau was motivated by Garfield's rejection of him as Consul to Paris, an appointment he felt he deserved for supporting Garfield's candidacy. Guiteau wrote that God told him to kill Garfield so Vice-President Chester Arthur, and Arthur's patron, New York Congressman and power-broker Roscoe Conkling, "would save the Republic". As Guiteau, who plead not guilty by reason of insanity, implied at his trial, a medical inquiry determined Garfield's death was primarily the result of the incompetence of his doctors, most notably, his friend, Dr. Willard Bliss. Guiteau was executed on June 30, 1882.

Played by Shuler Hensley in "American Experience" (2016) {Murder of a President (#28.3)} .

Son James Garfield, Jr. served as Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of the Interior. Son Harry Garfield was president of Williams College, Garfield's Alma Mater, and was a friend of Woodrow Wilson. Son Abram Garfield was an architect; a number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. James and Harry were with their father when he was shot by Charles Guiteau.

Alexander Graham Bell developed what has since been recognized as the world's first metal detector to try the locate the bullet inside Garfield's body after he was shot. While Garfield's doctor, Dr. Willard Bliss, told reporters Bell found the bullet, in fact, he had not because Bliss would not allow Bell to examine the left side of Garfield's body, where the coroner later found the bullet.

Inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 1992 (inaugural class).

The 2 1/2 months of him lingering in bed from his gunshot wound, has been the most inactive the U.S. Presidency has ever been. His Vice-President, Chester A. Arthur was bearly acting as President and both of the succession positions after (Then-President Pro Tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives) were unfortunately vacant.

Dying at age 49 years, he is the second shortest-lived U.S. President, ahead of John F. Kennedy.

He died two days before his mother Eliza Ballou Garfield's 80th birthday. She died on January 21, 1888, having outlived him by six years.