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1-Page Summary of Destiny Of The Republic
Overall Summary
The Destiny of the Republic, a book written by Candice Millard in 2011, tells the story of President James Garfield’s death. The first section, entitled “Promise,” provides background information about all the individuals who play a role in this story. Chapter 1 discusses an 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia where Garfield and Alexander Graham Bell met for the first time. Both men presented their innovations there: Bell invented the telephone and Lister devised a method to prevent infection during surgery. In Chapter 2, we learn that Garfield was born into poverty but eventually became an educator, politician and Civil War hero before he was elected president at age 49. We also learn how Charles Guiteau came to be involved with politics and his obsession with being part of history as well as his eventual assassination attempt on President Garfield (Chapter 3). In Chapter 4 we follow Guiteau’s life from childhood through college until he shot President Garfield (Chapter 5).
The second section of the book is about Guiteau’s stalking Garfield in Washington. He was trying to get a job with the new administration and he went to the White House often, along with many others who were applying for jobs. After being rebuffed by Secretary of State James Blaine, Guiteau decided to kill Garfield and began planning his attack. Much of Garfield’s time in the first couple of months was taken up by meeting with people like Guiteau, which he found draining. The month of May was dominated by illness; Lucretia contracted malaria while they were visiting New Jersey and she had to return home alone so that her husband could finish some business in Washington before joining her on vacation. On July 2nd, when Garfield left for their train station (to go back home), Guiteau shot him at point blank range.
The next section is about the first two weeks after Garfield was shot. The doctors took control of his care and kept everyone away from him except for Lucretia, who returned on a special train to be with him. Alexander Graham Bell wanted to help find the bullet in Garfield’s body by inventing a device that would locate it. He sent for Charles Sumner Tainter so they could start working on it right away.
The final section of the book is about Garfield’s medical care and Guiteau’s trial. The doctors are hopeful at first, but his condition eventually worsens as time goes on. Bell tries to find the bullet with a metal detector that he had previously used for an experiment in his lab. He fails because Bliss has only allowed him to check Garfield’s right side, where he believes the bullet is lodged. A second attempt also fails when Bell hears a faint noise from Garfield’s bed springs instead of a solid sound from the bullet itself.
As summer progressed, Garfield’s condition worsened. He was taken to the seashore for comfort, which he found in Elberon, New Jersey. Eventually, Garfield died there at age fifty-nine on September 19th. Guiteau was tried for murder and convicted of that crime because he claimed insanity.
Prologue: “Chosen”
Millard begins the book by describing a scene of a ship called Stonington crossing Long Island Sound. She introduces one of its passengers, Charles Guiteau, who would later assassinate President James Garfield. Guiteau was traveling from Boston to New York just after Garfield was nominated as a Republican candidate for president. In the foggy weather, his boat collided with another ship and it burst into flames and sunken. When he arrived back at Connecticut, Guiteau felt that God spared him and chose him for an important task. He disembarked from the boat and began dedicating himself to this task.
