Book Review: Destiny of the Republic By Candace Millard
The Captivating Tale of a President Taken Before His Time
Five Second Summary:
Despite his relatively unknown status in the mind of the modern American, James Garfield was an admirable man whose character we should all aspire to emulate; sadly, he was cut down in his prime by the delusions of a madman and the incompetence and vanity of his doctors.
Full Review:
I picked this book up at Barne’s and Noble a couple months ago, drawn by the eye-popping red cover and compelling subtitle; however, I’ve picked up a couple narrative history books in the past few months and have not been particularly captivated by them.
But this one absolutely blew me away.
The narrative is easy to read, concise, and unceasingly compelling. I started reading it on a flight and pretty much couldn’t down, finishing it over the course of a couple sittings.
For anyone unfamiliar with the title, here’s a quick rundown: Pesident James A. Garfield (the 20th president of the U.S., not the plus-sized lasagna-loving cat) was an admirable man, working his way up from poverty to being the President of the United States. He reached this position not through a desire to hold a position of power, but by being an exemplary leader who people wanted to follow. In 1881 he was gunned down in a train station by Charles Giteau, a man whose incompetence in nearly every aspect of his life was outshined only by his belief that he was God’s greatest creation. However, it was not the bullet that killed Garfield. It was the exceptionally gifted doctors shoving their filthy little 18th century fingers into his bullet wound dozens of times that truly assassinated the president. Their unsanitized probing of his wound gave Garfield a blood infection so severe that he spewed pus around the clock and became a biohazard to the people around him.
What makes this narrative truly compelling is the cast of characters involved in this historical drama. There’s President Garfield, an exemplar of competence, virtue, and the American spirit. There’s the polar opposite Giteau, an incompetent and completely delusional madman who believes he’s instructed by God to murder the president. There’s the genius and obsessive inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who ceaselessly works to create an invention that will save the President’s life. There’s the prideful and ego-driven Dr. Willard Bliss whose obsession with his own image ultimately leads to Garfield’s death.This is just scratching the surface, as there are many more characters with great lessons to teach.
Knock Knock, It’s Death
One of the most prominent lessons to learn from this tale is that death comes for all of us, and regardless of your status in the world you are never immune to tragedy. James Garfield was a man who seemed to do everything right. He was born into poverty and through hard work, intellectual curiosity, and virtuous character was able to rise to positions of incredible prestige. As President, one of the most powerful men in the United States, he was loved and admired across the entire country, an incredible feat considering just how divided America was at that time. Despite this, he was struck down cruelly, mercilessly, and purposelessly.
While this is a bleak and tragic reality of life, Garfield also shows that we don’t need to let the unfortunate circumstances of life control us. Throughout the entirety of this battle against his wounds, he continued to act with the virtue and integrity that he had displayed through his entire life:
“[After getting shot,] As the tension rose, and everyone around him spoke in hushed, panicked voices, Garfield remained the ‘calmest man in the room’” - Robert Todd Lincoln
“Throughout his long illness, I was most forcibly impressed with the manner in which those traits of his character which were most winning in health became intensified” - Almon Rockwell
“Despite the fact that his health, his work, and quite possibly his life had been suddenly and senselessly taken from him, he remained unfailingly cheerful and kind, day after day.”
President Garfield serves as a model for all of us in difficult times; no matter what we’re going through, we can still choose to go forward with optimism, virtue, and compassion.
The Danger of Pride
This story also serves as a warning against the vice of pride. While he claimed he was directed by God, Charles Giteau was clearly driven by ego. He was a man of incredible self-importance, believing himself to be destined for a position in the Garfield administration regardless of the fact he had laughably little qualification for any job. When his unceasing pestering of the President eventually led to him being chastised and turned away he could have paused for a second, realized the obvious fact that he simply had no business in running the country, and pivoted to a life of virtue and excellence in another occupation. Instead, his delusion led to him believing this was a sign he needed to assassinate the President.
This warning is evident in other characters as well. Dr. Willard Bliss, the main physician responsible for treating the president’s wounds, was obsessed with his image. He wanted to be known as the infallible doctor who came in and saved the president all on his own accord. This vanity and pride caused him to ignore the plethora of valuable medical advice given to him by experts around the country. He scoffed at “fruitless efforts” such as proper nutrition or basic hygiene (although not so basic for the time). He even prevented the bullet from being located, restricting the search only to the right side of the president’s body because that was his original guess as to where the bullet was (turns out it was on the left… oopsies!).
Nobody is a Lost Cause
One of my favorite arcs in this book was that of Chester Arthur, Garfield’s Vice President. Arthur became Garfield’s V.P. not by Garfield’s own choice, but because he was compelled to accept Arthur to placate his political opponent, Roscoe Conkling. Arthur was known throughout the nation as an incompetent, vain man of leisure, nothing more than Conkling’s puppet and a disagreeable nuisance to his running mate. When comfortably in the prestigious but largely perfunctory position of Vice President this identity suited him fine.
Garfield’s shooting, however, threw Arthur’s comfortable life of prestige without responsibility into jeopardy. The tragedy hit him like a truck, and while the President was fighting for his life Arthur began to break down at the thought of carrying the weight of the country on his shoulders.
In the depths of his anxiety over this likely future, Arthur found solace in an incredibly unlikely place: the words of an unmarried, thirty-two-year-old invalid named Julia Sand. She wrote to him throughout the crisis, addressing his failings as a person and inspiring him to do better:
“Great emergencies awaken generous traits which have lain dormant half a life. If there is a spark of true nobility in you, now is the occasion to let it shine. Faith in your better nature forces me to write to you-but not to beg you to resign. Do what is more difficult & more brave. Reform!”
“It is not the proof of highest goodness never to have done wrong, but it is a proof of it… to recognize the evil, to turn resolutely agaist it.”
These words inspired a truly miraculous turn in the character of the now-President Arthur. He began emulating the kind of leader that Garfield would have been, throwing off the proverbial reins of his previous master. The change was so drastic that he was seen as a different man. In the words of one of Conkling’s own men: “He isn’t Chet Arthur anymore. He’s the President.” The story of President Arthur is a truly inspiring tale of redemption, showing that even the most unlikely of people can rise to the occasion in a time of need.
What Truly Echoes In Eternity
My final takeaway from this book is that no matter what feats or grand successes we accomplish on this earth, our most important and lasting legacy is the example we set through our character. President Garfield accomplished many great things throughout his life and became the most powerful man in America. These accomplishments are fleeting, however, and are now buried deep within history textbooks and at the lower end of U.S. President tier lists. What will last, however, is the depth of his virtue, his inspiring example of what it means to strive for human excellence. Put succinctly into one of my favorite passages of the book:
“The president could not help but wonder, however, if, after such a brief presidency, he would leave behind any lasting legacy. ‘Do you think my name will have a place in human history?’ he asked Rockwell one night. ‘Yes,’ his friend replied, ‘a grand one, but a grander place in human hearts.’
Verdict: 5/5 (One of my favorite reads of the year so far!)
Have you read this book? What did you think? I’m definitely going to check out Candace Millard’s other book, The River of Doubt, after reading this absolute banger.