Born in a log cabin in the
Midwest, he was destined to become a President of the United States. He
struggled against poverty, educated himself, later distinguished himself as a
brilliant lawyer, then served valiantly with the U. S. Army. Joining the
Republican Party after his discharge, he served as a congressman from his
district and was finally elected President.
He was James Abram Garfield, who
was assassinated soon after his inauguration by a disappointed office seeker,
Charles Guiteau. Garfield, whose life closely parallels Abraham Lincoln's, was
a Civil War hero who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor and emerged from
the conflict as a general. He pleaded many cases before the Supreme Court, was
one of the most able lawyers of his generation, and might have become one of our
greatest Presidents.