Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Starred Review This well-researched, engaging second entry in the Medical Fiascoes series recounts the torturous medical treatment President Garfield endured after being shot by an assassin on July 2, 1881. Jarrow reveals how ignorance of the cause of infection, as well as the improper sanitary methods used by Garfield's doctors, resulted in Garfield's painfully slow death lingered for 80 days after being shot by Charles J. Guiteau. The book opens with the shooting and then goes back to describe Garfield's background and rise to prominence. Jarrow devotes other chapters to Guiteau, a fame-obsessed con artist, and his plot for assassinating Garfield. The public's intense interest in the president's ordeal is described, as is how lead doctor Bliss and other doctors misrepresented and lied to them about the president's health. Garfield's death resulted in the abolishment of the political spoils system and wider embrace of Joseph Lister's sanitary medical practices. The primary source materials (diaries, letters, interviews) are revealing, and the many historical photos and full-page illustrations from newspapers and magazines of the time are appealing. Each chapter's intriguing last sentence invites continued reading. Readers unfamiliar with this nearly forgotten president will find themselves admiring him for his forbearance and good nature throughout his ordeal. Well sourced and highly recommended.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

The latest installment of Jarrow's Medical Fiascoes series dissects the assassination of President James Garfield.A dark horse presidential candidate selected on the 36th ballot of the Republican convention as a compromise between warring factions of the party, Garfield nonetheless came from a solid background: The last president born in a log cabin, into a hardscrabble Ohio farming family, he rose to graduate from Williams College, served as an officer in the Civil War, and spent 17 years in the House of Representatives. In his first months as president, he deplored the political patronage system that left him responsible for filling thousands of jobs. One of those who was convinced Garfield owed him an appointment was Charles Guiteau, an itinerant swindler with grandiose delusions. On July 2, 1880, Guiteau shot Garfield in a D.C. train station-but it took 80 days of medical mismanagement for Garfield to die. With characteristic thoroughness, Jarrow tells the entire story, including details from Garfield's children's diaries and numerous other firsthand sources as well as many illustrations. The volume's attractive design and clear, accessible text make it eminently readable. Garfield's illness united the country, and his death led to civil service reform and the advancement of germ theory-but readers are left mourning his loss.Invites appreciation of and affection for a president nearly everyone has forgotten. (glossary, timeline, websites, author's note, source notes, bibliography, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

The latest installment of Jarrow's Medical Fiascoes series dissects the assassination of President James Garfield.A dark horse presidential candidate selected on the 36th ballot of the Republican convention as a compromise between warring factions of the party, Garfield nonetheless came from a solid background: The last president born in a log cabin, into a hardscrabble Ohio farming family, he rose to graduate from Williams College, served as an officer in the Civil War, and spent 17 years in the House of Representatives. In his first months as president, he deplored the political patronage system that left him responsible for filling thousands of jobs. One of those who was convinced Garfield owed him an appointment was Charles Guiteau, an itinerant swindler with grandiose delusions. On July 2, 1880, Guiteau shot Garfield in a D.C. train station-but it took 80 days of medical mismanagement for Garfield to die. With characteristic thoroughness, Jarrow tells the entire story, including details from Garfield's children's diaries and numerous other firsthand sources as well as many illustrations. The volume's attractive design and clear, accessible text make it eminently readable. Garfield's illness united the country, and his death led to civil service reform and the advancement of germ theory-but readers are left mourning his loss.Invites appreciation of and affection for a president nearly everyone has forgotten. (glossary, timeline, websites, author's note, source notes, bibliography, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14)