James A. Garfield was assassinated primarily due to the motivations and delusions of his assassin, Charles J. Guiteau. Guiteau, a mentally unstable lawyer and disappointed office seeker, believed Garfield’s refusal to appoint him to a diplomatic post (a European consulship) violated what Guiteau thought was his rightful reward and destiny. Influenced by a belief that Garfield’s removal was divinely ordained and politically necessary, Guiteau shot Garfield in the back on July 2, 1881, at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. Garfield survived the initial shooting but died later that year from infection and complications related to the wound.
