EP 163: The Assassination of James Garfield

EP 163: The Assassination of James Garfield

From Hashtag History by Hashtag History

March 24, 2026 · 56 min · Season 17 · Episode 163

About this episode

This episode discusses the assassination of James A. Garfield, exploring the circumstances and implications of his death.

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing the assassination of 20th President of the United States James A. Garfield, an assassination that occurred in the summer of 1881. And the reason I give a more vague date of “the summer of 1881” as opposed to a specific date is because, although Garfield was shot on July 2nd of that year, he did not die until September 19th…a very slow and very painful death, largely attributed to the horrific lack of medical sanitation at the time. Garfield’s assassination is a particularly fascinating one but one that goes forgotten amongst other presidential assassinations such as Abraham Lincoln’s and John F. Kennedy’s. There are many reasons for this (many of which we will dive into later on in the episode). Despite Garfield’s short tenure, we will also be discussing who he was as a person and his goals and dreams from the presidency -- outside of his assassination -- because he was also a pretty remarkable person. Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode. Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our…

People in this episode

Host: Hashtag History

Topics covered

  • assassination
  • James Garfield
  • presidential history
  • medical sanitation
  • 19th century
  • historical figures

Keywords

  • James Garfield
  • assassination
  • medical sanitation
  • presidential history
  • 19th century

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