What happened to James Garfield?

• A. A famous general who fought in the Civil War
• B. Assassinated by Charles Guiteau
• C. A senator who founded the GOP
• D. A mayor of New York

Answer: (B)

James Garfield’s fate is that he was assassinated. He was the 20th president, serving only a short time in 1881, after having been a Union general in the Civil War. He was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at a Washington, D.C. railroad station on July 2, 1881, and died from complications of the wound (including infection) on September 19, 1881. Guiteau, a disappointed office-seeker, was executed in 1882 for the crime. Garfield’s assassination helped spur civil service reform, leading to the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 to reduce patronage and promote merit in government jobs. The other options describe different people or roles (a Civil War general not tied to his death, a founder of the GOP, or a mayor of New York) and do not reflect what happened to Garfield.