Which historical figure was assassinated by Charles Guiteau?

• A. Charles Guiteau
• B. Boss Tweed
• C. James A. Garfield
• D. Thomas Nast

Answer: (C)

This question tests your knowledge of a notable presidential assassination and who was involved. Charles Guiteau shot James A. Garfield in 1881, at a Washington, D.C. railroad station, hoping to gain a political appointment for himself. Garfield, who was the injured president, did not recover and died weeks later from complications related to the wound. Guiteau believed his act would advance his own political faction and reward him with a government post, reflecting the era’s spoils system and push for civil service reform that followed. The other figures listed were not victims of Guiteau—Boss Tweed was a corrupt political boss, and Thomas Nast was a cartoonist who exposed Tweed’s wrongdoing. So the person assassinated by Charles Guiteau is James A. Garfield.