One of the greatest American history trivia questions is who was the 2nd president to be assassinated? Was it Lincoln? Was it Kennedy? Who knows? The correct answer is James Garfield. Well you are probably asking yourself who the heck James Garfield was. The short answer is that he was the 20th president of the United States. Garfield was only president for 3 months after his election in 1881. Garfield was a republican candidate and barely won the election. He entered the presidency during a rough patch in American time. Post Civil War time was not a good time period to become a president. In the three months of his time as president, he virtually accomplished nothing.

During his election, a man by the name of Charles Guiteau was an advisor of Garfield. He helped Garfield with his events and gave him advice during the election period. Once Garfield was elected, Guiteau was expecting a job in the presidential cabinet. This job was not received. Most presidents would hire intelligent people to work in their cabinet, and then they would hire their friends as advisors to help the president make decisions. This system is known as the spoils system. When Guiteau was not entered into the system, he became very angry.

Angry enough to kill a president. On July 2, 1881, President Garfield was at a train station near Capitol Hill. Just so happens Guiteau was there as well. That day Guiteau walked up to Garfield and shot him and mortally wounded him. The president struggled to survive for three months after the shooting. While laying in the White House, Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone), tried unsuccessfully to find the bullet inside of the president. Finally on September 19, 1881, the president died from his wounds. The area had become infected and created an internal hemorrhage which killed him.

So now whenever you are at a party playing games or just want to present a fun fact to someone, ask them the question previously stated. Who was the second assassinated president? Chances are they won’t know.