This nonfiction account of our nation's 20th president will knock your socks off.

Destiny of the Republic, A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard gives readers an amazing glimpse into the past. We get a front seat to the election of a man who did not want to be president but was willing to get out of his comfort zone for the good of the country, appealing to God for aid in the trial before him. He made great strides to bring a divided country together, yet little is known about James A. Garfield, “a man incapable of carrying a grudge, a poor hater but a good fighter.”.

Fatherless before the age of 2, Garfield grew up in abject poverty. Interestingly enough, so did Charles Guiteau, the man who shot him. What determined their vastly different paths? The big difference was attitude. “Garfield rose quickly through the layers of society, not with aggression or even overt ambition, but with a passionate love of learning.”

Guiteau believed he was entitled to special treatment, his work ethic was almost non-existent. He survived by asking men for money when necessary or just not paying bills when he could get away with it.,

The real cause of Garfield’s death surprised us, pride ended up being the culprit. Please join us as we unpack the sad facts about the disbelief doctors had about germs and the unwillingness of Dr. Bliss to listen to others which caused Garfield to suffer needlessly. “Ignorance is Bliss” is a quote that now has a new meaning. On the other side of the coin, there were helpful caring people who worked tirelessly to help the president (air-conditioning was invented by the Navy and Alexander Graham Bell worked on an invention to find the bullet). Garfield’s many quotes are true gems, “I’d rather be beaten in Right than succeed in Wrong.”

One day, everyone will have always been against this — Omar El Akkad and Peter Greste reckon with Western hypocrisy over Israel's war on Gaza

Big Ideas

Intro

The AI-powered Podcast Player