'Death By Lightning' Will Bring James Garfield's Assassination to Life

Although Americans, as a general rule, love British period dramas, we don't necessarily make many of our own. There are, of course, some notable exceptions. The 1939 Civil War drama Gone with the Wind remains one of the most popular movies of all time, and more recent efforts, such as Underground, Manhunt, and The Gilded Age, have added a prestige sheen to our country's history. However, there aren't many series set in America's past, despite the numerous historical eras and stories that would make for great TV. Netflix is doing its best to change that with Death by Lightning, which tells the story of one of the most dramatic moments in U.S. presidential history: the assassination of James Garfield.

Garfield was the 20th U.S. president and is, unfortunately, more remembered for the manner of his death than for anything related to his life or politics. A Civil War general and former member of Congress, he was shot at a Washington, D.C. railroad station less than four months into his term, on July 2, 1881, by a man named Charles J. Guiteau. Though his wounds were not initially fatal, he suffered from sepsis and infection due to a bullet that remained lodged in his abdomen, and he died two months later in New Jersey on September 19, 1881.

What makes this story even more bizarre, however, is that Guiteau was once one of Garfield's most ardent supporters. He believed he had played a vital role in Garfield's victory and that the new president owed him a diplomatic post as a reward. (In reality, all he did was distribute some printed copies of a speech he wrote. This is basically like if every Twitter warrior suddenly decided they deserved a government job in France.) Frustrated after months of trying to obtain such a position from the administration, he finally purchased a revolver and began stalking Garfield.