... was an unsuccessful American writer and lawyer, who claimed some credit for Garfield's election. He had written a speech in support of Ulysses S. Grant, changed it to support Garfield when the latter won the Republican nomination, and delivered it just twice; but he was offended by Garfield's rejection of his various job applications.
At his trial, Guiteau insisted that he had been legally insane at the time of the shooting, but that he was not actually medically insane. He was hanged two days before the first anniversary of the shooting.
Garfield died in September 1881, almost twelve weeks after the shooting. Some historians and medical experts believe that he might have survived his wounds, had the doctors attending him had at their disposal today's medical research, techniques, and equipment.
© Haydn Thompson 2017