Charles Guiteau

Early Life & Religious Foundation

Charles J. Guiteau was born in Freeport, Illinois, as the fourth of six children. His mother, Jane August Howe, passed away in 1848 when he was only seven years old, leaving his father, Luther Wilson Guiteau, as the family's primary caregiver. Luther enforced discipline onto his children, namely through imposing his religion. He was devout to the Oneida Community, which was a utopian denomination in Oneida, New York. He had raised his children with his own beliefs, and would often use disciplinary measures to drill these beliefs into them.

Later in life, Luther would send various letters to Guiteau speaking on his religion. The constant prodding of his children led them to have a rocky relationship. On top of this, Guiteau would have a speaking disability at a young age, which made his father use even more discipline towards him. The home environment was not a safe space for Charles.

Charles' father's letters finally persuaded him to join the Community. At first, Guiteau found the Community's strict authority structure appealing, as it seemed to promise him a clear path to personal growth and religious perfection. The Community, led by John Humphrey Noyes, was based on Perfectionism, the belief that individuals could achieve sinless living in this life. It also practiced free love and complex marriage, where all members were considered married to each other (in modern terms, they were open to open marriages and polyamory, but of course, these rulings in this historical context highly favored AMAB folk in practice.) However, Guiteau struggled with the Community's sexual freedom—while the idea of free love was central to the group, no one seemed interested in engaging with him romantically or sexually. His self-centered nature likely contributed to this, as many people found him self-righteous and profoundly egotistical, which made him an outsider in the Community. 

His behavior was reportedly both arrogant and self-absorbed-- he was soon given the nickname "Charles Get-Out" by members of the Community. He held tendencies to distance himself from others and had a difficult time fully integrating into the group, even though he found the ideals to be striking. He soon left the Community after joining, but returned shortly after. His behavior had not changed upon rejoining, and he continued to find himself alienated from the group.

Growing Aspirations and Expanding Failure

  In 1869, Guiteau married Annie Bunn, a librarian. This notion was seen as a potential step towards stability, however, their marriage proved difficult. Annie described Guiteau's behavior as more than erratic, leading him to constantly cause turmoil between the two of them. Their relationship was short lived, and began to unravel after moving away from Chicago.

Around this same time, Guiteau tried out other various career paths. He spent his time away from Chicago as a lecturer and a preacher, still convinced that he had the divine right to speak on religious matters. He developed a lecture titled The Truth: A Companion to the Bible. Audiences later discovered that this lecture was largely plagiarized from other works, and lacked depth of ideas. His delivery, too, often rambled and was deemed uninspiring. Though he booked many venues, he was never able to fulfil the needs required to maintain a stable audience and make back the revenue he had spent on travel needs and fees. He practiced both lecturing and preaching, but to no avail. He regularly blamed others for his lack of success, despite failing time and time again, and still held the conviction that he was destined for greater divinity.

In 1874, after Annie had had enough of his financial and emotional instability, she had filed for divorce against Guiteau. In divorce court, Guiteau had attempted to paint a higher picture of himself, blaming Annie for the way that things had been and playing the victim. The court, however, sided with Annie and finalized the divorce in her favor. Records suggest that, after the divorce, Annie was able to live a relatively stable life. For Guiteau, this divorce meant one of the deeper reasons for his mental spiral.

Along with many delusions of grandeur, as mentioned prior, Guiteau had imagined himself as a catalyst of the Republican party. He wrote his lecture, The Truth, into a full-length book (which can now be bought in print, and you may even see in the show!) in 1979, while his political morality was the pique of his interest. His manifesto was self-published, and consisted of more than just the religious sentiment that his lecture was. Mixed in were varied ramblings about political commentary and continued discussions of his own personal divine traits. He claimed in the work that he would be the "true architect behind Garfield's election". Once again, the book was largely plagiarized, stealing from works of the Republican Party and even John Humphrey Noyes. The title as a whole was on theme with the rest of his life: confused, disoriented, and uncertain.

To market his book, he sent it to a slew of political figures and organizations. He had truly believed that the work would be a major success, marking his lack of self-awareness. Upon sending copies to major Republican representatives and even Garfield's administration, the efforts were not well-received and his book was majorly unsuccessful. The public had presided that Guiteau was simply a delusional man. No publisher ever took the act seriously.

Assassination

On the morning of July 2, 1881, Guiteau woke up at his boarding house in Washington, D.C., determined to carry out a plan to assassinate James Garfield, an act that he had anticipated for weeks. He had already attempted to shoot Garfield on June 20, but could not get a clear shot. On the morning of July 2, he prepared a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver, believing it would allow him to carry out his "patriotic duty" undetected. He specifically chose this gun, as he thought it would look good on his museum display. He wore an overcoat to conceal the weapon. 

At 9:00 AM, Guiteau left his residence and made way toward the Washington D.C. train station, where he knew Garfield would be departing for a vacation to New England-- he saw this as the perfect opportunity to execute his plan. He stopped briefly for breakfast on the way, where witnesses said he appeared calm and composed. 

Around 10:30 AM, Guiteau came to the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Station, where he was scheduled to board a train. As Garfield walked with his wife, Lucretia, toward the train, the assassin saw his opportunity. 

Just before the act around 11:30 AM, Guiteau was positioned near the waiting room of the station, waiting for Garfield to pass. As the president and his wife approached, Guiteau revealed himself and shot at Garfield twice. The first shot stuck the President in the back, hitting his internal organs but not killing him immediately. The second missed and hit a bystander in the arm. Upon firing, he collectedly walked away, reportedly walking right up to a police officer and saying "I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts. Arthur is president now!". He was captured quickly after, and did not fight.

Why He Did It

Guiteau was deemed by many a mentally unstable man. With the belief that he would be appointed a position of higher government due to his (what he believed to be) immense contributions to the Republican Party, he was frustrated when he was not granted what he thought he deserved. Thus, he aspired to take out President Garfield and allow Vice President Chester A. Arthur to assume the presidency. His motivations were marked by the want to be recognized. Ultimately, the events of his life culminated in an angry disposition that drove him to reported insanity.

"I am going to the Lordy, I am so glad!

I have unified my party!

I have saved my country!"