The Death of President Garfield

How His Doctors Failed Him

The death of President James A. Garfield from an assassin’s bullet, if not so tragic, could be construed as almost comical with the level of care he received from his incompetent doctors. They were as much to blame for the man’s death as the bullet lodged in his back. From sticking their dirty fingers into his wound to Alexander Graham Bell trying to locate the bullet with his “metal detector”, the whole process became a sad chapter in our national, as well as our medical, history. 

James Garfield was elected president in 1880 and took office in March of 1881. A brilliant man who could simultaneously write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other, he supported civil service reform and the lenient treatment of the South after the Civil War. As he was walking through the Sixth Street Station of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad on July 2nd, 1881, he was shot in the back by a mentally ill Charles Guiteau. The bullet lodged in Garfield’s back as Guiteau was arrested and led away. Doctors were immediately summoned to aid the wounded president. 

First at the scene was the renowned Washington D.C. physician D.W. Bliss. He began his treatment by giving Garfield hot water bottles for his feet and a shot of morphine. Garfield promptly threw up. Nine hours after he was shot, Bliss gave Garfield a glass of champagne as they removed his bloody suit. Vomiting every half hour now, Garfield was visited by Navy Surgeon General Wales. This doctor stuck his finger in the wound and concluded that Garfield’s liver had been hit. More doctors were called in; a total of fifteen. They all stuck their fingers in the president’s wound. None even thought to make sure their hands were clean. Indeed, many doctors of this period didn’t bother to clean the blood off their the clothes they operated in.