James Garfield’s last words were spoken on the night of September 19, 1881, to his chief of staff, General David Swaim, as the president clutched his chest during a fatal heart attack: “Swaim, can’t you stop the pain?”1Mental Floss. Last Words and Final Moments of 38 Presidents Moments earlier he had moaned, “This pain, this pain,” before losing consciousness for good.2EyeWitness to History. The Death of President Garfield He never woke again, and died about 25 minutes later.
The Scene at the Elberon Cottage
Garfield spent his last weeks at the Francklyn Cottage in Elberon, New Jersey, a seaside resort where he had insisted on being moved in early September. On the evening of September 19, after a quiet afternoon, he fell into a light sleep. His pulse climbed from around 102 to 120 and weakened. At 10:10 p.m. he woke suddenly, complaining of severe pain over his heart.3UC Santa Barbara American Presidency Project. Public Announcement of the Physicians on the Death of President Garfield It was in those minutes that he called out to Swaim and clawed at his chest.
Dr. D. W. Bliss, the chief physician who had overseen his care since the shooting, was called into the room. Bliss later described “pallor, the upturned eyes, the gasping respiration, and the total unconsciousness.” Garfield’s wife, Lucretia, was brought to the bedside. Bliss told her, “The President is dying.” She kissed her husband’s forehead and said, “Oh! Why am I made to suffer this cruel wrong?”2EyeWitness to History. The Death of President Garfield Garfield stopped breathing at 10:35 p.m. The official bulletin, signed by Bliss and consulting surgeons Frank H. Hamilton and D. Hayes Agnew, went out about an hour later.4National Library of Medicine. President Garfield’s Condition, September 19, 1881
Other Things Garfield Said Between the Shooting and His Death
The plea to Swaim is the most widely quoted line, but Garfield spoke memorable words at other points during his 80-day ordeal. When Charles Guiteau shot him in the back at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington on July 2, 1881, Garfield collapsed and cried out, “My God, what is this?”5National Archives. Charles Guiteau and the Assassination of President Garfield6American Heritage. Murder Most Foul After being carried to a private area of the station, he told one of the doctors, “I thank you, doctor, but I am a dead man.”
When he arrived at the Elberon cottage on September 6, after a difficult train journey from Washington, Garfield managed to say, “Thank God, it is good to be here.”7National Park Service. Long Branch, New Jersey: The Resort Town That Hosted President Garfield He rallied briefly at the sight of the ocean from his bed, but the improvement did not hold.
His Last Written Words
Garfield’s last diary entry, held by the Library of Congress, is dated July 1, 1881, the day before the shooting. He wrote about the start of the new fiscal year and about a planned trip to New England, a trip he never took.8Mental Floss. Library of Congress Needs Help Transcribing James Garfield’s Diaries His last known letter, written on August 11, 1881, was to his mother, and tried to reassure her that he was recovering.9Fine Books Magazine. Papers of President James Garfield Now Online
Why Garfield Was Dying in the First Place
Garfield was walking through the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station with Secretary of State James G. Blaine on the morning of July 2, 1881, on his way to introduce his two sons to Williams College, his alma mater. Charles Guiteau, a mentally unstable lawyer who had unsuccessfully demanded a diplomatic post, fired two shots from a .44-caliber British Bulldog revolver. One grazed Garfield’s arm. The other entered his back, fractured a rib, and lodged behind the pancreas near the first lumbar vertebra.10Miller Center. Death of the President11UC Santa Barbara American Presidency Project. Official Bulletin: The Autopsy of the Body of President Garfield
What killed him was less the bullet than the 80 days of care that followed. Dr. Bliss took charge of the case and, along with nearly a dozen other physicians, probed the wound repeatedly with unsterilized fingers and instruments. Many American doctors at the time rejected Joseph Lister’s antiseptic methods in favor of the older miasma theory of disease.12American College of Surgeons. Giants of Surgery: Garfield The probing widened the three-inch entry wound into a 20-inch incision from ribs to groin, and it became grossly infected.13PBS NewsHour. The Dirty, Painful Death of President James Garfield Garfield’s weight dropped from 210 to 130 pounds. He suffered constant fevers, chills, and confusion.
Alexander Graham Bell was brought in with a primitive metal detector, but Bliss insisted the bullet was on the right side of the body and let Bell scan only that area. The autopsy showed it had lodged on the left.12American College of Surgeons. Giants of Surgery: Garfield The surgeons had also misread the bullet’s track: a long channel of pus they took for the bullet’s path was actually infection burrowing through tissue on its own.11UC Santa Barbara American Presidency Project. Official Bulletin: The Autopsy of the Body of President Garfield By the time Garfield begged Swaim to stop the pain, the infection had done its work.
Guiteau’s Line About the Doctors
The assassin himself offered the most quoted counterpoint to Garfield’s dying plea. Before his hanging on June 30, 1882, Guiteau said: “Yes, I shot him, but his doctors killed him.”12American College of Surgeons. Giants of Surgery: Garfield The autopsy largely bore him out. It found that the bullet had become safely walled off by the body, and that multiple abscesses from repeated, unsterile probing were sufficient to explain the fatal sepsis.11UC Santa Barbara American Presidency Project. Official Bulletin: The Autopsy of the Body of President Garfield The jury that convicted Guiteau found the distinction unpersuasive, and he was hanged.