The Devil in the White City is one of my all-time
favorite books, and I’m delighted to announce I’ve found another story equally
as enthralling.
Destiny of the Republic A Tale of Madness, Medicine
and the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard opens in the summer of 1876, at the United States’ Centennial
Exhibition in Philadelphia where the first piece of the Statue of Liberty, the
sixteen foot hand holding aloft a twenty-nine-foot torch was on display.
Alexander Graham Bell, a dedicated teacher of the
deaf, had acquired a patent for the telephone, an invention he’d inherited from
his father, three months prior to the opening of the fair. He was hesitant
about participating and decided only at the last minute to seek a booth which
lead to his assignment in the remote Massachusetts education section rather
than the centrally located, more appropriate electrical exhibit. But thanks to
his prior friendship with Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil, chairman of the
judges, Bell was granted permission to demonstrate his “iron box receiver,” and
his reputation grew from their resounding response.
A British surgeon, Joseph Lister, presented his theory
on antisepsis during the exposition. He reasoned the same microorganisms that
caused wine to ferment might also be the cause of infection in wounds and recommended
an elaborate system of sterilization based on the use of carbolic acid.
Representatives of the American medical community listened politely but
dismissed his presentation as being ridiculous and too much trouble.
James Garfield attended the exposition with his wife
and family. The author does a commendable job of introducing a lesser known
president who by any standards was equal in intelligence, leadership ability
and nobility of character to Lincoln.
The Republication Convention of 1880 was held in
Chicago, a city in the process of re-building after the great fire of 1871. Although
Garfield attended as a senator from Ohio, at no time did he seek the
nomination. The leading choices were General Grant who had already served two
terms as President, John Sherman, brother of General William Tecumseh Sherman,
and James Blaine, a senator from Maine.
Day after stifling hot day drug by with the assemblage
unable to settle on one of the leading contenders. One delegate persisted in voting for
Garfield. In the ensuing ballots, favor gradually shifted until Garfield was
nominated.
Although he would rather have stayed home to farm and
raise his family, Garfield accepted the nomination because he felt it was the
will of the people. It was not the custom then for the candidates to campaign
in person, but Garfield did speak to those who made the effort to visit him at
home where he addressed them from his front porch. Some days there were
only a few; others, there were thousands. His greatest talent was public
speaking.
Destiny of the Republic is the story of Garfield’s all
too short term in office. The lives of Bell and Lister are intertwined in the
struggle to save the president’s life from the bullet wound he sustained in an
assassination attempt.
The story is enthralling on its own, but even more
interesting and thought provoking in contrast to today’s politics.
Give yourself a treat. Read Destiny of the Republic by
Candice Millard.