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Road To Wisdom
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From Log Cabin to the Presidency
Born November 19, 1831, James Abram Garfield was the last U.S. President born in a log cabin. His parents settled the wilderness frontier of Ohio's Western Reserve, carving a farm from the dense forest. At 16, Garfield left home to be a sailor and found work driving mules on the Ohio canals. Dreamy and clumsy, he fell into the water frequently. After six weeks, he contracted malaria and returned home.
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Garfield found his niche at the persuasion of his mother, who encouraged him to enroll in the Geauga Seminary in Chester, Ohio in 1849. Baptized in 1850 as a Disciple of Christ, Garfield entered the sect's Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, now Hiram College, in Hiram, Ohio. In his diary, Garfield wrote, The ice is broken. I am no longer a cringing scapegoat but am resolved to make a mark in the world. He vowed to escape poverty by studying harder than anyone else. |
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Garfield spent the next decade as a preacher, student, and educator at the Eclectic and as a student at Williams College in Massachusetts. The demanding work pace that he set for himself and his remarkable skill as an orator helped him achieve leadership positions, including principal of the Eclectic.
Garfield's speaking ability brought him into the public eye. When the Republican frontrunner for the Ohio State Senate died in 1859, Garfield was nominated and won easily on an antislavery platform, an important issue to abolitionist citizens of the Western Reserve. While in the State Senate he studied law and was admitted to the bar.When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Garfield embraced it as the way to end slavery. He began his military career as a Lieutenant Colonel. He saw action clearing rebels from eastern Kentucky, leading the 20th Brigade in the Battle of Shiloh, and serving as General William S. Rosecrans' Chief of Staff in the Battle of Chickamauga. His successes gained him national attention and earned him the rank of Major General.
While Garfield pursued his military career, his friends pushed his political one, pressing for his nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives and running his campaign.
An impressive appointment to the Military Affairs Committee in wartime set the stage for a successful Congressional career which lasted nine terms. He excelled at managing the country's finances, reducing government spending and fighting inflation. He pushed for civil service reform to end the worst abuses of the patronage system. A scholar at heart, he devoted time to education, working to create a Department of Education and serving as a regent of the Smithsonian.
Like many steps in his career, his nomination as Presidential candiate came easily. Elected to the U.S. Senate in January, 1880, Garfield attended the Republican National Convention in June to nominate John Sherman. After 33 ballots, none of the favorites could break a deadlock. Abruptly, the vote shifted. On the 36th ballot, Garfield was nominated by a landslide. With a narrow victory in the popular vote, Garfield became the 20th U. S. President.
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