Garfield, James Abram (1831-1881), was the last president to be born in a log cabin. Nobody knows what kind of president he would have been because he was assassinated only a few months after taking office. Garfield, a Republican, was the fourth president to die in office and the second to be assassinated.

Possibly Garfield accomplished more by his death than if he had lived to complete his term. A major characteristic of national politics in his day was the so-called spoils system, in which thousands of government employees were fired every time a new president took office (see Spoils system). Garfield spent most of his short time as president filling these jobs with his political supporters. Although not a reformer, he wrote in his diary shortly before he was shot: "Some civil service reform will come by necessity after the wearisome years of wasted presidents have paved the way for it." The assassination of Garfield by a disappointed jobseeker shocked the nation into action. Two years later, Congress began civil service reform with the Pendleton Civil Service Act.

Garfield was a big, athletic, handsome man with blond hair and beard. Before becoming president, he was successful as professor, college president, Civil War general, and U.S. congressman. He spoke and wrote well, read widely, and even composed poetry. He occasionally entertained his friends by writing Greek with one hand and at the same time writing Latin with the other. Warmhearted and genial, Garfield wanted to be well liked and generally was. But his eagerness to please everyone sometimes led him into questionable dealings with unscrupulous people.