I really enjoyed Death by Lightning on Netflix.
It's about US President James Garfield, the "reluctant President", and his assassin, a cuckoo by the name of Charles Guiteau. Both were attorneys, although Guiteau something of a failed attorney (mostly did collection work). The actors are Michael Shannon as Garfield and a young English actor named Matthew MacFayden as Guiteau. Both are very good. Guiteau's career as an attorney is not depicted in the miniseries- mostly the aftermath of it- his career as a political wannabe.
It's a limited 4 episode miniseries.
The process by which Garfield was nominated for Republican candidate in 1881 over Ulysses Grant and others, as depicted in the movie, is fascinating. Garfield did not want to be President nor did he seek the Presidency prior to the convention. He attended the convention to nominate Senator Sherman his home State of Ohio, but gave such a rousing speech in doing so, invoking the legacy of Abe Lincoln, that the Republicans decided to nominate him rather than Senator or ex President Grant. Senator Sherman accuses Garfield of a backstab, saying nobody could give such a speech unless he wanted the nomination for himself. And you as viewer are not sure who is right: the betrayed Sherman, or the supposedly reluctant Garfield. I think they left it gray like that as there are questions among historians as to how "reluctant" a President Garfield actually was.
Unfortunately, we never got to find out how good a President he was because he was shot by Guiteau 4 months after taking office, and then died 2 months after being shot. As played by Shannon, Garfield is a decent, family oriented man, well educated and an excellent orator, although somewhat wary of other politicians, notably Senator Roscoe Conkling from New York, with whom he clashes throughout his brief Presidency.
The miniseries draws its name from a quote attributed to Garfield, whose scolding retort to his chief of staff's recommendation that he bolster his security staff and protocol when meeting with public constituents was as follows:
"Nonsense! Assassination can no more be guarded against than death by lightning!"
Garfield's greatest achievement and contribution as President was civil service reform, which Congress later enacted after his death in 1883. The miniseries depicts the before and after of what Presidents had to deal with in terms of relentless, unqualified office seekers. Of whom, ironically Guiteau was ironically one of the most relentless, aggressive, unfit and unqualified.
I give it an A-.
It's about US President James Garfield, the "reluctant President", and his assassin, a cuckoo by the name of Charles Guiteau. Both were attorneys, although Guiteau something of a failed attorney (mostly did collection work). The actors are Michael Shannon as Garfield and a young English actor named Matthew MacFayden as Guiteau. Both are very good. Guiteau's career as an attorney is not depicted in the miniseries- mostly the aftermath of it- his career as a political wannabe.
It's a limited 4 episode miniseries.
The process by which Garfield was nominated for Republican candidate in 1881 over Ulysses Grant and others, as depicted in the movie, is fascinating. Garfield did not want to be President nor did he seek the Presidency prior to the convention. He attended the convention to nominate Senator Sherman his home State of Ohio, but gave such a rousing speech in doing so, invoking the legacy of Abe Lincoln, that the Republicans decided to nominate him rather than Senator or ex President Grant. Senator Sherman accuses Garfield of a backstab, saying nobody could give such a speech unless he wanted the nomination for himself. And you as viewer are not sure who is right: the betrayed Sherman, or the supposedly reluctant Garfield. I think they left it gray like that as there are questions among historians as to how "reluctant" a President Garfield actually was.
Unfortunately, we never got to find out how good a President he was because he was shot by Guiteau 4 months after taking office, and then died 2 months after being shot. As played by Shannon, Garfield is a decent, family oriented man, well educated and an excellent orator, although somewhat wary of other politicians, notably Senator Roscoe Conkling from New York, with whom he clashes throughout his brief Presidency.
The miniseries draws its name from a quote attributed to Garfield, whose scolding retort to his chief of staff's recommendation that he bolster his security staff and protocol when meeting with public constituents was as follows:
"Nonsense! Assassination can no more be guarded against than death by lightning!"
Garfield's greatest achievement and contribution as President was civil service reform, which Congress later enacted after his death in 1883. The miniseries depicts the before and after of what Presidents had to deal with in terms of relentless, unqualified office seekers. Of whom, ironically Guiteau was ironically one of the most relentless, aggressive, unfit and unqualified.
I give it an A-.
