1884 U.S. Presidential Election with a surviving Garfield

I was doing some work the other day towards a list of alternate Presidents of the United States, and it occurred to me that the 1884 election could either be very similar to, or different from, that of OTL with a surviving President Garfield. Either Guiteau doesn't short him fir reasons, or President Garfield survives and remains in good health. What is the 1884 election campaign like?

My observations:

  • Different running mate. Garfield has options.
  • A Garfield first term would probably have been moderate successful. Pendleton Act still happens.
  • We might see Garfield try to pass something like the Lodge Bill. This could effect Democratic nomination contest.
  • Given that Blaine would likely have served the full four years at State, we're looking at a robust foreign policy.

Your thoughts?
 
Garfield would have a good chance of winning, but with who as running mate? I doubt he'd pick Blaine, at that point Blaine not only didn't have a good reputation, but Secretary of State was a very prestigious rolethat I can imagine him saying he'd run for President after 8 years there. (True, Van Buren was also VP, as was Jefferson, but Madison, Monroe, and Buchanan had been at State but not VP.)

That said, i suspect the Democrats would finally win in '88, probably with Cleveland winning 2 consecutive terms.

In fact, Cleveland may not even run in '1884, if he thinks Garfield's too hard to beat. The Democrats may go for a Civil War general like in '80 with Hancock.
 
I think Garfield would have a good presidency to be in the hunt for a second term.The Democrats would have went with Hendricks while Cleveland was killed by an bullet to the head.

In this close election race,no one side really had a clear advantage.But on election day,the nation voted for Garfield.

If Garfield won a second term,how would it go?
 
Thank you all for the feedback.

I could see Rosecrans mounting a bid for the Democratic nomination, either for President or for VP, given his hatred of Garfield. Cleveland still seems like a possibility in 1884. How better to counter a reform-minded president than with one of your own? I was thinking of Hawley as a Garfield running mate, but I am open to other possibilities. Further, I was thinking that Arthur Pue Gorman might then be the Democratic nominee and election winner in 1888 in this timeline.

I see Garfield gaining some real successes while also having a difficult time of things at times. I think that we still get the Pendleton Act passed after the showdown with Conkling ends in the latter's humiliation, but I think that Garfield might push for a Lodge Bill-type measure, even if in the lame duck Congress before the Democrats take over that body in 1883. Of course, this assumes that the midterms go their way with Garfield still alive. I think that there are tariff bills in this period that he'd veto, even/especially in his second term, but I'm not sure where he stood on Chinese exclusion.
 
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