Garfield survives.

Let's say James Garfield's assassin, Charles Guiteau, misses, allowing Garfield to survive. What would be the effects of a Garfield presidency?
 
I bought a book written shortly after the murder. It suggested that Garfield might have taken a fairly strong line against racism.

I suspect that there are people in this forum who know more than I do. But

Did he want to protect the Civil and politica rights of former slaves?

Could he have made a difference if he wanted to?


Also in OTL if I recall correctly President Arthur, who previously had a very unsavory reputation, surprised lots of people by enacting Civil Service reform.

Would this have happened at the same time or later or not at all had Garfield not been murdered?
 
It might also delay or even prevent civil service reforms. Garfield was shot by a disgruntled ex-supporter who was denied a patronage position (on the grounds that the position he wanted (ambassador to Austria) was ludicrous compared to his role in the campaign (writing a mediocre stump speech)), which served as a highly visible example of the problems with the already-controversial spoils system and wound up undercutting support for the spoils system enough for civil service reform to pass.
 
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It might also delay or even prevent civil service reforms. Garfield was shot by a disgruntled ex-supporter who was denied a patronage position (on the grounds that the position he wanted (ambassador to Austria) was ludicrous compared to his role in the campaign (writing a mediocre stump speech)), which served as a highly visible example of the problems with the already-controversial spoils system and wound up undercutting support for the spoils system enough for civil service reform to pass.

Then again, even an attempted assassination could be enough for civil service reform to still go forward. An example: Reagan didn't have to die in order for the Brady Bill to pass.
 
When i first read of the title i thought it was about the cartoon cat...:D:D:D

Somehow, Mr. Arbuckle's cat survived, despite having two rather uncommon situations happening to it: the first being extreme obesity even for a cat, and the second, an actual heart attack. Many attribute to Mr. Arbuckle extreme neglect for this poor animal's health, its terribly rude and aloof attitude, and even the most forgiving must chastise him for allowing the feline to even eat prodigous amounts of Italian food.

A veterinarian will come by to take the animal away and put him into a hopefully more caring and loving home.
 
This is intriguing to me, actually. James Garfield strikes me as a potentially great president if he'd lived long enough. Certainly smart enough to make it interesting times, at least.

Oh, here's another point: what if Garfield won a second term in 1884, too?
 
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