With a POD positing that President James A. Garfield survives his wounds in 1881, what do you think his administration might have been like? We'll assume that the doctors are a bit more careful - not probing for bullets with unsterilized fingers and the like - and that the bullet lodged in his spine/lung area is found. Garfield makes a speedy recovery, and by the Spring of 1882 reappears to the public. But what's more, is that in a surprising act of mercy, Garfield forgives Charles Guiteau of his sentence and places him in a federal prison, to serve a term of ten years. The public hails Garfield's survival and mercy and many Americans wholly support the new president.
As this is almost an unpredictable WI, anything that isn't too-ASBish will be plausible. What will the Garfield administration do in the next two years, and is it possible that he may be re-elected to serve a second term? How will President James A. Garfield go down in history, and will his survival affect the immediate future of the presidency?