What if Garfield had not died?

Mikestone8

Derek Jackson said:
What was the balance in Congress. How many Supreme Court Justices seats came up during what would be Garfield's first term
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In the 47th Congress (elected 1880/1) the Republicans controlled the HoR 152-130 with 11 "others". The Senate was equally divided, 37-37 with two others. David Davis was chosen President Pro-Tem in October 1881.

In the 1882 elections, the Democrats captured the House, 200-119 with 6 others. OTOH, the Republicans took the Senate, 40-36.

Garfield himself made one Supreme Court appointment, Stanley Matthews of Ohio, who served 1881-89. After his death, Chester Arthur would make two appointments, Horace Gray of Massachusetts, 1882-1902, and Samuel Blatchford of New York, 1882-93.
 

Don Lardo

We should remember that the presidency in this era is not the "imperial" presidency that will develop in the 20th Century. We all too often assume that the "imperial" style has been the rule when it has not.

During this period the Speaker of the House was at times more powerful in many ways than the President. Any discussion about what Garfield might be able to do during his term or terms in office must take into account how the federal government actually worked during that period.
 
modelcitizen

modelcitizen

Don Lardo said:
Another change, and a very good change, might be far fewer or no Presidential "libraries".

For our foreign friends, each president whether good, bad, or ugly now gets money from the government and benefactors to set up a "library" containing their papers after their term of office. It's an entirely sycophantic and corrupt practice with presidents grubbing about for donations while still in office.

There's always varying attempts to make excuses for this exercise in the personality cult the presidency has devolved into. The "libraries" are often referred to as research centers, a few are actually part of universities, most include a museum of some sort, and most ex-presidents maintain their publicly funded offices there. Despite all the window dressing the practice is nothing more than another method to curry favor with and get favors from presidents.

Garfield, believe it or not, has one of the first presidential libraries. In his case, his widow set up a few rooms as a memorial to him and accepted private donations to maintain the collection. (IIRC, it's now maintained by the government.) While his library was created for a different purpose and in a far less corrupt manner than the libraries that followed, Garfield's presidential library set the precedent. While all of his immediate predecessors didn't follow that precedent, by the 20th Century each president was accepting donations and offers while still in office with regards to maintaining their "legacy".

No Garfield assassination, no young grieving widow, and maybe, just maybe, presidential papers end up in the Library of Congress where they belong after each presidency.
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That makes a hell of a lot more sense than I'd have expected it to!

I mean, the GW Bush Library... a box of shredded paper and ashes, and a f---ing coloring book half-used by the president?

but, yeah, library of congress seems a no-brainer, or at least bestowing the cache of papers upon a "favored" university or college.

now it's like presidential theme parks, darkly hilarious, and definitely not something outgoing presidents should spend a microsecond on for freaking fundraising, that's nuts.
 
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