'Death by Lightning': The facts (and fiction) about President James A. Garfield and his assassin

This nonfiction contains immoderate spoilers for the Netflix miniseries “Death by Lightning.”

If authorities contiguous marque your caput spin, hold until you spot Netflix’s “Death by Lightning.” The four-part miniseries, premiering Thursday, chronicles 1 of the much jaw-dropping stretches of post-Civil War American history, erstwhile corruption ran rampant, a statesmanlike nominee was drafted astatine the 11th hour, lone to beryllium assassinated aboriginal successful his word by 1 of his biggest fans — becoming possibly the top caput of authorities we ne'er truly got to have.

And the amusement answers the burning expletive-laced question posed by its archetypal line: Who is Charles Guiteau?

“I’ve been successful a James Garfield rabbit spread for 7 years of my beingness astatine this point,” says showrunner Mike Makowsky, who adapted Candice Millard’s 2011 chronicle of Garfield and Guiteau, “Destiny of the Republic.” Those who paid attraction successful past people astir apt retrieve that Garfield served concisely arsenic our 20th president successful 1881 earlier being changeable and killed. Those who retrieve much than that are fewer and acold between.

“My ain cause fractional the clip refers to him arsenic Andrew Garfield,” says Makowsky. “And I person to confess, I knew precise small astir Garfield, similar astir Americans, until I picked up Candice Millard’s singular book.”

Realizing helium knew small astir 1 of the 4 American presidents to beryllium assassinated, Makowsky thought, “Since I would desperately similar to beryllium connected ‘Jeopardy!’ someday, I was like, ‘Let maine amended myself.’ I coiled up speechmaking the full publication successful 1 sitting.”

“Death by Lightning,” directed by “Captain Fantastic” auteur Matt Ross, boasts a singular cast: Betty Gilpin arsenic First Lady Lucretia Garfield; Nick Offerman arsenic Garfield’s successor, a hard-drinking, hard-partying Chester A. Arthur; Michael Shannon arsenic James Garfield, the polymath president, crusader against corruption and noble to a fault; and Matthew Macfadyen arsenic Charles Guiteau, the frustrated office-seeker who changeable him.

“I wanted to formed radical who were somewhat counterintuitive,” says Ross. “If you work the formed database for this, you mightiness presume Michael Shannon was playing Guiteau due to the fact that helium has played a batch of complicated, for deficiency of a amended word, villains — pugnacious guys, atrocious guys. And Matthew Macfadyen has played much heroic characters.”

Guiteau is decidedly nary Darcy from “Pride and Prejudice,” oregon Tom Wambsgans from “Succession,” for that matter. In the series’ conception of him, helium shares much DNA with Martin Scorsese’s unhinged protagonists than helium does with Darcy — or, certainly, with Garfield.

The proto-incel with a gun

As portrayed successful “Death by Lightning,” Guiteau is simply a rotten-toothed, scheming, big-dreaming, delusional charlatan and imaginable sociopath. He’s the proto-incel, and the diametrical other to Garfield, whom Makowsky defines arsenic “lawful good,” to get the Dungeons & Dragons classification.

“I deliberation the astir reductive presumption of Guiteau is ‘chaotic evil,’ right? But that’s the slightest absorbing rendering of this person,” helium says. “What are the societal factors that alienate a antheral similar Guiteau from his chap quality beings? The amusement is meant to probe into his psyche.”

He was a subordinate of the Oneida community, a spiritual sect based successful New York that practiced communalism, escaped emotion and communal criticism, which is depicted successful the bid (and yes, they founded the flatware company). But Guiteau couldn’t partake successful what Makowsky delicately called the “benefits” of specified a society, mostly due to the fact that his delusions of grandeur alienated him from others there. The women reportedly nicknamed him “Charles Gitout.”

“Everyone who encountered him described him arsenic being disagreeable, odd, rude, selfish,” Ross says, explaining the request for an histrion who had the other qualities. “He’s an utmost illustration of idiosyncratic who had nary enactment to beryllium seen for, but was truthful desperately looking for affirmation and love.”

Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen) was portion of the Oneida community, which practiced communalism and escaped love, but helium wasn’t accepted by its members.

(Larry Horricks/Netflix)

Ross describes Macfadyen arsenic idiosyncratic who’s empathetic, lukewarm and funny. “I wanted that humanity due to the fact that the existent Guiteau was a profoundly disturbed antheral who was psychologically brutalized by his begetter to the constituent helium was a non-functioning person.”

Makowsky says arsenic helium was speechmaking Millard’s book, helium thought of Rupert Pupkin, Robert De Niro’s deranged-fan protagonist successful Scorsese’s “King of Comedy.” “This feline showing up, time successful and time out, hoping for an assemblage with his leader [Garfield], being continually rebuffed to the constituent wherever thing successful his encephalon breaks,” helium says of Guiteau. “He felt similar a nonstop humanities antecedent to the Rupert Pupkins and Travis Bickles of the world. He fell done the cracks and we mislaid perchance 1 of our top presidents due to the fact that of it.”

Makowsky recalls shooting the lone dialog country betwixt Garfield and Guiteau, erstwhile the “greatest fan” yet gets to conscionable his idol. To Makowsky’s surprise, Macfadyen’s Guiteau “just burst into tears. That wasn’t scripted. It was truthful overwhelming to him. I deliberation successful that moment, much than immoderate different successful the series, you consciousness thing for this man.”

Party (hearty) implicit country

Garfield was succeeded successful bureau by Chester A. Arthur, whom Makowsky calls 1 of the slightest apt persons to ever go president. “The antheral had ne'er held elected office,” helium says. “His 1 governmental assignment anterior to his information for vice president was arsenic main crony of the spoils strategy of [New York Sen.] Roscoe Conkling’s governmental machine. The level of corruption was truthful audacious and insane.”

He’s played with oft-drunken brio by Nick Offerman, whose dependable Makowsky says helium heard successful his caput arsenic soon arsenic helium started penning the role: “I was like, it has to beryllium Nick Offerman.” He took immoderate liberties with the quality and events, including a memorable series wherever Arthur and Guiteau spell connected a bender. Makowsky says they “probably ne'er had a chaotic nighttime retired successful New York, but it was an indelible proposition and I couldn’t resist.”

Nick Offerman plays eventual President Chester A. Arthur, who was intimately aligned with New York Sen. Roscoe Conkling (Shea Whigham).

Betty Gilpin portrays First Lady Lucretia Garfield arsenic her husband’s intelligence equal. (Larry Horricks / Netflix)

As to the archetypal lady, “Lucretia Garfield was each spot her husband’s intelligence equal. But she couldn’t vote. There was a ceiling to what a pistillate successful her time could accomplish,” Makowsky says, wistfully musing connected what she mightiness person achieved, fixed the chance. “And Betty [Gilpin] radiates that spot and that acute intelligence.”

Having precocious fixed birth, Gilpin took her household on to Budapest for filming, voraciously researching Lucretia and speechmaking her full correspondence with her husband. The relation gets meatier arsenic the bid progresses until she initiates an unforgettable, blistering brushwood with Guiteau to fastener the story.

“Betty jokingly said to me, ‘If you chopped that scene, I volition termination you.’ I was like, ‘There’s nary mode that country is being cut. It’s 1 of my favourite scenes successful the full show,’” Ross recalls. “Everyone who work it was like, ‘Oh my God, this scene.’ And Betty conscionable knocked it retired of the park, instrumentality aft instrumentality aft take.”

The forgotten president

Ross says erstwhile helium archetypal work Makowsky’s scripts, helium thought they were “fantastically relevant” and offered a caller look astatine American history. “As an American, I’m ever trying to fig retired what it means to beryllium American,” helium says. “The communicative of Garfield, you couldn’t marque it up. He was a leader of moving radical and the committedness of American ideology — having a representational ideology wherever those successful powerfulness and the affluent are not controlling the laws of the land, which could not beryllium much applicable today.”

Makowsky calls Garfield “a poster lad for the American dream,” rising from poorness to the nation’s apical office.

“He was a warfare leader and a Renaissance antheral that did mathematics theorems portion helium was successful Congress and who could recite Homer from memory,” helium says. “This singular individual, fiercely intelligent and a brilliant, almighty orator, was acold up of his clip connected definite governmental questions of the day. He was an outspoken proponent for civilian rights and cosmopolitan acquisition and civilian work reform.”

In existent life, and arsenic depicted successful the series, Garfield worked with notable Black leaders similar Frederick Douglass and Blanche Bruce, the archetypal Black registry of the Treasury, whom helium appointed.

“The large calamity is we were robbed of a perchance generational person successful Garfield,” Makowsky says.

“Death by Lightning” showrunner Mike Makowsky says Americans were robbed of a “potentially generational leader” successful James Garfield.

(Larry Horricks / Netflix)

Garfield wasn’t adjacent seeking the information erstwhile helium spoke connected behalf of different campaigner astatine the Republican National Convention of 1880, but his code truthful moved the delegates that they yet persuaded him to judge the information aft much than 30 votes failed to nutrient different winner. It reminded Makowsky of then-Sen. Barack Obama’s 2004 code astatine the Democratic National Convention, wherever helium presented “a beardown and confident, optimistic imaginativeness for the aboriginal of our country.”

Nowadays, specified a emergence seems little likely. “I don’t cognize if that would hap today, evidently due to the fact that of wealth successful politics; nary 1 tin tally if they don’t person phenomenal backing,” Ross says.

Ross emphasizes the amusement is “not a past lesson,” drafting a favoritism betwixt play and documentary. At times, “Death by Lightning” plays similar a achromatic comedy. Makowsky’s dialogue, portion usually honoring what we deliberation of arsenic the formality and vocabulary of the 1880s’ idiom, occasionally veers into hilariously cathartic invective that bracingly reminds america these were living, breathing radical with occurrence successful their bellies.

“Ken Burns could marque a 10-hour documentary to encapsulate each the nuances of this unthinkable story,” says Ross. What Makowsky did, Ross says, was contextualize the past done the prism of 2 precise antithetic people, Garfield and Guiteau.

“One is this incredibly admirable American fig I deliberation everyone should cognize about, the top president we ne'er truly had. And past the different is simply a charlatan, a profoundly broken, profoundly mentally sick antheral who conscionable benignant of wanted to beryllium Instagram-famous, conscionable wanted to beryllium known. You spot this infinitesimal successful past done their eyes, and I thought that was delicious.”