At 16 he chose to work on the canal boats that went from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. He was the last of seven presidents to be born in a log cabin. At age 31, Garfield became a brigadier general, and two years later a major general of volunteers during the Civil War. In 1863, Garfield became chief of staff to General William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland, and served in the Tullahoma and Chickamauga campaigns to which he obtained the reputation of being a sound military leader. Garfield resigned his commission to enter the U.S. House of Representatives at the request of Lincoln. Garfield was very much against slavery and thought that in no means could it be allowed to extend into any of the western territories.

Garfield was the first left-handed president and could write Latin with one hand and Greek with the other. He was also the first person to campaign for president in two languages both English and German. He was determined to rally for civil rights of black Southerners as he made clear in his inaugural address. On July 2, 1881, Garfield was shot in a Washington railroad station. The assassin was Charles J. Guiteau, was a mentally disturbed man who was turned down for a federal appointment. Mortally wounded, Garfield lay in the White House for weeks until de died from an infection and internal hemorrhage. His death brought about civil reform which he was in favor of while in office.