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The American Political Almanac
RECONSTRUCTION & THE GILDED AGETHE SYSTEM OF 1896THE NEW DEAL ORDERTHE LONG REALIGNMENTPOLARIZED ERA1868RRRRD1888RDRRR1908RDDRR1928RDDDD1948DRRDD1968RRDRR1988RDDRR2008DDRD2024R
James A. Garfield

Unknown; part of Brady-Handy Photograph Collection. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Republican · 1831–1881

James A. Garfield

President of the United States · United States representative · President-elect of the United States

James Abram Garfield was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 1881 until his death in September that year after being shot in July. A preacher, lawyer, and Civil War general, Garfield served nine terms in the United States House of Representatives and is the only sitting member of the House to be elected president. Before he ran for president, the Ohio General Assembly had elected him to the U.S. Senate, a position he declined upon becoming president-elect.

On the Ballot

One presidential run
1880Won48.3% of the vote · 214 EV · v. Winfield Scott Hancock

Strongest counties, 1880

Countytwo-party sharevotes
Lac qui Parle, MN94.9%925
Beaufort, SC94.0%6,419
Grant, MN93.3%639
Isanti, MN92.9%903
Yellow Medicine, MN92.4%926

Weakest counties, 1880

Countytwo-party sharevotes
Bienville, LA0.0%783
De Soto, LA0.0%795
Franklin, LA0.0%571
Lincoln, LA0.0%1,115
Newton, MS0.0%1,026