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Charles Julius Guiteau biography

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  • PLACE OF DEATH: Washington, D.C.
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Charles Julius Guiteau is an American lawyer best known for assassinating the U.S. President James A. Garfield in 1881.

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Charles Julius Guiteau studied law and theology before involving himself in the 1880 presidential campaign. He believed he was largely responsible for James Garfield's victory over John Hancock, but when Garfield refused to award him with an ambassadorship to Paris, Guiteau shot President Garfield, who later died from the wounds. Guiteau was sentenced to death by hanging in 1882.

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Assassin. Born September 8, 1841 in Freeport, Illinois. The fourth of six children, Charles Julius Guiteau was raised in Freeport and Ulao, Wisconsin. After a failed attempt to attend the University of Michigan, Guiteau joined the Oneida Community in New York, a controversial religious sect his father belonged to. He then obtained a law license in Chicago and started a firm with an inheritance from his grandfather. After that endeavor failed, he turned to theology and then politics.

After writing a hackneyed speech in support of President Garfield, Guiteau insisted he be awarded with an ambassadorship in Paris. Garfield's staff grew weary of Guiteau's repeated requests and eventually told him never to return. Filled with righteous indignation, he shot President Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station on July 2, 1881. Garfield died from his wounds on September 19.

Charles Guiteau's trial was a media circus, with the defendant viewing himself as something of a celebrity. He claimed he was legally but not medically insane at the time of the shooting and was dismayed to be found guilty on January 23, 1882. Guiteau was sentenced to death by hanging on June 30, 1882.

 

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