Guiteau and the Assassination of President Garfield

In 1881, people thought very little of the insanity defense. Not much has changed on that issue between then and now.

Thomas Nast's cartoon, in the 10 December 1881 issue of Harper's Weekly, depicted his assessment of Guiteau. Many people agreed with his point that the assassin's defense seemed like a mockery of justice. Others disagreed. Editorials in various papers, including the New York Herald, the Nation, and the Washington Post "stated unhesitatingly that no normal person could have committed so pointless a crime." (Rosenberg, page 76.)

About three months before Garfield was shot, the Tsar of Russia, Alexander II, was assassinated by an anarchist. Newspapers throughout Europe and America focused on the political reasons for that killing  (You need RealAudio for this link.) Anarchists, espousing a nihilistic philosophy, were the talk of the world. But most Americans believed that politics did not play a role in the death of their President. Nor did insanity. It was the act of a single man, acting alone, who wanted a job he did not deserve.

The jury found Guiteau guilty as charged. It took them about one hour to reach their verdict. They apparently agreed with a pre-trial press statement made by George Corkhill, one of the prosecutors, on the health of Guiteau's mind:

...he was a deadbeat -- pure and simple...Finally he got tired of the monotony of dead-beating. He wanted excitement of some other kind and notoriety, and he's got it. (Rosenberg, page 77.)

Guiteau was sentenced to death by hanging. Even after the trial's conclusion, he did not believe he would die for his crime.

Once again, he was wrong.