Lucretia Garfield
Lucreita Garfield first lady to President James A. Garfield
from March 1881 to September 1881. Many of you only think of Lincoln and
Kennedy when discussing Presidents who were killed in office, well guess what,
James A. Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881, by Charles Guiteau.
After Garfield’s death, Lucretia retired to Ohio and spent
the rest of her life maintaining his legacy by creating the first Presidential
Library to hold his papers and other historical materials.
As a young girl, Lucretia was always in poor health due to respiratory
issues which resulted in her being bedridden for most of her childhood. During
that time, she became an avid reader and she would become a lover of reading
for the rest of her life.
Due to her constant reading, Lucretia was highly educated and
extremely knowledgeable about Politics in Washington, and she became a huge
advisor to her husband on multiple issues. Having graduated from Geauga
Seminary Hiram College with a BA, she was also able to assist her husband with
his front porch campaigning when he ran for President.
Upon her arrival in the White House within months she became
ill with Malaria and was sent to Long Branch, New Jersey to recuperate.
Garfield was known to be a philander having had affairs with
Kate Chase and Rebecca "Rancie" Selleck. Lucretia was a strong woman
and demanded that James put a stop to his philandering or divorce her. Knowing
that a divorce would destroy his political career, he ended his affairs and
stayed married.
After he was elected to the Presidency and putting together
his cabinet, she was instrumental in helping him choose the right people to
support him. She insisted on his appointing James G. Blaine and had him reject
Thaddeus C. Pound due to his wife being involved with a scandal along with
rejecting Stalwart group of the party due to their involvement with Kate Chase
who was sleeping with all the high powered men of the time.
Garfield only lasted a few months after being shot by
Charles J. Guiteau and he died on September 19, 1881.
Lucretia never really got the chance to put her mark on the
White House as First Lady. Although she was responsible for helping to
refurbish the White House and lobbying for funding to do so while she was First
Lady. She visited the Library of Congress often to learn of the history of the
White House and reviewed the building plans.
Her legacy was that of wife and mother to the seven children
of President James Garfield, wherein five of them grew to adulthood. She was
financially stable when she died. Although her legacy continued with future
First Ladies as they too preserved their husbands papers and documents to preserve
their work while in office. Mrs. Garfield died in Pasadena, California on March
19, 1818 of pneumonia. She is buried in James A. Garfield National Cemetery, in
Ohio.
Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of
experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere.
Graduating with an Associate of Arts from Pheonix University in Business
Management, then a degree in Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix
University, then on to Walden University for her master’s in criminology with
emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft and is currently studying for her
Ph.D. degree in Criminology, her work portfolio includes coverage of politics,
current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. In her spare time,
Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist, proficient in
watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink, Gouache, and pastels. As a political
operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has
turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to
weave interesting storylines. She also runs 6 blogs that range from art to life
coaching, to food, to writing, and opinion or history pieces each week.
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