Charles J. Guiteau
Charles J. Guiteau | |
|---|---|
Portrait by C. M. Bell, 1881 | |
| Born | Charles Julius Guiteau September 8, 1841 Freeport, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | June 30, 1882 (aged 40) D.C. Jail, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party |
|
| Criminal status | Executed by hanging |
| Spouse |
Annie Bunn
(m. 1869; div. 1874) |
| Motive |
|
| Conviction | First degree murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | James A. Garfield |
| Date | July 2, 1881 (died September 19, 1881) |
| Locations | Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Signature | |
Charles Julius Guiteau (/ɡɪˈtoʊ/ ghih-TOH; September 8, 1841 – June 30, 1882) was an American office seeker who assassinated 20th United States president James A. Garfield in 1881. A failed lawyer suffering from mental illness, Guiteau delusionally believed he had played a major role in Garfield's election victory, for which he should have been rewarded with a consulship. Guiteau felt frustrated and offended by the Garfield administration's rejections of his applications to serve in Vienna or Paris to such a degree that he shot Garfield in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881. Garfield died on September 19 from infections related to the wounds. Caught immediately after shooting Garfield, Guiteau was tried, convicted, and publicly executed by hanging on June 30, 1882.