The thing is that the assassin’s bullet didn’t kill Garfield. Doctors did.
On July 2, 1881, Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau as the President waited for a train in Washington, D.C. Guiteau actually landed two slugs in Garfield, one in the arm and one that ultimately came to rest in his spine.
Doctors immediately tried to fish the bullet out of his spine, sticking fingers, probes, and whatever unsanitary items they could find into Garfield.
The American doctors thought the most important thing to saving Garfield was the bullet removal, and had no idea that they could actually make him sicker—mainly because most didn’t believe germs existed.
President Garfield suffered for 80 days. He was unable to eat, and lost weight.
Thirty-one years later, Teddy Roosevelt was on the receiving end of a bullet from an assassin.
Unlike Garfield, doctors left the bullet right there, and it remained with him for the rest of his life. So it’s highly likely that had doctors done nothing, Charles Guiteau would be a failed assassin, and James Garfield would have survived.
Doctors immediately tried to fish the bullet out of his spine, sticking fingers, probes, and whatever unsanitary items they could find into Garfield.
The American doctors thought the most important thing to saving Garfield was the bullet removal, and had no idea that they could actually make him sicker—mainly because most didn’t believe germs existed.
President Garfield suffered for 80 days. He was unable to eat, and lost weight.
Thirty-one years later, Teddy Roosevelt was on the receiving end of a bullet from an assassin.
Unlike Garfield, doctors left the bullet right there, and it remained with him for the rest of his life. So it’s highly likely that had doctors done nothing, Charles Guiteau would be a failed assassin, and James Garfield would have survived.
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