'Murder of a President' examines the death and celebrates the life of James Garfield

CLEVELAND, Ohio – You hear the title "Murder of a President," and perhaps you're expecting yet another look at the assassination of either Abraham Lincoln or John F. Kennedy. But the outstanding "American Experience" documentary "Murder of a President" puts the historical focus on a far lesser-known chief executive, and one with many Northeast Ohio connections, James A. Garfield.

Indeed, the PBS film from director Rob Rapley and executive producer Mark Samels makes a convincing case that Garfield deserves more recognition than he gets. Their title, therefore, is representative of only half of this "American Experience" presentation.

That's because "Murder of a President," which premieres at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, on WVIZ Channel 25 and WEAO Channel 49, is as much a celebration of Garfield's remarkable life as it is an examination of his death.

So the timing of the Garfield film couldn't be more appropriate: 2016 marks the 135th anniversary of his death, but also the 185th anniversary of his birth.

Based on Candice Millard's book "Destiny of the Republic, Murder of a President," the documentary begins with a re-enactment of the tragic events of July 2, 1881. Only fourth months in office, Garfield was at the Sixth Street Station in Washington, D.C., waiting to board a train for Massachusetts. Charles Guiteau, a deluded and disappointed office seeker, shot the president in the back and in the arm.

The nation held its breath. Would the president survive?

"Murder of a President" then drifts back to map out the route Garfield took to that train platform. He was born in Moreland Hills, overcoming great poverty and managing to attend Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, now Hiram College.

He returned to the college in 1856 as a teacher, then principal, leaving in 1861 to serve with honor and distinction in the Civil War. He rose to the rank of brigadier general.

The details of Garfield's life can be gleamed from a quick Internet search. What makes him come alive in a film about his murder is the discussion of his character, his beliefs, his vision.

You end up mourning not just the death of a president, but the wonderful president he might have been.

Helping to give shape to this vision are such Garfield experts as Millard, historian Nancy Tomes, author Kenneth D. Ackerman and two on-camera contributors from the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor: National Park ranger Mary Lintern and Todd Arrington, chief of interpretation and education. Several scenes were filmed at some of the area sites associated with Garfield, and Hiram College archivist and Garfield expert Jennifer Morrow provided research assistance for both the documentary and Millard's book.

The film works its way back to Guiteau's attack on Garfield, who lived for 79 days. As narrator Michael Murphy tells us, the president was "brought down by an assassin and, some believe, his own doctors." Most of the experts seem to believe this, too.

His doctors, unaware of germs and the need for sanitary conditions, may have introduced the infections that actually killed him. The lead doctor prevented Alexander Graham Bell from using a metal detector to locate the bullet. And it's almost certain he would have survived if modern medical techniques were available.

"Garfield had come to represent the vision for which the Union had fought," historian Heather Cox Richardson says. "Garfield believed that everybody should have equality of opportunity and that the government should help them get that. With the assassination of Garfield, that dream, the dream for which the Union had fought, that vision died."