After unexpectedly winning a tight 1880 presidential campaign, James A. Garfield showed much promise in the job before being gunned down by an itinerant paranoiac just four months into his first term. Eventually succumbing to his injuries, The President may have pulled through if not for blind loyalty his doctor, an old friend, who insisted on outmoded medical practices to treat his wound. From a historical novel by Candice Millard, Murder of a President is informative, but hurt by tacky recreations, an unneeded Ken Burns imitated approach, and an extremely narrow focus of Garfield's life, career, and presidency.
*** out of ****
