Garfield & Guiteau: An Assassin's Trial

03/21/24 • 70 min

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In 1881, President James Garfield was assassinated by a man named Charles Guiteau. The American public, understandably, wanted vengeance. But as the government began to prepare for Guiteau’s trial, a problem emerged: Guiteau, some experts believed, was insane, and might not have been responsible for his actions. Could justice be achieved in a case like this? Guiteau's dramatic trial put that question to the test...

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History on Trial - Garfield & Guiteau: An Assassin's Trial

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:01.040

You're listening to History on Trial, a production of iHeart Podcasts. Listener Discretion Advised. Sarah White was starting to have a bad feeling about the man in the hat. As the ladies waiting room matron at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station in Washington, d C. White was used to seeing all sorts of strange behavior. Travel could bring out the worst and even the most dignified citizens, but this man seemed especially off to her. She had