Rating: 
Summary: Well-written & riveting account
Review: I first encountered the slow death of James Garfield while doing research on unrelated events taking place in the summer of 1881. Reading through the microfilmed copies of several small-town Kansas newspapers, I kept seeing the weekly updates of the stricken president, and even though it wasn't part of the focus of my research at the time, I found myself drawn to the prolongued agony of a nation, as it watched its president slowly slip away.The cruel irony of Garfield's death was that it was against all odds that he should have been dying in the White House in the first place, and of course that is what makes the whole story so interesting. Ackerman does an excellent job setting the stage for the 1880 Republican convention (yes, once upon a time, party conventions really did matter), which was largely a struggle between several power blocs. First and foremost was the struggle between Senators Roscoe Conkling & James Blaine, who had a mutual dislike rivalled by few other politicians (LBJ & Bobby Kennedy come to mind). Blaine was seeking the presidency in his own right, and Conkling, having spent the last 4 years jousting with outgoing President Hayes, was angling to regain the White House (for a third term) for former president Grant. Ackerman skillfully weaves a picture filled with wheeling & dealing --- the classic picture of a smoke-filled back room really has historical basis --- and shows how the forces of history sometimes take on a momentum of their own, and slip loose from the hands of even the most adroit political managers. To surprise of all, Garfield got the nomination, and then had to face an election that turned out to be extremely close. Through the campaign, more wheeling & dealing occurs, and Ackerman vividly illustrates the uncertain nominee attempting to reach agreement with various truculent party bosses. During this stage of the game, Garfield comes off looking very much like a politically clumsy neophyte, not equal to the challenges of the office. What Garfield might have ultimately done as President we will never know, and thankfully Ackerman spares of the "what-if" brand of history at this point. Garfield's only real victory of consequence during his brief term was the outmaneuvering of Roscoe Conkling regarding office nominations in New York. Garfield's behavior during this episode can be interpreted as either standing firm on principle or mule-headed stubborness, and one can draw any number of conclusions on how this behavior might have played over 4 years. His victory over Conkling was thought to be only the first of several battles for the control of the Republican Party. Of course, the whole situation abruptly was thrown into chaos as Garfield is shot down, and not only fails to die quickly but actually for a time improves in health. Truly this is the most sickening part of the whole book, as Ackerman describes in gory detail Garfield's eventual succumbing to infection, starvation & blood poisoning. In a perverse way, Charles Guiteau was actually correct when he said he didn't actually kill Garfield. The doctors with their germ-covered hands were ultimately more responsible for Garfield's demise than was Guiteau. Ackerman's book is not just the story of Garfield; it is the story with several equally important characters --- Grant, Conkling, and Blaine. Lurking in the shadows are two characters that suddenly assume great importance --- Chester Arthur & the strange little man, Charles Guiteau. When Garfield is suddenly removed from the scene, the story does not simply end with him. The other main characters are left behind to try and pick up the pieces and move on without him. One is left with a much greater respect for Arthur after reading this book, as he is suddenly thrust, unprepared and under a cloud of suspicion & distrust, into the presidency. Ackerman does not emphasize this, but Arthur actually knew for the last 3 years of his term that he was slowly dying from Bright's Disease, but managed to conceal his ill health and still function effectively as president. Overall, this is a lively account of a story that has more than its fair share of peaks and valleys. Read in conjunction with Roy Morris' "Fraud of the Century," this book presents a very good picture of partisan politics and their sometimes unexpected consequences.
Rating:
Summary: What a story- non-fiction at its best!
Review: I got this as a Father's Day gift from my son. What a great read that provides a glimpse of the USA in the years following the assasination of Lincoln when newspapers ruled the media market and politics was dominated by bosses. Garfield had a major role in ending the era of true politial bosses on the national stage and the perks and back scratching that came with it. One is left to wonder what could have been had he been President for 8 years rather than a few months.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Read
Review: I picked up the book on a whim and was surprised what a readable and entertaining presentation of history it was. Books of this sort can be dry, but I thought that the author did a very good job of bring history alive.
Rating:
Summary: Politcally satisfying book
Review: Kenneth D Ackerman's Dark Horse is truly a satisfying read for politcal buffs. With two other books it forms trilogy of three consecutive elections. The other two books are Roy Morris Jr's 'Fraud of the Century' and Mark Wahlgren Summers' 'Rum, Romanism, & Rebellion'. Ackerman brings to life the suspense filled convention of 1880 vividly and all the excitement it generated then. He describes the total surprise of Garfield very aptly at becoming the nominee. Garfield's razor thin majority in the elections against Hancock and the deal it generated with the Stalwarts is very well described. Garfield was a man reluctantly thrust into the Presidency but once in office was totally overwhelmed by the office. Only when he started to grow in office he was tragically cut down. Only if had the chance to survive we would have seen maybe an interesting Presidency. Ackerman describes the feuds between the Stalwarts of the Conkling faction and the Half-Breeds of Blaine faction very well. The book instead of being a straight biography of one person is a collective biography of few people and thus brings to life the era very vividly. We can only wish for more books like this for politcal buffs. It is a about a remote time but the era is presented with all the excitement and enthusiasm of that time. I highly recommend this book for any political junky.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Political History
Review: Let me first issue this advisory: To truly enjoy Kenneth D. Ackerman's book, "The Dark Horse" you have to love reading about politics. Ackerman is a Washington type, and his love of the political game and all of its intricaces is very much evident in his writing. Fortunately, he is such a good writer that he can make even the most mundane and obscure political manuevering as compelling as any suspense thriller. "The Dark Horse," as the subtitle indicates, tells the tragic tale of President James A. Garfield, who was the surprise Republican nominee in 1880 and won a razor thin victory that Novemeber. Garfield had not desired the Presidency, and was only beginning to become comfortable in the office when he was felled by an assasssin's bullet four months into his term. He died a slow, agonizing death, and in the process became a martyred hero to the country. Ackerman argues that Garflied's killing, remembered (if at all) for being perpetrated by a "disappointed office seeker" was a residual effect of the wars going on within the Republican Party between two competing factions: the Stalwarts and the Half Breeds. Though the Stalwarts, led by irascible New York Senator Roscoe Conkling, were not directly complicit in Garfield's murder, their strident rhetoric helped set the political climate that made it possible. Ackerman tells his story in great detail (the narrative portion of the book runs to well over 400 pages). The is a decent illustrations section and a number of helpful charts for the reader. Overall, this is an excellently well written book that will appeal most strongly to American History and politics buffs.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Political History
Review: Let me first issue this advisory: To truly enjoy Kenneth D. Ackerman's book, "The Dark Horse" you have to love reading about politics. Ackerman is a Washington type, and his love of the political game and all of its intricaces is very much evident in his writing. Fortunately, he is such a good writer that he can make even the most mundane and obscure political manuevering as compelling as any suspense thriller. "The Dark Horse," as the subtitle indicates, tells the tragic tale of President James A. Garfield, who was the surprise Republican nominee in 1880 and won a razor thin victory that Novemeber. Garfield had not desired the Presidency, and was only beginning to become comfortable in the office when he was felled by an assasssin's bullet four months into his term. He died a slow, agonizing death, and in the process became a martyred hero to the country. Ackerman argues that Garflied's killing, remembered (if at all) for being perpetrated by a "disappointed office seeker" was a residual effect of the wars going on within the Republican Party between two competing factions: the Stalwarts and the Half Breeds. Though the Stalwarts, led by irascible New York Senator Roscoe Conkling, were not directly complicit in Garfield's murder, their strident rhetoric helped set the political climate that made it possible. Ackerman tells his story in great detail (the narrative portion of the book runs to well over 400 pages). The is a decent illustrations section and a number of helpful charts for the reader. Overall, this is an excellently well written book that will appeal most strongly to American History and politics buffs.
Rating:
Summary: Exceeded all my expectations
Review: Mr. Ackerman indicates early on that he is writing about what, to most Americans, appears as an unimportant, sepia-toned snapshot in the the otherwise rich and colorful collective memory of American political and presidential history - the election of James Garfield to the presidency and, soon thereafter, his assassination by a disgruntled office seeker, Charles Guiteau. Ackerman feels compelled to reexamine this footnote to the bigger story of the rise of post-Civil War America to world power because he believes that the Garfield story, taken out of the rich political context of the Gilded Age, fails as "history". Long an avid collector of political cartoons from the 1880s, (chiefly color lithographs from "Puck" and "Judge" Magazines) I came to appreciate the vigor of the politics and personalties of that era. Living in midtown Manhattan for years, I would often stroll through Madison Square and try to conjure up, in my "mind's eye" the landscape at the time Roscoe Conkling and Chester Arthur held court at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. (Their statues remain in Madison Square Park and Grant lies uptown, a dignified distance from the bloody political wars fought in his name.) Some years later I moved to Erie, Pennsylvania and have had the opportunity to stroll the grounds of the Garfield House in nearby Mentor, Ohio again lost in the pleasure of time-travelling reverie. It should not seem surprising, then, that I approached Mr.Ackerman's book already having what I believed to be a well-rounded appreciation and even a geographic "feel" for the precise landscape of the tensions of the 1880 political season. In short, I thought I understood all that Mr. Ackerman sought to explain. How wrong I was! Through his painstaking research and delightful narrative style, (a style which his C-SPAN presentations did not fully illuminate), I was left breathless with a new appreciation for the tectonic shifts of the political landscape he deftly and patiently lays out for the reader. His treatment of Grant's third term aspirations, his development of the Blaine-Conkling feud, and his treatment of the 1880 Chicago convention are precise yet expansive and engaging. The story of Guiteau and his progressive flight from reality is interposed with that of his eventual victim in a way that makes the intersection of these two lives seem less necessary and, yet, more inevitable. To my mind, however, the most fulfilling yet subtle contextual development in this book is reserved for Chester Arthur who figures as a more substantial political force than often portrayed and who, significantly, survives (Ishmael-like), grows and emerges with a dignity that graces the bloody political battlefield from which he is delivered. Guided by the author, the simple snapshot takes on the dimensions, color and texture of a far richer canvas. The Garfield "story" becomes more nearly "history"; "Dark Horse" challenges the reader with the lessons, cautions and inspirations that well-researched and eminently readable history permits and demands.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Story
Review: The traditional explanation of President James Garfield's assasination offered by standard history books--"He was shot by a crazed, disgruntled officeseeker who wanted Chester Arthur to become President"--fails to capture the drama and historical context of this critical event. In Ackerman's hands, the story comes alive and with it an important chapter in American history. As I read this, I couldn't help thinking this would make a great movie. But in today's special effects obsessed film industry, I can't imagine it being made.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Story
Review: The traditional explanation of President James Garfield's assasination offered by standard history books--"He was shot by a crazed, disgruntled officeseeker who wanted Chester Arthur to become President"--fails to capture the drama and historical context of this critical event. In Ackerman's hands, the story comes alive and with it an important chapter in American history. As I read this, I couldn't help thinking this would make a great movie. But in today's special effects obsessed film industry, I can't imagine it being made.
Rating:
Summary: History that reads like fiction
Review: This is a real "behind the scenes" look at the Republican convention of 1880, and its shocking nomination of James A. Garfield for President. It shows how the longlasting animosity between Roscoe Conkling and James G. Blaine resulted in a convention stalemate and an ultimate rush to Garfield as a compromise. It talks about the close election of that year, and goes into Garfield's stand against the vanity and just plain stubbornness of Conkling concerning the "spoils" of victory. It also traces the path of the assassin, and shows that he really was a demented soul, who felt he was doing his party, and the country, a favor by eliminating Garfield. It's an exciting book, and truly reads like the best of fiction. This is a really little known aspect of our history, and should be a "must read" for anyone interested in how our political system evolved into what it is today.
| 
