In Memoriam: President Garfield's Funeral March Station in Washington, D.C., President of the United States James Garfield was shot at close range by Charles J. Guiteau who, upon being apprehended by police, yelled, "Arthur is now President"! Garfield, then the third youngest president in American history, died 79 days later in Elberon, New Jersey where he had been taken to recover. The announcement of Garfield's death came as a surprise to the public as news accounts prior to that point had reported he had been recovering satisfactorily. Both John Philip Sousa and Garfield were members of the same Masonic lodge. While reclining in bed, Sousa heard
Charles J. Guiteau and distraught after his final encounter with Blaine, he decided the only solution was to remove Garfield and elevate Vice President Chester A. Arthur, an acolyte of Senator Roscoe Conkling, the Stalwart leader who managed Grant's 1880 campaign and was not on friendly terms with Garfield. Guiteau felt that God told him to kill the president; he felt that such an act would be a "removal" as opposed to an assassination. He also felt that Garfield needed to be killed to rid the Republican Party of Blaine's influence. Borrowing $15 from George Maynard, a relative by marriage, Guiteau set out