George Miller Beard the military and Georges Gilles de la Tourette. Beard was also involved extensively with electricity as a medical treatment, and published extensively on the subject. He was a champion of many reforms of psychiatry, and was a founder of the National Association for the Protection of the Insane and the Prevention of Insanity. He also took an unpopular stance against the death penalty for persons with mental illness, going so far as to campaign for leniency for Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of President James Garfield on the basis that the man was not guilty because of insanity. Beard became
Charles J. Guiteau convinced that his actions were divinely inspired, and that his destiny was to "preach a new Gospel" like Paul the Apostle. Guiteau then obtained a law license in Chicago; however, he was not successful as a lawyer. He argued only one case in court, the bulk of his business being in bill collecting. His former wife later detailed his dishonest dealings, describing how he would keep disproportionate amounts from his collections and rarely give the money to his clients. He next turned to theology. He published a book on the subject called "The Truth" which was almost entirely plagiarized from