I am Going to the Lordy grip on reality." Howard Kissel said that "The Ballad of Guiteau" was one of the oddest songs of "Assassins" due to the use of the poem. I am Going to the Lordy "I am Going to the Lordy" is a poem written by Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of U.S. President James A. Garfield. He wrote it on June 30, 1882, the morning of his execution. He read it at the gallows. "I am Going to the Lordy" was used as a base for the song "The Ballad of Guiteau" in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Assassins", where Guiteau sings a
Charles J. Guiteau his claim for a consulship. In the spring, he was still in Washington, and on May 14, 1881, he once more encountered Secretary of State James G. Blaine in person and inquired about a consular appointment; an exasperated Blaine finally snapped "Never speak to me again on the Paris consulship as long as you live!" Guiteau considered himself a loyal Republican and a Stalwart, and his narcissistic personality convinced him that his work for the party was critical to Garfield’s election to the presidency. Later convinced that Garfield was going to destroy the Republican Party by scrapping the patronage system,