Harry Augustus Garfield Harry Augustus Garfield Harry Augustus "Hal" Garfield (October 11, 1863 – December 12, 1942) was an American lawyer, academic and public official. He was president of Williams College and supervised the Federal Fuel Administration during World War I. Garfield was the son of President James A. Garfield and First Lady Lucretia Garfield, and the brother and law partner of Secretary of the Interior James Rudolph Garfield. At the age of 17 he and his 15-year-old brother James watched in horror as their father was shot down by assassin Charles Guiteau. After graduating from Williams College in 1885, he went on
Charles J. Guiteau stream of curses and obscenities before he was taken away by guards to his cell to await execution. Guiteau appealed his conviction, but his appeal was rejected. 29 days before his execution, Guiteau composed a lengthy poem asserting that God had commanded him to kill Garfield in order to prevent Secretary James G. Blaine's "scheming" to war with Chile and Peru. Guiteau also claimed in the poem that Chester A. Arthur knew the assassination had saved the United States and that Arthur's refusal to pardon him was the "basest ingratitude". Guiteau also (incorrectly) presumed that President Arthur would pressure the