Chester A. Arthur where the former Senator hoped for a quick re-election to the Senate, and with it, a defeat for the Garfield administration. The Republican majority in the state legislature was divided on the question, to Conkling and Platt's surprise, and an intense campaign in the state house ensued. While in Albany on July 2, Arthur learned that Garfield had been shot. The assassin, Charles J. Guiteau, was a deranged office-seeker who believed that Garfield's successor would appoint him to a patronage job. He proclaimed to onlookers: "I am a Stalwart, and Arthur will be President!" Guiteau was found to be mentally
Joe Howard Jr. York Sun", he became a political writer for the "New York Herald" and received national attention for his accurate predictions during the Blaine campaign in 1880. He officially retired from journalism that same year but continued to send editorials and letters from time to time, popularly known as "Howard's Column", which appeared in newspapers throughout the Northeastern United States including the "New York Press", the "New York Recorder" and the "Boston Globe". Among the social and political events he reported included the trial and execution of presidential assassin Charles J. Guiteau, the Red River Rebellion led by Louis Riel, the