Roscoe Conkling House A. Garfield. The fact that Chester Arthur then accepted the nomination for vice-president infuriated Conkling. In May, 1881, Conkling and the other U.S. Senator from New York resigned from the Senate in protest of Garfield's political appointments. They expected to be immediately re-elected to the Senate by the New York State legislature, but this did not happen. Instead, they returned to New York to campaign for re-election. In the highly charged atmosphere while the New York legislature was deadlocked on this issue, crazed "Stalwart" supporter Charles J. Guiteau assassinated President Garfield. The resulting public outcry effectively ended Conkling's political career.
Charles J. Guiteau had been legally insane at the time of the shooting (because God had taken away his free will), he was not really medically insane, which was one of the major causes of the rift between him and his defense lawyers. Edward Charles Spitzka, a leading alienist, testified as an expert witness. Spitzka had stated that it was clear "Guiteau is not only now insane, but that he was never anything else." While on the stand, Spitzka testified that he had "no doubt" that Guiteau was both insane and "a moral monstrosity". Spitzka came to the conclusion that Guiteau had "the