Garfield was only in office for a little more than six months. The one major issue that he dealt with was an investigation of whether mail route contracts were being awarded fraudulently with tax money lining the pockets of those involved. When the investigation showed that members of the Republican Party were involved, Garfield did not flinch from continuing the investigation. On July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally disturbed office seeker, shot President Garfield in the back. Mortally wounded, Garfield lay in the White House for weeks. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, tried unsuccessfully to find the bullet with an induction-balance electrical device which he had designed. On September 6, Garfield was taken to the New Jersey seaside. For a few days he seemed to be recuperating, but on September 19, 1881, he died from an infection and internal hemorrhage. Guiteau was convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882. http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesgarfield
Presidential Years: 1881