Comparison Of James Garfield's Life And Legacy

Like a needle tunneling through layers of cloth, James Garfield worked his way through adversity to weave a legacy that outlived his struggles. Born into poverty, Garfield quickly learned the importance of hard work and dedication. His widowed mother, Eliza, gave him her life savings of seventeen dollars, which afforded Garfield one term of college. In order to continue his education, Garfield worked as a carpenter and an on-campus janitor. With intense devotion to academia, Garfield made it his goal to be the best student attending the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, a goal that was not set in vain. He had excelled to such a degree, that he was offered a job as a professor during his second year, and taught English, math, and ancient languages. It was due to his new profession that Garfield met Lucretia Rudolph, a student in his Greek literature class. They very warily stumbled into engagement, followed by a frustrated marriage. Garfield and Lucretia’s personalities were hardly complementary of each other; he was outgoing, confident, and self-centered, while his wife was reserved and shy. There was a distance between the two and it was not helped by Garfield’s absence while he fought in the Civil War. After witnessing the raw reality of slavery during battle, Garfield grew impassioned about equal rights, a principle
Garfield and Lucretia’s union had been tested with the death of their three year old daughter, Garfield’s up-and-coming political career taking priority, and infidelity. The connection that had bonded them seemed to be hanging by a thread. The guilt of Garfield’s unfaithfulness led him to confess all to Lucretia, who calmly dealt with the news and how she and Garfield could move forward; it was through this darkness that a new flame was lit for Garfield and Lucretia, a flame that was stronger and more fervent than their mere flicker had ever been