On this President’s Day, I remember the life of James Garfield. Born to a poor farmer, raised by a single mom, he was a Union General and fought for the rights of freed slaves & civil service for government employees. His tenure was cut short by an assassin’s bullet.

Still, Garfield was a humble, noble man, a true scholar, and somehow defied the axiom that nothing good ever comes from Ohio.

We could use more men (and women) like James Garfield in public office. Our nation was fortunate to have him, however briefly.

One more fun fact-he didn’t even want to BE President! He was drafted at the Republican convention when the delegates couldn’t agree on the other candidates. He reluctantly accepted the nomination & then refused to campaign, instead spending the election cycle working on his farm

I always try to read 2-3 historical memoirs about noteworthy Americans each year, and then spend the rest of the year talking about those books on Twitter to make me seem well-read.