An informative juvenile biography of President Garfield
Rating:
5 / 5
I usually find that the less I know about a particular president the more likely I am to be impressed by a specific volume in the Our President series. Carol Brunelli's juvenile biography of "James A. Garfield: Our Twentieth President" certainly proves the case in terms of being informative. As always, the book is divided into four chapters: (1) Teacher and Preacher, looking at Garfield's life before the Civil War; (2) Solider and Congressman, covering is rise to political prominence in the Republican Party; (3) Stalwarts versus Half-Breeds has to do with the two Republican factions which formed on the question of a third term for President Ulysses S. Grant; and (4) Tragedy in Washington, which tells of Garfield's brief 200 days in the White House. Brunelli does an excellent job of explaining the politics of the time and providing evidence of Garfield's character and honesty as President. The writing level on this volume does skew a bit younger than others in the Our Presidents series, but that is a minor complaint. As always, there are a whole bunch of Interesting Facts scattered in the margins, such as Garfield was the last president born in a log cabin and his weight went from 210 to 135 bounds on his deathbed, as well as one of the better sets of sidebars providing details on Garfield's Rules for Living, Equal Opportunity and the Former Slaves, Garfield Stops a Riot (after Lincoln's assassination), and Science and Assassination (a fascinating story of how Alexander Graham Bell almost saved Garfield's life). The book is also illustrated with contemporary photographs, paintings, and illustrations from Garfield's life and political career. When it comes to a solid introductory biography of Garfield for young students, this is definitely the one. I must add that I find it a bit ironic that the name of this particular "forgotten" president was used for the famous cartoon cat because although he his term was brief this book shows he had potential to be a well above-average president.
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