American Experience: Murder of a President

FAIN: TR-50468-13

WGBH Educational Foundation (Boston, MA 02135-2016)
Mark Samels (Project Director: January 2013 to present)

Production of a two-hour documentary film that uses the short-lived presidency of James A. Garfield as a lens to explore numerous political, social, cultural, and scientific issues related to the United States at the time.

This is a request to the National Endowment for the Humanities for funds to support the production of "Murder of a President," a special presentation of "American Experience," for national broadcast on PBS. The two-hour film tells the story of the assassination of President James A. Garfield, focusing on the period from Garfield’s surprise nomination as the Republican presidential candidate in summer of 1880 to his death in 1881, eighty days after he was shot by Charles Guiteau, a mentally disturbed office seeker, and only 200 days into his term.