James Abram Garfield was the 20th president. He was elected and started serving on March 4 in the year 1881, but shortly after he started serving as a president he was assassinated by a shooting that happening in a downtown train station. Garfield fought for his life for 80 agonizing days, but his severely infected gunshot wound eventually led to his death.
Garfield was raised by a single mother in a small and humble farm located in Ohio. Growing up in order to survive he had to work everything, including on a canal boat in his youth. Starting from his 17th birthday Garfield attended several Ohio schools, after which he studied at the Williams College in Williamstown Massachusetts. He graduated in 1856 and a year after that he started his career in politics as a Republican. Before he was elected President of the United States, Garfield served nine terms in the House of Representatives and was elected to the Senate.