Is this a good day to talk about American political history? Depends on your point of view, I guess...
I assume no one wants to hear another debate on the definition of mystery fiction. Most of us are happy to use Otto Penzler's: fiction in which crime or the threat of crime is a major element.
It's not perfect, of course: it easily encompasses Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, The Brothers Karamazov, and The Great Gatsby, none of which are usually claimed by (or condemned to) our genre.
I bring it up because I want to discuss a limited TV series I just watched on Netflix, one which no one is likely to label a mystery although it certainly fits Penzler's definition.
Death By Lightning is a four episode mini-series about the assassination of President James Garfield. It is a terrific piece of drama with a lot of American history weaved into it, and it will likely convince you that our politics has always been a lot murkier than Mrs. Kodwaller claimed when you were in in seventh grade.
One of the most outstanding performances is Matthew Mcfadyen as the assassin Charles Guiteau. He is always described in history books as a "disappointed office-seeker." The show suggests that he was also a scoundrel and a megalomaniac.
The other stand-out is Nick Offerman as Vice President Chester A. Arthur, who agrees with most of the country that he doesn't belong anywhere near the White House. Michael Shannon, as Garfield, is burdened with portraying a bit of a saint.
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| Ol' Chester |
I recommend the series but, alas, I am here mainly to gripe. Isn't that always the way?
My main complaint is that they left out Julia Sand. I recently listened to a BBC podcast about her so I was hoping she would make an appearance. Chances are you have never heard of her and yet one can argue that she had more effect on American life up to the present day than all but a handful of nineteenth century women.
Sand (1848-1933) was the daughter of a wealthy New York family, well-educated but burdened by bad health. She entered history after Garfield was shot and spent two long months dying. She began writing to the vice president, who she didn't know, as follows:
The hours of Garfield’s life are numbered – before this meets your eye, you may be President.The people are bowed in grief; but – do you realize it? – not so much because [Garfield] is dying, as because you are his successor.
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| Young Julia |
She wrote 23 letters and in them she encouraged Arthur to renounce the spoils system in which he had become rich and powerful and to reform the government. To everyone's astonishment the new president did that, signing the laws that created our Civil Service System, which has protected our interests for almost 150 years (or, ahem, created the Deep State, if you prefer).
Did Sand's letters really influence Arthur's policies? Well, we know two things: he visited her during his presidency, and before his death he ordered most of his papers destroyed. But he saved her letters.
