President James A. Garfield survived the bullet--but not the system that failed him. In this episode of Bahr's History Hits, we unravel the astonishing and often overlooked story of America's 20th president, his assassin Charles Guiteau, and the corrupt spoils system that enabled it all. Featuring insight from Candice Millard's gripping book Destiny of the Republic, we explore how political patronage, medical arrogance, and misplaced ambition led to a death that could--and should-have been prevented. We also connect Garfield's era of backroom deals and broken institutions to today's broken budget process in Congress, showing how some political dysfunctions are more persistent then we think..