Overview
- The four-part limited series premiered on November 6 and is now streaming on Netflix.
- Michael Shannon plays President James A. Garfield and Matthew Macfadyen portrays Charles J. Guiteau in an adaptation grounded in Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic.
- Early reception cites an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score and a rapid rise into Netflix’s Top 10, with several outlets touting it as a weekend watch.
- Coverage provides historical context featured in the show, including Guiteau’s stint in the Oneida Community and Alexander Graham Bell’s failed bullet-detection attempt hindered by metal bed springs.
- Fact-checks spotlight Gilded Age patronage battles such as Roscoe Conkling’s break with Garfield and failed re-election bid, alongside the widely cited view that unsterile care shaped the president’s outcome.