‘Death by Lightning’ on Netflix: Michael Shannon Leads a Riveting Reappraisal of President James Garfield’s Murder

The assassination of President James A. Garfield has long lived in the shadows of American memory. Death by Lightning, a four-part Netflix miniseries now streaming, drags the story into the light with a gripping, character-first retelling that centers Garfield’s brief presidency, the political knife fights of 1880–81, and the twisted path of his killer, Charles J. Guiteau. Anchored by Michael Shannon as Garfield and Matthew Macfadyen as Guiteau, the series is both a tense procedural and a study in how ambition, incompetence, and ego converged on a single, shattering act.

The Story: From “Dark Horse” to Tragedy

James Garfield entered the 1880 race a compromise candidate and left a surprise victor. The series charts his rise from Civil War general and reform-minded congressman to President Garfield, sworn in amid a Republican Party civil war. The show’s early episodes are thick with patronage battles, backroom deals, and factional warfare—context that makes the shooting at Washington’s Baltimore & Potomac Station on July 2, 1881, feel grimly inevitable rather than random.

Shot by Charles Guiteau, a delusional office seeker convinced he was owed a diplomatic post, Garfield survived the bullet but not the months of botched medical care that followed. The production places unusual emphasis on those agonizing 80 days, using the sickroom as a lens on power: who protects it, who exploits it, and who inherits it.

Death by Lightning Cast: Who Plays Whom

The ensemble is unusually deep for a four-part drama, giving historical figures sharp, memorable contours. Highlights include:

• Michael Shannon — James A. Garfield, the 20th U.S. president, portrayed as principled, cerebral, and stubbornly hopeful about civil service reform.

• Matthew Macfadyen — Charles J. Guiteau, a grandiose drifter whose self-mythology curdles into violence.

• Betty Gilpin — Lucretia “Crete” Garfield, a partner in politics and conscience who frames the personal cost of the presidency.

• Nick Offerman — Chester A. Arthur, the machine politician who becomes Garfield’s successor and—unexpectedly—a reformer.

• Bradley Whitford — James G. Blaine, the secretary of state and Garfield’s crucial ally.

• Shea Whigham — Roscoe Conkling, the power broker who battles Garfield over patronage.

• Željko Ivanek — Dr. Willard Bliss, the domineering physician whose methods shape Garfield’s fate.

• Shaun Parkes — Dr. Charles Purvis, a pioneering Black surgeon whose presence reframes the medical drama.

• Vondie Curtis-Hall — Frederick Douglass, grounding the era’s debate over Reconstruction and rights.

• Kyle Soller — Robert Todd Lincoln, connecting the Garfield tragedy to the wider arc of post–Civil War leadership.

• Richard Rankin — Alexander Graham Bell, whose improvised device to locate the bullet becomes a race against time.

Why ‘Death by Lightning’ Works

Character before trivia. The series resists turning history into a collage of fun facts. Garfield is not an empty martyr; he’s a reformer trying to pry the federal government loose from the spoils system. Guiteau is not just a punchline; he’s the embodiment of entitlement and delusion sharpened by a toxic patronage culture.

Politics with stakes. The patronage wars—Stalwarts versus Half-Breeds—aren’t window dressing. They’re the pressure cooker that gives Guiteau his deranged “mission,” makes Garfield a target, and forces Chester A. Arthur to decide what kind of president he will be when fate vaults him into office.

Medicine as drama. The bedside scenes are as harrowing as any assassination set piece. The show explores sanitation controversies, experimental devices, and the human cost of medical certainty—without drowning viewers in jargon.

How It Reframes James Garfield and Charles Guiteau

For many, President Garfield is little more than a trivia answer: shot at a train station, died months later. This series widens the frame. Garfield’s push for civil service reform and his commitment to postwar rights come across as consequential, not historical footnotes. Conversely, Charles Guiteau is presented as both a product and an opportunist—someone whose petty ambitions found oxygen in a political system that rewarded proximity over competence.

Episodes, Tone, and Takeaways

Across four episodes (roughly 47–66 minutes each), Death by Lightning moves with the confidence of a political thriller while keeping its heart in domestic rooms—marital exchanges, cabinet corridors, hospital wards. The tone is sober but not stodgy, with moments of mordant humor cutting through the pageantry. By the end, it’s clear the title doesn’t just evoke the shock of an assassin’s shot; it suggests how quickly a nation can convulse when self-interest overtakes stewardship.

Should You Watch ‘Death by Lightning’ on Netflix?

If you’re drawn to historical dramas that earn their emotions, the answer is yes. Death by Lightning turns a “forgotten” chapter into urgent television, powered by Michael Shannon’s gravitas, Matthew Macfadyen’s unnerving volatility, and a supporting cast that refuses to let any figure fade into stereotype. It’s a compact, propulsive meditation on leadership, delusion, and the thin line between public service and self-service—one that ensures James Garfield, President Garfield to his contemporaries, is forgotten no longer.