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Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President

Candice Millard

Start date: January 15, 2013

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Mary Anne

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Dec 13, 2011 Happyreader rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history-politics

Poor Robert Todd Lincoln. He was an unintentional harbinger of death. Not only was he present for his father’s death, he witnessed Garfield’s assassination and was the one who decided to fetch Dr. Bliss, the grandstanding, non-team-playing doctor whose arrogance made President Gerfield’s last months hell and ultimately killed him through medical malpractice. And if that’s not enough, Lincoln was also present at McKinley’s assassination, making him the only man to be present for three out of our ...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Dree rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, memoir-biography-autobiography, history, 2013-reads, science, medicine

This book is everything a history book should be: well researched, documented, and fascinating!

My great-grandfather had a younger brother (born 1887, after the events in this book) named after James Blaine. Blaine was a big player in the late 19th century, and no one today has heard of him--so it was fascinating to learn more about what Blaine stood for. Alexander Graham Bell (as important an inventor as Thomas Edison!) plays a big part, as does Joseph Lister and his theory of sepsis.

Political h ...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Angie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction

I was surprised when reading Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation that I enjoyed the Garfield/Guiteau sections more than the more notorious Lincoln/Kennedy sections. I thoroughly enjoyed Millard's book about Garfield's unwanted ascendancy to the Presidency and the delusions of his assassin, with a side dose of medical malpractice and Alexander Graham Bell. I plan on seeking out Millard's book on Teddy Roosevelt, and her book also makes me want to find a biography of Chester Arthur, too. ...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Pang rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: history, constant-reader

One of the best history books I've read recently! Not only that it's well researched, it's quite gripping. Ok, so may be the fact that I didn't know much about President Garfield had a lot to do with the suspense, but I think I would still be hooked to the book even if I know of his history. I was rooting for Garfield to survive, while trying to hold myself back from looking up the outcome on the Internet. But would Bell been able to save Garfield, even if his invention had worked? Millard does ...more

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Dec 28, 2013 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, true-crime, biography, american-history, politics

A well-told story that would make an excellent companion piece to Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation - Millard does an excellent job showing what the nation lost as a result of Guiteau's bullets. Garfield's death was an unnecessary tragedy in many ways, but the loss had profound (and perhaps even positive) effects on the nation's politics and scientific understanding. A great read for fans of presidential history, true crime, the history of medicine/science, and politics. ...more

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