 Garfield 's accomplishments as president included a resurgence of presidential authority against senatorial courtesy in executive appointments , energizing American naval power , and purging corruption in the Post Office , all during his extremely short time in office . Garfield made notable diplomatic and judiciary appointments , including a U.S. Supreme Court justice . He enhanced the powers of the presidency when he defied the powerful New York senator Roscoe Conkling by appointing William H. Robertson to the lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York , starting a fracas that ended with Robertson 's confirmation and Conkling 's resignation from the Senate . Garfield advocated agricultural technology , an educated electorate , and civil rights for African Americans . He also proposed substantial civil service reform , eventually passed by Congress in 1883 and signed into law by his successor , Chester A. Arthur , as the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act . With his term cut short by his death after only 200 days , and much of it spent in ill health trying to recover from the attack , Garfield is little @-@ remembered in the American cultural memory other than for his assassination ; historians often forgo listing him in rankings of U.S. presidents due to the short length of his presidency . 
