[211]

Treatment and death[edit]
Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Passenger Terminal in Washington, where Garfield was shot July 2, 1881
Garfield was struck by two shots; one glanced off his arm while the other pierced his back, shattering a rib and embedding itself in his abdomen. "My God, what is this?"he exclaimed.[212] Among those at the station was Robert Todd Lincoln, who was deeply upset, thinking back to when his father Abraham Lincoln was assassinated 16 years earlier. Garfield was taken on a mattress upstairs to a private office, where several doctors examined him. At his request, Garfield was taken back to the White House, and his wife, then in New Jersey, was sent for.[213] Blaine sent word to Vice President Arthur in New York City, who received threats against his life because of his animosity toward Garfield and Guiteau's statements.[214]
Although Joseph Lister's pioneering work in antisepsis was known to American doctors, few of them had confidence in it, and none of his advocates were among Garfield's treating physicians.[215] The physician who took charge at the depot and then at the White House was Doctor Willard Bliss.