Is ‘Death By Lightning’ Based on a True Story? All About James A. Garfield and Charles Guiteau

Netflix‘s new limited series Death By Lightning tells the strange story of one of our lesser known presidents, James A. Garfield (Michael Shannon). Garfield stunned the political world in 1880 when he shot out of nowhere to win the hotly-contested Republican Presidential Primary. Unlike many of the corrupt politicians of his era, Garfield was defined by his integrity, commitment to civil rights, and deep desire to reform the government.

However, Death By Lightning isn’t just about James A. Garfield. It also follows Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen), a troubled, mentally-ill con man who would eventually go down in history as Garfield’s assassin.

Over the course of Death By Lightning‘s four episodes, we witness wild sex scandals, gory memories of Civil War battlefields, defiantly modern-feeling women, and Charles Guiteau attempting to brand himself as a populist hero from his very own prison cell. Much of Death By Lightning feels weirdly resonant to today, which is weird considering it’s all set during the height of the Gilded Age, an era we typically associate with escapist romances.

So how much of Death By Lightning did creator Mike Makowsky make up and how much of it is based on reality? Is Death By Lightning based on a true story? Here’s everything you need to know about the real history behind Netflix’s Death By Lightning…

Is Death By Lightning Based on a True Story?

Death By Lightning VERY MUCH is based on a true story. In fact, much of it is lifted from Candice Millard’s award-winning history book Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President. While some details are changed a tiny bit in the process of telling the story, by and large, most of Death By Lightning is totally freaking true.

In Death By Lightning Episode 1, we watch as the 1880 Republican National Convention struggles to come to a consensus over who should be their Presidential nominee: former President Ulysses S. Grant, who was indeed propped up by corrupt “Stalwart” New York Senator Roscoe Conkling (Shea Whigham), or one of the idealist members of the “Half-breed” group, dedicated to the idea of civil service reform. There was totally a Conclave-like situation where a surprise candidate — in this case, James A. Garfield — emerged from left field after countless votes to become the eventual winner.

The Garfield that we meet in Death By Lightning is also pretty true to contemporary accounts. He was a humble Ohio farmer who had been born in poverty. He did pay for his college tuition by working as a janitor on campus. He did meet and fall in love with his wife, Lucretia (Betty Gilpin), who did go by Crete, while they were at the same university. They did share a very egalitarian marriage, where she served as his closest advisor. He was a Civil War hero. He was a great orator. He did believe in Civil Rights.

Similarly, Charles Guiteau had been part of the Oneida “free love” community and, as detailed in the show, was resoundly rejected by all of its female members. He was obsessed with launching a newspaper called The Daily Theocrat. He did mooch off of his poor sister and her clerk husband. He did develop a parasocial relationship with Garfield and his political allies, wherein he believed he was personally responsible for Garfield’s victory. When they refused to give him a cushy ambassadorship, he did turn on Garfield and plotted his assassination.

Death By Lightning also doesn’t shy away from the truly messed up reason why Garfield eventually died months after the shooting. Guiteau may have shot the President twice, but that’s

If anything, Death By Lightning veers away from sharing all the crazy details of this era. When DECIDER spoke with showrunner Mike Makowsky, he shared that his initial pitch for the show was six episodes. One of the major storylines he had to cut from the final show was an in-depth look at Charles Guiteau’s bananas trial.

“I really think that the show is, unfortunately, just like the tip of the iceberg and there are so many fascinating rabbit holes you can go down with all of these subjects,” Makowksy said. “Guiteau’s trial, I’m still so sad that we didn’t get to render that on screen with his poor patent law lawyer brother-in-law representing him at trial. I mean, I read a thousand pages of trial transcripts. It is so crazy.”

It is all so crazy and so true.

Death By Lightning is now streaming on Netflix.