I read this because we don't often hear much about President Garfield in US History courses (AP or non-AP in high school) and I was genuinely curious. Turns out the plot to kill him is less the focus of this book than is the fact that he was shot and the "medical care" he got afterward.
And it quickly becomes apparent why: he's best known, not for anything he did as President, poor chap, but because all kinds of ignorant doctors of the time period stuck their unwashed, un-sanitized fingers and other implements into him after he was shot (including a few who were in the train station!) and … dare I say, rummaged around in there? Spreading bacteria and goodness knows what else?
He's a classic case of a medical fiasco if ever there was one, and as good a reason as any to thank your lucky stars you were born *when* you were. When science in medicine reigns supreme. When doctors agree, bacteria exists. Because back in Garfield's day, they didn't. Not always. And people -- like Garfield, poor man -- died because of it.
Nostalgia be darned, "back when" was gross. And Jarrow lays it out for us, that despite the tide of medical knowledge in Europe turning the corner toward requiring physicians to wash hands and sterilize surgical implements (can you imagine doctors not washing hands between surgeries, much less before? Or their scalpels? Ugh!), American doctors remained pig-headed about it and refused to change their ways.
And it's nothing short of incredible how long Garfield survives. I mean, after so many people poked and prodded him, stuck their fingers and their tools inside his body, his body and immune system deserve much more credit for keeping him alive as long as they did! I walked away equally dumbstruck by how amazing the human body is and how incredibly stubborn people can be.
A fantastic non-fiction read! Enjoy.
