Destiny of the Republic

“A tall man with broad shoulders and a warm smile, Garfield was, in many ways, the embodiment of the Centennial Exhibition’s highest ideals. At just forty-four years of age, he had already defied all odds. Born into extreme poverty in a log cabin in rural Ohio, and fatherless before his second birthday, he had risen quickly through the layers of society, not with aggression or even overt ambition, but with a passionate love of learning that would define his life.” 

This passage shows how the author implicitly compares Garfield to the United States, as if he personified the nation.

“By 1876, Lister’s steady and astonishing success had silenced nearly all of his detractors at home and in Europe. The United States, however, remained inexplicably resistant. Most American doctors simply shrugged off Lister’s findings, uninterested and unimpressed. Even Dr. Samuel Gross, the president of the Medical Congress and arguably the most famous surgeon in the country, regarded antisepsis as useless, even dangerous. ‘Little, if any faith, is placed by any enlightened or experienced surgeon on this side of the Atlantic in the so-called carbolic acid treatment of Professor Lister,’ Gross wrote imperiously.” 

This passage comes early in the book, in the chapter describing the Centennial Exhibition, and shows what Joseph Lister was up against in trying to convince American doctors of the value of antisepsis. Thus, it foreshadows the main thesis of the book.

“So vigorously did Garfield apply himself during his first year at the Eclectic that, by his second year, the school had promoted him from janitor to assistant professor.” 

Garfield was an excellent student with a keen mind, which this quote illustrates. Despite growing up in poverty, he succeeded in life through education, hence his strong belief in education for his fellow citizens.