• Destiny of the Republic

  • A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
  • By: Candice Millard
  • Narrated by: Paul Michael
  • Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (7,401 ratings)

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Destiny of the Republic  By  cover art

Destiny of the Republic

By: Candice Millard
Narrated by: Paul Michael
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Publisher's summary

James A. Garfield may have been the most extraordinary man ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back.

But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what hap­pened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in tur­moil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his con­dition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet.

Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic will stand alongside The Devil in the White City and The Professor and the Madman as a classic of narrative history.

From the Hardcover edition.

©2011 Candice Millard (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"[Millard demonstrates] the power of expert storytelling to wonderfully animate even the simplest facts....make[s] for compulsive reading. Superb American history." ( Kirkus)
"Splendidly insightful....stands securely at the crossroads of popular and professional history" ( Booklist)
“Sparklingly alive…[Millard] brings to life a moment in the nation’s history when access to the president was easy, politics bitter, and medical knowledge slight. Under Millard’s pen, it’s hard to imagine its being better told.” ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Destiny of the Republic

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  • Overall
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Great Story

Paul Michael did a great job narrating this book. Candice Millard kept this book interesting and moving right along, it could have bogged down in the political details. I knew very little about Garfield and found this book fascinating. I like the fact that Garfield never campaigned for office. The medical information demonstrated how slow the medical fields is in accepting new ideas. The information about Bell was also interesting. Look forward to more books by Millard.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

beautifully delivered story

Would you consider the audio edition of Destiny of the Republic to be better than the print version?
havent read the book, but the way the book was spoken and delivered by the narrator really enhanced my appreciation. I loved his accent, and his delivery.

What did you like best about this story?
the way it draws out the character of many people. It reflects upon their attainments, without loosing sight of their soul and spirit as well. I developed a huge fondness for this president, his inherant decency and ideals, and wished that his fate had not collided so tragically with the figure of Giteau, because it seemed that he could have done much good.
Also, the way his assasain was drawn was interesting. The workings of a man's delusional mind are clearly examined and laid out. Like his victim, he was a person who felt impelled to make a contribution to society, but lacked the necessary talent and insight to do so.


What does Paul Michael bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
beautiful rendition. He delivers the words of the president just as I imagine they were thought or said

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, not for me. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster, and much too long for that.

Any additional comments
The use of a high lethality weapon in the hands of someone obviously quite crazy is something that has never gone away in American life, causing untold tragedy for many.

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13 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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History well-written and well-read

This very enjoyable book gives an interesting perspective on the contrast between the wealth of scientific progress and discovery occurring at the time of President Garfield's assassination and the ignorance used in treating his wounds. It involves the contrasts between the environment of corruption and egotism of some of the actors in the drama with the nobility and unselfishness of others. Further the book acquaints us with the promise of the man who was James Garfield, a president about whom few of us have any knowledge.

The narrator does multiple voices and accents as well as I have heard them done in audiobook format for a work of non-fiction and makes the book as exciting as any work of fiction, although one knows from the start the end of the story. I recommend it highly for its unusual approach to an important moment in our nation's history from multiple perspectives.

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12 people found this helpful

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What a fun way to learn some history!

I love finding books about history that are really well written, and tell an intriguing story. This was definitely one of those books. The author did an amazing job of researching this story to find all the little details that made this book so interesting. When I bought it I expected it to be a history of James Garfield's life, but it told a lot more than just about his life. I really enjoyed learning about the crazy life and delusions of Garfield's eventual assassin. The guy was nuts, and yet I don't believe he was insane. Elements of his life reminded me of people I know today - scary!.

The other minor story within the bigger story was about the doctor who attended Garfield after he was shot. He used extreme confidence, and a bold personality to become the primary doctor to Garfield without ever being assigned the role. He just pushed his way into the action immediately following the assassination, acted like he was in charge, and then pushed all the other doctors away; all without ever being given permission to do so.

There were so many fascinating elements to this story that almost anyone would enjoy listening to it, but if you love history and want to learn about it, this book is a must "read".

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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James A. Garfield should have lived...

The author did well in capturing my attention from the beginning chapter. Millard did a superb job of intertwining the social, scientific and political worlds at the time of the presidential shooting. Being unschooled about the particulars of the Garfield assassination, it was an intriguing read to learn about the shooter, the doctors and the politics of science.
Perhaps the most interesting parts of the book lay in the details about Garfield's academic life and the role his family played, especially the role of his wife, in many of his political decisions.
Most importantly, Millard explained in great detail the arrogance of physicians and how their limited knowledge accelerated the death of the president. We are also introduced to the black physician who initially assisted the wounded president.
A great read sewn-together nicely. Narration was superb and easy to listen to.

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8 people found this helpful

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Fascinating story, great reader

An engrossing historical account, beautifully-narrated. All of the personages are memorably depicted, and Millard does a wonderful job of re-creating a lost era of American culture and politics. By turns amusing and tragic, I'm so glad I used a credit for this book!

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Ranks with the best

This book is beautifully written account of a president we never should have lost. The history is expertly told by introducing the reader to the personalities of the people that lived at the time and held great power over the direction of our nation, not only politically, but socially, scientifically, and overall medically.

The story is heart-breaking in its depiction of a heroic man, not heroic for what he accomplished in his time as a politician, but for the strength and spirit of life he brought to the long journey toward his own death.

The performance was absolutely first rate. The reader faultlessly creates the voices of each character with such convincing narration that the listener feels as though they are meeting the people, not listening to a reader.

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An American tragedy worthy of Shakespeare

This little remembered episode from American history is thoroughly American in character but also fully worthy of a Shakespearian tragedy.

From Garfield, an Ohio farm boy who grew up to be a well educated man of deep and noble convictions, to his assassin, Charles Guiteau, a deluded political and religious fanatic, the figures seem larger than life. Then there are the "supporting" characters--Garfield's vice-president, Chester A. Arthur, a man transformed by Garfield's assassination: the political boss, Roscoe Conklin; Garfield's arrogant doctor, Dr. Doctor Bliss; and even Alexander Graham Bell, who struggled over an invention which might help save Garfield's life.

I was moved by this book and the story it tells holds much relevance for today's world in terms of the pitfalls of political factionalism and the dangers of religious fanaticism. Indeed, it seems shameful that the "Garfield" with which most people are familiar is a cartoon cat.

Highly recommended.

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What would history say if he had lived?

Did Paul Michael do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

When reading long narrative passages, Paul Michael was excellent. But using different voices for every quote, even brief 2-3 word quotes, resulted in a somewhat choppy effect. It became enough of a distraction to bring down the performance score, but I suspect it wasn't the narrator's choice so much as the producer. Either way, I think a straight up reading would have been better.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The tragedy of the horrible suffering Garfield experienced at the hands of a physician who, even by the unenlightened standards of the day, showed only self-serving arrogance even to the grieving family. Alexander Graham Bell's devotion to try and find a way to detect the bullet in an effort to save a good man's life.

Any additional comments?

Enlightening story of a president who was not well known to me. As the epilogue states, this was a man whose character and courage would sadly be forgotten eventually by the general public. He deserved better from history.

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Very good book; narration...not so much

I was thoroughly engrossed in the narrative, it is an amazing congruence of personal brilliance and madness that would have made a great novel. But I found myself wanting to punch my car stereo each time the narrator broke into a character accent. Listening to Mr. Michael try to do Mrs. Garfield's voice almost made me bail on the rest of the book. It might just be me, but I wish all narrators would realize that the interest is in the book, not their vocal acting abilities. Let the story unfold, don't distract with your vocal prowess.

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