Garfield assassination bulletins. 19th-century artwork of crowds reading bulletins on the condition of US President Garfield, published in front of the office of the New York Herald. James Abram Garfield (1831-1881), the 20th President of the United States, had been inaugurated in March 1881, but was shot by an assassin on 2 July 1881. The wound became infected and on 6 September Garfield was moved to the Jersey coast to aid his recovery. He died on 19 September 1881. His assassin, Charles J. Guiteau, was convicted and executed on 30 June 1882. This wood engraving dates from circa 1888.