As Introduced

135th General Assembly

Regular Session S. R. No. 209

2023-2024

Senators Cirino, Dolan

A R E S O L U T I O N

Recognizing the late President James A. Garfield for his legacy of public service.

WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the 135th General Assembly of Ohio extend posthumous recognition to President James A. Garfield as we recognize his legacy of public service; and

WHEREAS, The twentieth president of the United States of America and the last one to be born in a log cabin, James Garfield was raised in what is now Moreland Hills, and he served as a classics professor and the president of Hiram College before being elected to the Ohio Senate in 1859 as a Republican, advocating for coercing seceding states back into the Union. He would go on to join the U.S. House of Representatives but not before proudly serving as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War, and he was later chosen for a seat in the U.S. Senate before being elected president. Indeed, his legacy of good works for his state and nation endure to this day; and

WHEREAS, There is no finer honor that can be bestowed on an American individual by our nation’s people than election to president. Originally attending the 1880 Republican Convention to help win the nomination for his friend, John Sherman, he became the dark horse candidate on the thirty-sixth ballot and won the presidency by only 10,000 popular votes. He would go on to reaffirm the power and independence of the executive office by tackling the patronage system of Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York, setting precedents that stand to this day. His victory was eclipsed on July 2, 1881, when a mentally unstable office seeker shot President Garfield, and he died seventy-nine days later. Though his tenure was brief and we will never know the full potential and impact James Garfield could have had through the office, his commitment to his country is readily reflected in his efforts to combat political corruption, strengthen federal authority, and repair some of the damage that had been done to the presidency during the Reconstruction period; and

WHEREAS, A self-made man, a champion of important causes, and a skilled orator, James Garfield is one of the finest sons our state has ever produced. As we celebrate his legacy of public service to Ohio, we pay tribute to the indisputable fact that he made his home a greater place and, in doing so, enriched countless generations of people; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That we, the members of the Senate of the 135th General Assembly of Ohio, in adopting this Resolution, applaud the eternal legacy of President James A. Garfield and honor his example of public service; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit duly authenticated copies of this Resolution to the news media of the State of Ohio.