If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.
— A. Lincoln, 1863James A. Garfield
(presidential term: 1881)
According to the Soldiers’ Home Board Meeting minutes, President Garfield accepted an invitation in April 1881, to reside at the Soldiers’ Home.
On May 12, 1881, the Washington Post ran an article titled, “Mrs. Garfield’s Health.” The subtitles stated “The Executive Mansion Unfit for Human Habitation-Its Need of Sewage, Ventilation and Overhauling-A Bad Location.” The article reports a laundry-list of problems with the White House before closing with the advice, “…the President ought to lose no time in removing his family to the invigorating heights and air of the Soldiers’ Home.” President Garfield’s wife fell ill in May of 1881, purportedly with a case of malaria, which was affecting many residents of the White House at that time.
Despite advice suggesting an early move to the Soldiers’ Home that season, the Garfield’s apparently did not intend to move to the Soldiers’ Home until June. On June 1, 1881, the Washington Post reported that a house at the Soldiers’ Home had been thoroughly renovated for the President and First Lady’s impending arrival and it was thought that, “Mrs. Garfield would be sufficiently recovered to be removed there by Thursday next.”
Preliminary research does not confirm that the Garfield’s moved to the Soldiers’ Home. The President was shot on July 2, 1881 and died on September 18, 1881, unable to fully recuperate from the attack.