TV Review: Death by Lightning (2025)

Death by Lightning (2025) created for television by Mike Makowsky based on Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard

James Garfield is one of the lesser-known Presidents of the United States. His nomination at the 1880 Republican Convention was a surprise to everyone, including himself. He eventually ran on a platform of civic reform (plenty of corruption in government to deal with) and minority rights (the American Civil War was still in living memory along with a lot of cultural assumptions from that period and before). Amazingly, he won the election but only served several months, being assassinated by Charles Guiteau, a mentally unwell admirer of Garfield who clearly changed his attitude about the man.

This story is told starting with the convention and with Guiteau's seedy background, leaving one con job after another. Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen) winds up in Chicago at his sister's home where he tries some more schemes but gets swept up in the excitement of the presidential nomination and campaign. He tries to ingratiate himself with Garfield (Michael Shannon), with Garfield's running mate Chester Arthur (Nick Offerman), with his political advisor Blaine (Bradley Whitford), and assorted other people. Nobody takes Guiteau on, though he manages to build a slight relationship with Arthur. Arthur is a bit of a problem. He's the pal of corrupt New York Senator Conkling (Shea Whigham), a wheeler-dealer who wanted U.S. Grant to stay in office. Arthur's candidacy was a compromise deal to get support from New York and its political machine without getting Conkling on board the Garfield presidential campaign. Arthur's loyalty wavers since he's more a civil servant than a politician. Trouble brews for everyone as Garfield starts his administration hoping to weed out corruption (including a lot of what Conkling does) and Guiteau persistently tries to join the new administration.

The story is a fairly straightforward conflict of good and evil in 1880s politics. The dynamic character is Arthur, who has an outsized presence in what seems like it should just be about Garfield and Guiteau. The performances, especially by Macfadyen, are very good and give viewers a sense of the personalities involved. Whigham's Conkling is a bit of a mustache-twirler with no redeeming values. The other character have more depth. The resulting tragedy from the conflicts has some irony as it acknowledges that Garfield and Guiteau will be forgotten by history. 

This is the sort of production that makes me want to find out more. Fictionalized history always leaves out bits and oversimplifies things, making me curious for the whole truth. I might get the book from the library.

Recommended.