President James A. Garfield Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Garfield (1831-1881) rose to the rank of Major General in the U.S. Army during the Civil War, participating in the battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga, before resigning his commission to take a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (1863-1880). A political moderate, Garfield was the compromise choice of a deadlocked Republican Convention in 1880, nominated on the 36th ballot and elected President by a narrow margin. Garfield's assassination by a disappointed office seeker helped advance the cause of civil service reform which he had advocated. Shot on July 2 1881, Garfield died on September 19, only 200 days into his term. Signatures of Garfield as President, are thus extremely rare. Coming to power in a coup d'état in 1866, German Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen replaced elected ruler Prince Alexander John Cuza, and became known as Prince Carol I. Following Romania's participation in the defeat of the Ottoman Turks in the Russo-Turkish War, the principality was raised to a kingdom, with King Carol ruling until his death in 1914.