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Summary Of Assassination Vacation By Sarah Vowell

843 Words4 Pages

Assassination- the act of killing a political leader, often due to strong, differing beliefs. Sarah Vowell’s novel, Assassination Vacation, acutely explores three of the four American president assassinations; Lincoln, Garfield, and Mckinley. By strategically following the historical paths of the presidents and their killers, Vowell discovers a deeper understanding of the motives and causes behind each assassination. Throughout the book, Vowell travels to museums, historical landmarks trying to get a better grasp on these assassinations. One similarity between the three assassinations is they all relate to at least one of the four broad themes of social studies. Lincoln’s assassination relates to power, Garfield’s assassination relates to change, and McKinley’s assassination relates to power. There is no questioning the impact Abraham Lincoln made on the history of the …show more content…

Garfield is an often overlooked president. As Vowell describes it, “The most famous thing ever said about President James A. Garfield is about how nobody has any idea who the hell he was” (Vowell 1578). Garfield, simply put, was a president that did his job in a rather non-controversial manner. This all changed the day of July 2, 1881 when Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau. Guiteau believed that God had commanded him to shoot the president. Suddenly the entire United States population was in chaos. Citizens listened for the constant updates on their president’s terrible conditions. This continued for two and a half months until September 19, when their beloved president died. His daughter, Mollie, wrote in her diary only ten days after his death, “It is something really beautiful to see how much the people have gotten to love Papa through all his sickness” (Vowell 1599). The change brought about by Garfield’s shooting was one of love. The American people, who previously didn't think twice about presidential news, suddenly cared. It brought change in the citizens way of

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