The Stranger-Than-Fiction True Story Behind Netflix’s New Star-Studded Historical Miniseries
Netflix's Death by Lightning dramatizes the shocking true events surrounding the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield. Before the concept of a “parasocial relationship” entered the cultural lexicon, Charles Guiteau was a failed lawyer and self-proclaimed political influencer who believed he had personally put Garfield in office.
After the White House ignored his handwritten letters demanding an ambassadorship to Paris, Guiteau's obsession escalated to a tragic extreme. In the summer of 1881, he confronted Garfield at a Washington, D.C. train station and shot him in the back, convinced he was saving the Republican Party and possibly the nation.
This bizarre story, marked by obsession, ego, and delusion, inspired Netflix to create a gripping miniseries that blends dark humor with a character-driven study. Executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, known for Game of Thrones, collaborated with Mike Makowsky of Bad Education to depict how one man’s craving for recognition intersected with a politically decaying system.
"Charles Guiteau — a failed lawyer, wannabe preacher, and self-styled political influencer who decided he was personally responsible for putting President James Garfield in office."
"In the summer of 1881, he cornered Garfield in a Washington, D.C. train station and shot him in the back, convinced he’d just saved the Republican Party… maybe even the nation."
The series captures a moment when personal ambition met political corruption, offering a surreal look at democracy unraveling.
Author’s summary: Death by Lightning reveals a chilling historical episode where obsession and political decay led to one of America's strangest presidential assassinations.
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