The Stranger-Than-Fiction True Story Behind Netflix’s Historical Miniseries
Netflix’s new limited series Death by Lightning dives into the real events surrounding the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield. The show dramatizes a moment in American history that feels almost too bizarre to be true.
The Delusional Assassin
Long before the modern idea of a “parasocial relationship,” there was Charles Guiteau. He was a failed lawyer and self-proclaimed preacher who believed he personally helped Garfield win the presidency. When his requests for an ambassadorship to Paris went unanswered, his obsession turned deadly.
In the summer of 1881, Guiteau cornered President Garfield in a Washington, D.C. train station and shot him in the back, convinced he was saving the Republican Party—and perhaps the nation itself.
From Historical Tragedy to Black Comedy
The series transforms this grim chapter of American history into a darkly humorous reflection on obsession, ego, and delusion. It portrays how one man’s hunger for attention and political reward collided with a government already suffering from deep internal decay.
Creative Team
- Executive producers: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, known for Game of Thrones.
- Writer and co-producer: Mike Makowsky, the mind behind Bad Education.
Together, they resurrect this strange story of ambition and madness that defined one of America’s most unusual presidential assassinations.
Author’s summary: A Netflix drama brings President Garfield’s shocking 1881 assassination to life, blending history, satire, and psychological portraiture of a man consumed by delusion.