Death by Lightning is a new four-episode series on Netflix about President Andrew Garfield (played by Michael Shannon). It’s well worth the watch. I’d say it’s historically accurate for the most part. They get a lot right, mentioning that Garfield never learned to swim, showing that he liked show tunes and chess and used to write poetry. There’s a scene of one of his sons causing chaos by riding his tricycle through the White House, which actually happened.

There’s a lot of swearing in this show, but I don’t think Garfield himself swears, which is true to the Garfield of history. They accurately depict him as growing up poor and being religious. I think the only detail the show got wrong about Garfield was his drink of choice. The show always depicts him drinking alcohol. In real life, he seldom drank alcohol, preferring milk instead. It would have been fun if the show included the fact that Garfield had a very strong handshake and gave his friends bear hugs, sometimes lifting them into the air, but I guess you can’t include everything.

I like that exterior shots show horse poop in the streets. Historical TV shows often depict pristine streets, so this was a nice little detail giving the show a touch of realism. The show is only four episodes long and focuses on Garfield’s last year or so of life. His time as a congressman, senator, and Civil War general is barely mentioned. I don’t think it mentions his time as a teacher, college president, preacher, or lawyer at all.

The biography I read of Garfield said his wife was less emotional than he was and the show doesn’t really depict this. The Garfield of history had an affair which the show doesn’t depict, other than a brief mention of him and his wife having a troubled marriage in the past. The show accurately depicts Garfield as a champion of civil rights for black people, while also acknowledging his prejudice against the Chinese. (The real-life Garfield was also prejudiced against Native Americans, Catholics, and Mormons which the show doesn’t mention.)

His vice president, Chester Arthur, (played by Nick Offerman) is depicted as being corrupt, until Garfield’s assassination causes him to turn over a new leaf and become an honest man, which also reflects history. Arthur isn’t the focus of the show, but they get a lot of history right, mentioning him defending a black woman in court, and mentioning that his late wife was a Confederate supporter. It makes me happy when a historical TV show gets little details like this right.

Garfield is depicted as being honest and against the spoils system, however, the real-life Garfield is more complicated than that. He did speak against corruption, but he also took part in it. He took part in a shady get-rich-quick scheme, repealed a tax on petroleum to help his stocks, rewarded friends and fundraisers with positions of power, and took and gave bribes, so the real-life Garfield wasn’t as squeaky-clean as the show depicts him.

The show depicts Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, as a loser who nobody likes who wants wealth and prestige. This isn’t quite right. The Guiteau of history suffered from mental illness, shooting Garfield because he believed God wanted him to. In the show, he does claim to be doing God’s work, but they don’t depict him as being delusional about it.

Guiteau had delusions of grandeur, believing that not only would he become president of the country, but also president of the world. He was a lawyer, but during his only case, he ranted about God for an hour while shaking his fist at the jury and losing his case.

The show doesn’t mention his wife at all. The Guiteau of history locked his wife in a closet when she displeased him. She left him after he got syphilis from a sex worker. He moved in with his sister. After he went after his sister with an ax, she tried to have him committed, but he fled. In the show, they depict this incident as him chopping wood when his sister surprises him and he turns around suddenly. Anyway, the Guiteau of history was far more unhinged than the character presented in the TV series.

I nitpick, but the show was fantastic over all. Real people are always much more complicated than screen depictions of them. This show is largely historically accurate, has a great cast, and a great story. It’s also very tragic and I’m not ashamed to admit it brought tears to my eyes. Well done.