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Rumpus Book ClubThe Trial of Charles Guiteau
I wish I could find who posted a link to this on Twitter, because I’d like to thank them publicly. All I know of Charles Guiteau is that he’s the man who assassinated President James Garfield. I know even less about Garfield. But this transcript of the cross-examination of Guiteau at his trial is mesmerizing. He strikes me as a religious madman from his testimony, and as someone who wasn’t quite as smart as he thought he was. The prosecutor, retired Judge John. K Porter, spins Guiteau in circles on multiple occasions, but Guiteau never backs down from the idea that the Deity is the one who pushed him to “remove” the President. Really interesting stuff.
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