The Stranger-Than-Fiction True Story Behind Netflix’s Historical Miniseries
Death by Lightning, the latest Netflix release, recounts the dramatic assassination of U.S. President James Garfield. The series draws deeply from unsettling real-life events that blurred the lines between obsession and politics.
A Fanatic’s Fatal Obsession
Before the term “parasocial relationship” ever existed, there was Charles Guiteau — an unsuccessful lawyer, self-proclaimed preacher, and would-be political influencer. Convinced he had played a key role in Garfield’s election, Guiteau believed he deserved a prestigious post in return.
When the White House ignored his persistent letters requesting an ambassadorship to Paris, Guiteau took matters into his own hands.
In the summer of 1881, he confronted Garfield at a Washington, D.C. train station and shot him in the back, imagining he had just preserved the Republican Party and perhaps even saved the nation.
Fact Meets Fiction in Netflix’s Adaptation
The story, already stranger than fiction, becomes a darkly humorous exploration of ego, delusion, and political decay in Netflix’s adaptation. Death by Lightning revives this bizarre episode of American history as a portrait of one man’s desperate need for recognition amid a crumbling system.
From the Creators of Game of Thrones
Executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss collaborate with screenwriter Mike Makowsky of Bad Education fame to unravel this eccentric fusion of ambition, madness, and misplaced faith in power.
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