I thoroughly enjoyed the Netflix miniseries Death by Lightning, about the short Presidential administration of James A. Garfield, ended by an assassin’s bullet six months after his inauguration.

Garfield was famously a dark horse candidate, unexpectedly nominated because of divisions within the Republican party. This is covered in the series, as is his brief Presidency and its immediate aftermath.

The overarching theme of the show is the corruption of the Gilded Age spoils system then in effect, and how Garfield’s term helped instigate reforms, impressing on the nation the need for an independent professional civil service. This of course is a salient lesson for the current political age, with today’s civil service under assault by new corrosive forces of kleptocracy.

Is the series completely historically accurate? I haven’t done the research, so I don’t know. I did get the impression watching it that the writers took liberties with individual moments and interactions, but nonetheless I appreciated the broader theme and lesson as relevant. I was also greatly impressed with the overall production design – the costumes and settings bring the 1880s to life.

And the performances are exceptional. Michael Shannon is a principled and measured James Garfield, with Betty Gilpin as his steadfast and loving wife, Lucretia. Matthew Macfadyen is captivating as a delusionally aspirational Charles J. Guiteau, Garfield’s unhinged killer. And you don’t want to miss Nick Offerman as a drunken followed by remorseful Chester A. Arthur!

I highly recommend the miniseries for a binge watch, as it also has the virtue of being only four episodes long.