The Cast of Death by Lightning Wants Your Vote: Meet the Real Historical Figures
Politics feels loud right now - and maybe that's why this one hits a nerve. Death by Lightning is a new limited series where Michael Shannon (movies and tv series) and Matthew Macfadyen (movies and tv series) step into a brutal, very American story: a president and the man (movies and tv series) who killed him.
It's not distant history. It's the shock of a public shooting, the scramble of a government caught off guard, and the way ego and ambition can twist a country off course. You feel the echoes.
The quick pitch
Two towering performers. One presidency cut short. The series drops us into the late 19th century - a Washington built on favors and backroom promises - and tracks a collision between idealism and obsession. You can almost hear the ink-stained pressrooms and the clatter of the train platform.
Who they're playing - in real life
The story centers on President James A. Garfield and his assassin, Charles J. Guiteau. Garfield, a Civil War veteran turned reform-minded politician; Guiteau, a drifter who convinced himself the country owed him power and attention.
If you want a quick refresher, here are solid primers:
James A. Garfield - a brief, fragile presidency
Garfield didn't claw his way to the top; he was drafted at a deadlocked convention and tried to steer the country toward cleaner government. That meant pushing back on the patronage system - the old "you get a job because you backed me" deal that greased Washington.
He was shot in a train station in July 1881 and died weeks later from infection. The country watched, helpless, as doctors probed for a bullet they couldn't find. The grief wasn't just sadness - it was anger at a system that felt rigged and reckless.
Charles J. Guiteau - craving status, courting infamy
Guiteau bounced from failed ventures to pulpits to political hangers-on, convinced that a rambling speech had helped win an election - and that he deserved a diplomatic post for it. When that fantasy collapsed, he picked up a small revolver and waited where the president would be most exposed: a busy station platform.
He wanted to be noticed. He was. For all the wrong reasons.
Why this story lands now
Look, you don't need a degree in history to feel the parallels. A capital addicted to favors. A leader trying to set a different tone. A violent act that jolts the country and tests our institutions.
Here's what this could mean: the series isn't just reenactment. It's a mirror. It asks how fragile political goodwill can be - and how quickly one person's delusion can become everyone's crisis.
What to watch for
- Smoke-filled bargaining and the tug-of-war over government jobs - the patronage fights that defined the era.
- Newspaper headlines set in heavy wood type, racing to keep up with rumor and truth.
- The quiet pressure on the First Lady and Cabinet, as the room narrows around a wounded president.
- The unsettling charm and offbeat humor that made Guiteau seem "harmless"… right up until he wasn't.
The takeaway
Death by Lightning isn't homework. It's a reminder that politics is personal - and that our stories, good and bad, tend to repeat until we face what caused them. Maybe it's just timing, but this one feels close.
When you watch, keep an ear out for the small moments: the way a favor is offered, the pause before a handshake, the hush in a crowded station. That's where the truth usually lives.
