• Flying Squid
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    4 months ago

    He was just a complete nutbag. He wrote a poem in the style of “a child babbling to his mamma and his papa” which repeated “I am going to the Lordy” over and over again and read it on the way up to the gallows.

    Check out the excerpts from his trial and what he said at his sentencing:

    https://www.famous-trials.com/guiteau/2193-guiteauspeaks

    https://www.famous-trials.com/guiteau/2196-sentencing

    Edit: I forgot about the “Tableaux.”

    https://www.famous-trials.com/guiteau/2190-shortplay

    • LucasWaffyWaf
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      24 months ago

      Oh god how did I forget about the poem

      • Flying Squid
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        24 months ago

        Not sure if this is your thing, but Stephen Sondheim did a musical about presidential assassins and set some of the poem to music (incidentally, Guiteau said at the execution that he hoped the poem would be effective if it was set to music) as part of a longer song.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAnHW2qwc2Y

    • ivanafterall ☑️
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      4 months ago

      “As sure as you are alive, gentlemen, as sure as you are alive, if a hair of my head is harmed this nation will go down to desolation… all you can do is put my body in the ground, but this nation will pay for it as sure as you are alive.”

      Well, shit. Do you guys think this is why things have been going so poorly lately?