“Assassination can no more be guarded against than death by lightning,” James Garfield wrote just two weeks after his unprecedented ascension to the presidency of the United States. Less than a year later, those words would prove hauntingly prophetic: his presidency, and his life, were cut short by an assassin’s bullet.

Starring Michael Shannon (James Garfield) and Matthew Macfadyen (Charles Guiteau), Death by Lightning tells the story of James Garfield, who rose from obscurity to become America’s 20th President, and Charles Guiteau, the man who took his life.


Created by Mike Makowsky (Bad Education), the new limited series is based on Candice Millard’s acclaimed book Destiny of the Republic, which explores one of the most dramatic yet little-known chapters in American history.

Along with Shannon and Macfadyen, Death by Lightning’s core cast also includes Shea Whigham, Nick Offerman, Betty Gilpin and Bradley Whitford.

Filmed at various locations in Hungary, the 19th-century presidential thriller counts David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (Game of Thrones, 3 Body Problem) among its executive producers, with Ildikó Kemény and David Minkowski of Pioneer Stillking serving as the series co-producers.

Death by Lightning premieres November 6 on Netflix.

 

Photo credit: Larry Horricks, Netflix