#438 James Garfield's Extraordinary Rise

At just forty four years of age, he had already defied all odds. Born into extreme poverty in a log cabin in rural Ohio, and fatherless before his second birthday, he had risen quickly through the layers of society. Not with aggression or even ambition. But with a passionate love of learning that would define his life. Garfield was a former professor of ancient languages.

Literature and mathematics. Who had paid for his first year of college by working as a janitor. Garfield's interests and abilities were as deep as they were broad. In fact, so detailed was his interest in mathematics that he had recently written an original proof that the New England Journal of Education had published just the month before. The journal was astonished that a member of Congress had written it.

In Garfield's experience, education was salvation. It had freed him from grinding poverty. It had shaped his mind. Forged paths and created opportunities where once there had been none. So that is an excerpt from the book that I want to talk to you about today. Which is

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