"That is the promise of the James Garfield administration, which seeks to restore the public trust by eliminating the spoils system and literally opening the White House doors to constituents. It is also a basic threat to security: When any deranged opportunist can simply knock on the door of a national politician or talk his way into an audience with the president himself, instances of violence become inevitable."
"In the series, Charles Guiteau's physical access to Garfield has become a metaphor for the relationship ordinary citizens have to the democracy that's supposed to represent them. That doesn't mean Guiteau doesn't deserve the contempt he receives from every supposed "gatekeeper" he comes across, but Americans throughout history - like, say, now for example - have often felt a disconnect between their wants and needs and the actions of those they have elected."
Death by Lightning centers on accessibility to government as both a democratic promise and a security vulnerability. President James Garfield aims to restore public trust by abolishing the spoils system and literally opening White House doors to constituents. That openness allows deranged opportunists to gain physical access, exemplified by Charles Guiteau, making everyday violence more likely than dramatic assassination. Guiteau's ability to reach Garfield becomes a metaphor for ordinary citizens' relationship to democracy. Garfield remains sincere about bridging the disconnect, but meeting unvetted, delusional constituents daily is unsustainable; he nonetheless chooses accessibility as his political battle. A pre-credits sequence depicts Guiteau in John Humphrey Noyes's Oneida commune.
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