MENTOR, Ohio — While many government buildings are closed on this federal holiday, the James Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor is undoubtedly not. It's one of its busiest days of the year.
"People love to come to a presidential home on President's Day," said Site Manager Todd Arrington. "We don't usually see lines like this; it's pretty nice."
The site, normally closed Monday through Thursday in the winter, was open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to welcome folks like Rachael Parry of Mentor.
"We're very lucky that we have a president's home right here," said Parry. "I was very pleased to see all the people that came out, and it's still something that's on people's radar, and it's still something I'm very proud of."
She lives not far away in Mentor, and so too does Mindy Zeitz, who has come each year for the last five years with her granddaughter Zoey. Passing from one generation to the next an appreciation for this local tie to U.S. history.
"A very good person," Zeitz said of the 20th president. "It's a shame that he was taken out too early."
Yes, James Garfield's time in office is the second shortest of any U.S. President; he was shot just four months after taking the oath, and he died after just 199 days on the job. That's why another popular stop on this President's Day for many is Garfield's final resting spot at Lake View Cemetery, but it has been closed since last July, undergoing major exterior renovations. There is no holiday for the crews there on this President's Day; they are working to prepare it to reopen to the public on May 1.
"We are going to be finished in about a month," said Lake View Cemetery President & CEO Kathy Goss. "Right now, what you see up there are eight stone stair treads that are going to be installed this week that lead up to the front door of the building. And then shortly after that, we will be installing beautifully handcrafted wrought iron railings up the first 20 steps. So we are rounding home on this project for the exterior restoration."
A just-released study ranking the 45 men who have served as U.S. President puts Garfield at 30, ahead of a third of his counterparts. A considerable achievement, said Arrington, despite Garfield's limited time in office.
"We saw those rankings too and saw that he was at number 30, which again for a guy who was only president four months before he was shot, 6.5 months total, to be at #30. I mean, frankly, we feel like that's pretty good," he said. "Had he lived and served a full term or a full two terms, we're pretty confident he could've been much higher."
"We think that based on who he was, the experience that he had, we think that he certainly would have been a very impactful president had he not been assassinated," Arrington said.
