The assassination of President James Garfield has been variously blamed for the decline of the Utopian Oneida community where the murderer once lived, the reform of the American civil service by shocked legislators who noted that the motive seemed to be a legitimate denial of political patronage, and the movement for sterile operating conditions in light of the damage done by surgeons probing with dirty hands for the fatal bullet. The fascination continues in a killing that is a classic case of stalking and paranoia.