Swaim had leapfrogged over judge advocates senior to him as a result of his relationship to President-elect James A. Garfield.

[3] In United States v. Mason, Swaim advised President Chester Arthur that the court-martial did not possess jurisdiction over a sergeant who had tried to kill Garfield's assassin.

Instead, Arthur turned to Major Asa Bird Gardiner to argue to the Supreme Court that Mason's court-martial conviction should stand.

Another basis for Swaim's ultimate downfall might have resided in his desire to enforce equal treatment for African-American soldiers and officers.

He died three years later at his home in Washington, D.C. Two days after his death, Swaim was interred with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on August 19, 1897.