"Mister Garfield" is a traditional song[2] sometimes credited to Ramblin' Jack Elliott.
[2][3] The song is about the assassination of U.S. President James A. Garfield by Charles Guiteau[4] at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington on July 2, 1881.
Released in June 1965[5][6][7] as the first and only single from the yet-to-be-released album (Columbia 4-43313, with "The Streets of Laredo" on the opposite side),[5][8][6][9][7][10] it reached number 15 on the U.S.
When researching song titles for inclusion on Johnny Cash Sings Ballads of the True West, Cash [...] combed through the repertoires of contemporary artists who performed authentic cowboy songs, such as Elliott, who taught Cash "The Death of Mister Garfield," the odd ballad recorded by the Rambling Boys in 1957 that eerily, and casually, details the assassination of President James A. Garfield by Charles Guiteau in 1881.
Elliott originally had presented the song to Cash as "The Ballad of Charles Guiteau," but Cash preferred the title “Mister Garfield.” The song was the only single released from this album, and it climbed to number 15 on the country chart.