Vidal Gore — Eighteen Seventy [2967]

What I find unfair,” said Garfield, moving with his usual quick grace from the dangerous to the anodyne, “is the way that the press ignores real issues. For instance, in almost every parish of Louisiana the Democrats kept the Negroes from the polls. They threatened them. Beat them. Terrified them. So even if the first vote in Louisiana had been accurate, it would not have been honest or representative, since the Negroes were almost entirely excluded from the canvass.” — Vidal Gore, Eighteen Seventy, 2967

Note

Garfield’s reflection on voter suppression in Louisiana brings a sense of moral engagement to the narrative, illuminating the ethical landscape of the electoral process while maintaining a measured tone that reveals his character’s complexities.