RUTHERFORD B. HAYES | 1877-1881
Beneficiary of the most fiercely disputed election in American history, Rutherford B. Hayes brought to the Executive Mansion dignity, honesty, and moderate reform.
Born in Delaware, Ohio on October 4, 1822, Hayes was educated at Kenyon College and Harvard Law School. After five years' law practice in Lower Sandusky, he moved to Cincinnati, where he flourished as a young Whig lawyer. He fought in the Civil War, was wounded in action, and rose to the rank of brevet major general. While he was still in the army, Cincinnati Republicans ran him for the House of Representatives. He accepted the nomination, but would not campaign, explaining, "an officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer... ought to be scalped."
Party loyalty and a good war record made Hayes a Republican presidential candidate in 1876. Although many famous Republican speakers, including Mark Twain, stumped for him, Hayes expected to lose to Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. The popular vote did go to Tilden - 4,300,000 to 4,036,000 - but a loophole left the final outcome depending upon contested electoral votes in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. If every one of the disputed votes went to Hayes, he would win the presidency.
Months of uncertainty followed. In January 1877, an Electoral Commission was established to decide the dispute. The commission, comprised of eight Republicans and seven Democrats, determined in favor of Hayes by eight to seven.
As president, Hayes insisted that his appointments be made on merit and not political considerations. For his cabinet he chose men of high caliber, but many Republicans were outraged because one was an ex-Confederate and another a Liberal Republican.
Hayes pledged protection of blacks in the South, but also advocated the restoration of "wise, honest, and peaceful local self-government." This meant the withdrawal of troops. Hayes hoped such conciliatory policies would lead to the building of a "new Republican party" in the South, to which white businessmen and conservatives would rally. Many of the leaders of the new South did indeed favor Republican economic policies and approved of Hayes's financial conservatism, but they faced annihilation at the polls if they were to join the party of Reconstruction. Hayes and his Republican successors were persistent in their efforts but could not win over the "solid South."
Hayes had announced in advance that he would serve only one term, and retired to Spiegel Grove, his home in Fremont, Ohio, in 1881. He died in 1893.
