Hayes, Rutherford Birchard

Hayes, Rutherford Birchard (1822–93) 19th president of the United States (1877–81); born in Delaware, Ohio. An early defender of runaway slaves (1853) and opponent of the spread of slavery, Hayes fought with an Ohio volunteer unit during the Civil War and was seen as an inspirational leader. He was wounded five times and was brevetted major general. Following the war he became active in politics, serving as a U.S. congressman (1865–67) and then as governor of Ohio (1868–72). In 1876 Hayes was elected president over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden in a bitterly disputed contest that was not resolved for four months. Despite assuming office under suspicions of fraud, Hayes proved a surprisingly effective president, ending military occupation of southern states; reforming the civil service, putting the country back on the gold standard, and suppressing railroad strikes. Hayes refused to run for a second term, but after leaving office continued to actively work for the causes he believed in—education of blacks and of the poor, federal regulation of industry, and a humane penal system.