Rutherford B. Hayes

U.S. president Rutherford B. Hayes was the victor in one of the most fiercely fought elections in American history.

Hayes was born on October 4, 1822. He was the youngest of five children born to Rutherford and Sophia Hayes in Delaware, Ohio . His father died before Hayes's birth, and his uncle became his guardian. Hayes graduated from Kenyon College in 1842. Three years later, he graduated with a law degree from Harvard. After college, he practiced law in Fremont, Ohio, before moving to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1849, where he eventually took a job as city solicitor (a position equal to a modern district attorney).

Hayes married Lucy Webb in 1852, and the couple had eight children.

From soldier to politician

Hayes fought in the American Civil War (1861–65) and was wounded in battle. While still in the army, he was nominated by the Republican Party to serve in Congress. Hayes accepted the nomination but refused to campaign, citing his obligation to fight for his country as his number one priority. Even without a campaign, he won a seat in the Thirty-ninth Congress and another in the Fortieth. He resigned from his position in 1867 to run for governor of Ohio. He was victorious and served from 1868 to 1872 and again from 1876 to 1877.

Hayes's war record and reputation as a loyal Republican made him a popular presidential nominee for the 1876 election. He ran against New York governor Samuel Tilden (1814–1886). Toward the end of the campaign, Tilden was expected to win. Hayes himself believed his opponent would be the next president of the United States. More registered voters participated in the 1876 presidential election than ever before: 81.8 percent.

In a U.S. presidential election, there are two kinds of votes: popular (total number of votes by individuals) and electoral (assigned to states based on population; the higher the population count, the more electoral votes that state is worth). After all votes had been counted, Tilden clearly won the popular vote. But the electoral votes from Florida , Louisiana , South Carolina , and Oregon were in dispute. A congressional committee was formed to investigate the situation. That committee included five Supreme Court justices, five members from the House of Representatives, and five senators.

The plan was to have seven Democrats, seven Republicans, and one independent. The independent was Supreme Court associate justice David Davis (1815–1886). However, he happened to be elected a U.S. senator and thus could not serve on the committee. His replacement was a Republican, so every vote the committee took after reviewing the evidence resulted in an 8–7 split in favor of Hayes. That resulted in Hayes being awarded all the electoral votes and, therefore, the victory.

In office

Tilden was disappointed but did not dispute the findings. He believed the United States needed to move on. Hayes's years in office were uneventful compared to the conflict under which he entered. He had hoped to overturn the patronage system that controlled the government, but he was unable to do so. The patronage system was an unethical means of controlling bureaucracy in which wealthy men were appointed certain government positions in return for their vote. This put a lot of unqualified, dishonest men in powerful positions and made government ineffective on many levels. Hayes recognized he could not change the way things were, but he refused to participate in the system. Instead, he chose his administration based on individual merit and ability. This served only to turn his fellow Republicans against him.

Hayes promised protection to the African Americans of the war-torn South. At the same time, he encouraged the states to return to a more honest, peaceful way of governing. Despite the victory of the North in the Civil War, the South's attitude toward slavery and African Americans had not changed much. They resented being told how to live their lives, and troops from the Confederate States of America (the group of states that were part of secession from the United States) had been sent to watch over the South as Reconstruction (efforts to rebuild the nation following the Civil War) began. Hayes removed the troops in 1877, essentially ending the period of Reconstruction.

That same year, Hayes was faced with the first nationwide labor strike. Railroad workers had been forced to take pay cuts beginning in 1873. By 1877, they went on strike in hopes of ending the unjust treatment. Hayes sent in federal troops to control the strikes that were erupting throughout the states. In doing so, he ushered in an era when state and federal forces sided with companies against aggravated laborers.

Does not seek reelection

Hayes promised not to seek reelection, and he kept that promise. He was succeeded by another Ohio Republican, former U.S. representative James A. Garfield (1831–1881; served 1881). Hayes lived out his life in retirement at his family estate, Spiegel Grove, in Fremont, and died in 1893.