Rutherford B. Hayes I INTRODUCTION Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893), 19th president of the United States (1877-1881). He achieved the presidency in the closest electoral contest in U.S. history, winning over Samuel J. Tilden by one electoral vote. During his term of office, Hayes supported measures he felt right and just, without fear of making political enemies. While his achievements as president were not as dramatic as his election, he helped heal the wounds of the Civil War (1861-1865) by taking the last federal troops out of the South and thus ending the post-war period known as Reconstruction. II EARLY LIFE Rutherford B. Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio, on October 4, 1822, two months after his father's death. He was the fifth child of Rutherford Hayes, Jr., and Sophia Birchard Hayes. A generous uncle, Sardis Birchard, financed Rutherford's education at Norwalk Academy in Ohio and then at a private school in Middletown, Connecticut. From there, Hayes went to Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio, graduating in 1842 as valedictorian of his class. After ten months' work in a law office in Columbus, Hayes entered Harvard Law School. He studied there for a year and a half, and in 1845 he became a licensed attorney. A Law Practice Hayes opened a law office at Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), Ohio. He did not work very strenuously at the practice of law, however. For the next several years he cultivated his tastes for literature and natural science. In January 1850, after extensive travel in the United States and Canada, Hayes opened a law office in Cincinnati, Ohio. There he won considerable prominence as a criminal lawyer. He was often assigned by the court to defend obviously guilty people. By his clever arguments he managed to get the lightest possible sentences for them. Hayes worked hard and made money, but he managed also to find time for the cultural activities of Cincinnati. He attended plays, lectures, and concerts. As a member of the Literary Club of Cincinnati he sponsored a visit by American writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Hayes also joined two lodges, the Odd Fellows and the Sons of Temperance. B Marriage In December 1852, Hayes married Lucy Ware Webb, a childhood sweetheart. She shared his intellectual interests and his enthusiasm for the temperance movement, which called for the prohibition of alcoholic beverages. Two years later, with the earnings of his practice and aid from his uncle, Hayes purchased a house. "These ties, these affections--nothing in life to equal them!" he wrote in his diary at the time. In a long and happy marriage, Rutherford and Lucy Hayes had seven sons and one daughter. Three of the sons died in their youth. III EARLY POLITICAL CAREER Meanwhile, Hayes became interested in the politics of the Whig Party. He voted for Whig presidential candidates Henry Clay in 1844, Zachary Taylor in 1848, and Winfield Scott in 1852. Then Hayes became caught up in the national controversy between the Northern and Southern states over the extension of slavery into the territories. Influenced partly by his wife, who strongly opposed slavery, he took a moderate antislavery stand and defended fugitive slaves. In 1856 he left the crumbling Whig Party to support Senator John C. Frémont, an antislavery man who was named the presidential candidate of the new Republican Party. Two years later, Hayes was elected to his first public post, city solicitor of Cincinnati. As a party supporter, Hayes backed Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for president in 1860. However, Hayes remained characteristically cool and moderate during the heated struggle for election among four major candidates. "I cannot get up much interest in the contest," he wrote. Nor was he much excited when Lincoln was elected. He continued to hope that the quarrel between the North and South might be peacefully resolved. A Civil War Hayes, despite his hopes for compromise, was a strong supporter of the federal Union. As soon as the Civil War broke out and the North called for troops in April 1861, he became involved. "I would prefer to go into it if I knew I was to die or be killed in the course of it, than to live through and after it without taking any part in it," he wrote in his diary. For the next four years he served ably in the Union Army. As a major in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Hayes was for a time judge advocate in the regimental court. However, complaining that this was merely practicing law, he requested field service. Soon he was serving in the line. He won promotion first to lieutenant colonel, then to colonel as the regiment's combat commander. One of his men wrote, "Colonel Hayes is a lion of a leader ... It puts fight in us to see Colonel Hayes riding at full gallop towards the rebel battery." Another of his soldiers, Sergeant William McKinley, who was to become the 25th president of the United States, said, "His whole nature seemed to change when in battle ... He was, when the battle was once on ... intense and ferocious." Hayes was wounded in action a number of times. He remained in the army until after the end of the war, when he resigned with the rank of major general, conferred by the president for distinguished service. B United States Congressman In 1864, while Hayes was at the front, Cincinnati citizens nominated him to be their representative in the Congress of the United States. Hayes wrote his friend William Henry Smith, who wanted him to come home to campaign, "An officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress ought to be scalped." Hayes was in action in the Shenandoah Valley with General Philip H. Sheridan when he was elected. Hayes took his seat in Congress in December 1865 and was reelected in 1866. He went along with the harsh reconstruction measures for the defeated South that were advocated by a wing of the party known as the Radical Republicans. As chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, Hayes added a valuable scientific collection to the library. He was also instrumental in developing the U.S. Botanical Gardens in Washington, D.C. Congressman Hayes had scarcely started his second term when the Republican Party nominated him for governor of Ohio. Hayes risked defeat by supporting an amendment to the state constitution extending the vote to all adult males, thus giving blacks the vote in Ohio. The measure failed, but Hayes won the election by the slim margin of 3000 votes. C Governor of Ohio Governor Hayes gave Ohio an honest administration. During his two separate terms (from 1868 to 1872 and then from 1876 to 1877) were conspicuous, in that age of political corruption, for freedom from scandal and irregularities. Even newspapers that supported the opposition Democratic Party praised his administration. Although a Democratic legislature in Hayes's first term obstructed many of his liberal measures, he was able to reform the prison system. During his second term a Republican majority in the legislature helped him to accomplish more. By his efforts, Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Ohio State University) was founded, and a state geological survey was begun. Hayes's programs were well administered because he based his appointments to office on ability, not on party affiliation. In 1871, Hayes declined to run for a second term. At the request of Republican leaders he accepted the nomination for Congress from the Cincinnati district. Because of a Republican Party split, he was defeated by his Democratic opponent. Hayes considered his public career ended. In May 1873 he and his family moved to a large estate, Spiegel Grove, in Fremont, Ohio, which his uncle had given him. There he intended to lead the life of a gentleman farmer. Two years later, however, Republican leaders needed Hayes to oppose Democratic Governor William Allen, who was running for reelection. Hayes defeated Allen by only 5500 votes out of nearly 600,000 cast. Hayes's victory, although uncomfortably narrow, made him a strong Republican contender for the presidential nomination in 1876. Republican leaders liked him for many reasons. He was governor of Ohio, a large state whose numerous electoral votes were important to winning the election. His sound stand on financial matters reassured the conservative East. His Civil War record was impressive. Finally, his reputation for integrity was what the Republicans needed after the corrupt administration of President Ulysses S. Grant. Hayes thought he had a good chance for the presidency and actively sought the nomination. His political manager, William Henry Smith, organized his campaign. D Election of 1876 James G. Blaine of Maine, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination. However, a congressional investigating committee had recently charged Blaine with using his political influence to benefit a railroad company. The Republican national convention therefore nominated Hayes for president. Congressman William A. Wheeler of New York was nominated for vice president. The Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden, reform governor of New York, who had broken the notorious Tweed ring, which had corrupted politics in New York City. The Greenback Party, representing the interests of debt-ridden Midwestern and Southern farmers, nominated industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper of New York. D1 Disputed Vote When the election returns came in, Tilden had won the popular vote by a small margin of about 250,000 out of a total vote of 8,320,000. However, both candidates claimed victory in the electoral vote. The confusion arose from the chaotic political situation in the postwar South. In South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida, claimed by Tilden, the election officials were Republicans who would not accredit the Democratic electors. They gave Hayes their electoral votes. This made the electoral count a tie, with 184 each to Tilden and Hayes. Furthermore, one of Oregon's three electoral votes was claimed by both parties. E Electoral Commission To settle the dispute, the Electoral Commission of 1877 was appointed, consisting of five U.S. senators, five U.S. representatives, and five U.S. Supreme Court justices. Seven of these men were Democrats, and seven were Republicans. The 15th member was expected to be Justice David Davis, who had no clear party affiliation. Before the commission voted, however, Davis resigned from the Court to become senator from Illinois. A Republican justice filled his place, giving the Republicans a majority on the commission. It awarded all the disputed electoral votes to Hayes, who was declared elected by 185 to Tilden's 184. It is thought that the Southern Democrats and the Hayes supporters reached a friendly agreement, called the Compromise of 1877, even before the commission voted. According to this theory, Hayes, if elected, was to withdraw troops from South Carolina and Louisiana, put through appropriations to rebuild the war-torn South, and name a Southerner to the Cabinet. IV PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Hayes did not try to be a president of heroic stature. It was foreign to his nature and to his concept of his role. Steadiness was what the nation wanted of its president after the Civil War and Reconstruction. The new president was above all a steady, moderate man. Two of President Hayes's earliest acts seem to substantiate the existence of a previous agreement with the Southern Democrats. He named David M. Key of Tennessee, a Democrat and Confederate veteran, as postmaster general. He also ordered the withdrawal of federal troops from South Carolina and Louisiana. By the end of April this had been done. A Withdrawal of Troops Hayes's removal of the remaining army units from South Carolina and Louisiana marked the end of a decade of political and military reconstruction. The dominance of the Republicans in the South collapsed when the last blue-clad soldiers left. The Democratic Party quickly asserted itself as the so-called Solid South. The Solid South consisted of Democratic members of Congress from the Southern states who usually voted as a bloc in Congress on matters related to Southern interests. They favored states' rights over federal power and generally opposed change that would diminish the power of white landholders. The bloc was kept in office by the Southern electorate, which voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party in election after election for many years. Any Democratic presidential candidate could count on carrying the Southern states. The Solid South remained important in United States politics until the mid-20th century, although it grew more out of step with Northern Democrats as they leaned toward the interests of labor and minorities. B Civil Service Reform Hayes at once made it plain to his party that he meant to do away with the spoils system, whereby civil service (federal) jobs were awarded as payment for political favors. Henceforth such jobs were to be given for merit. Hayes had the support of Secretary of War George W. McCrary and Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz, both staunch advocates of civil service reform. Since Hayes did not mean to seek a second term, he was able to proceed without fear of alienating influential Republicans, many of whom opposed his reforms. In June 1877 the president by executive order directed federal workers not to take part in the management of political parties and campaigns and forbade parties to demand political contributions from them. The directive brought an outcry from Republicans who, under President Grant, had acted in this manner. An investigation ordered by Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman uncovered a civil service scandal in the New York Custom House. Many of its employees were ignoring their jobs and working instead at Republican Party politics. Among those involved in the scandal were Chester A. Arthur, later president of the United States, and Alonzo B. Cornell, later governor of New York. After a struggle with Congress, Hayes was able to remove Arthur and Cornell from office. Hayes also sponsored a bill in Congress for broad civil service reform, which Schurz helped to write. The bill was defeated in Congress, but Hayes's efforts made the public aware of the need for reform. Thus the way was paved for such future reforms as the reestablishment of the Civil Service Commission in 1883. C Sound Money Hayes also clashed with members of both parties over his support of the sound-money principle. This principle stated that paper money should have a single, stable standard of value. That standard was gold. Hayes insisted that paper money be fully convertible into gold coin. He backed the Specie Resumption Act of 1875, which would make greenback paper money redeemable in gold starting in 1879. Hundreds of millions of dollars of this money, officially called United States Notes but known as greenbacks from the color of ink used, had been in use since the Civil War. It was thought that making the greenbacks payable in gold would take them out of circulation, thus decreasing the total supply of money. A smaller money supply would ease inflation (rising prices and interest rates on debt), which occurs when more money is circulating than is justified by the actual capital assets existing in the economy. (See also Inflation and Deflation.) Hayes's opponents favored a large supply of money and wanted to repeal the Specie Resumption Act. These opponents included the Greenback Party, made up largely of farmers whose debts had increased during the economic depression of the 1870s. They believed that a large money supply would help them pay off their debts and would also raise the prices for their products. The party's successor, the Greenback-Labor Party, included trade unionists who believed that a large supply of money would bring full employment. The Greenbackers were joined by those, including Republicans in the West, who argued that an expanding money supply was needed to start the economy growing again. Hayes's opponents also wanted to expand the money supply by allowing unlimited coinage of silver, which had been ended by law in 1873. Westerners had the added incentive of wanting a large market for silver, which had recently been found in abundance in the Rocky Mountains. In November 1877 the House of Representatives passed bills repealing the Specie Resumption Act and requiring the unlimited coinage of silver. Hayes sent a message to Congress opposing both bills. He believed that they would not only add to inflation but would also cheapen U.S. government bonds and drive down the government's credit rating. He stopped the Resumption Act repeal by vetoing it, but the silver coinage bill became law over his veto as the Bland-Allison Act. The opposition to his sound-money policies led Hayes to observe, "I am not liked as a President, by the politicians in office, in the press, or in Congress." Hayes had not really failed on the silver coinage bill, however. His veto was overridden only after the addition of a Senate amendment that let the secretary of the treasury decide, within limits, how much silver to buy each month. The secretaries were conservative in their buying, and thus the act did not lead to inflation. Silver coinage did not become an issue again until the depression of the 1890s. However, Hayes did not totally eliminate the greenbacks. In 1878 Congress passed an act making $347 million in greenbacks a permanent part of the currency. By then, however, they had already ceased to be an issue because the treasury had gold on reserve to redeem them. The public, knowing this, had confidence in the greenbacks and thus did not rush to redeem them when it became legally possible in 1879. D Panama Canal In 1878 a French company headed by engineer and diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had built the Suez Canal in Egypt, was granted the right to construct a canal across the Isthmus of Panama in Central America. The United States had long been interested in a Central American canal, which would be a great advantage to the shipping trade. However, this country had a long-standing hostility to adventures by European governments in the Western hemisphere. In a message to Congress in March 1880, Hayes declared, "The policy of this country is a canal under American control." That same day, de Lesseps appeared before a congressional committee and, allaying fears of foreign intervention, testified that his company had no connection with the French government. The insistence of Hayes on American control helped to shape the policy that eventually produced a Panama Canal owned by the United States. This was to take a number of years, however. One obstacle that had to be removed was the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850, in which the United States and Britain had mutually guaranteed the neutrality of such a canal. E Mexico Disorders along the Mexican border were causing loss of American lives and property. In June 1877, Hayes authorized American troops to pursue Mexican marauders across the border. The Mexican government resented this move as an invasion of its national sovereignty. It ordered the Mexican army to repel American incursions by force. The Mexican press clamored for war and denounced Hayes. However, the dictator Porfirio Díaz then came to power in Mexico, and a peaceful settlement was arranged between the two countries. F Chinese Exclusion The building of the Central Pacific railway after the Civil War created a labor shortage in the West. Between 1865 and 1869, large numbers of Chinese unskilled laborers were encouraged to enter the country to meet the demand. However, in the 1870s, anti-Chinese sentiment grew, and in 1879, Congress passed a law forbidding any ship to bring more than 15 Chinese to the United States on one trip. Hayes vetoed the law, which he felt amounted to exclusion of Chinese immigrants in violation of a treaty with China. He then sent envoys to China to negotiate a new treaty allowing the immigration to be regulated. He was fiercely assailed for his actions, particularly in California, where many of the Chinese immigrants settled. G Personal Life President Hayes did not drink, smoke, or gamble. His critics derisively called him "Granny" Hayes and "Queen Victoria in breeches." His wife, Lucy, was a kindred spirit. Family prayers were offered daily. A vigorous temperance advocate, she earned the nickname Lemonade Lucy by serving no strong drinks in the White House. However, she entertained generously and with grace. It was Mrs. Hayes who originated the custom of inviting children for egg rolling at Easter on the White House lawn. V LAST YEARS Hayes was not asked by his party to run for a second term. He had alienated too many supporters by his unpopular stands on many issues. After turning over the White House to President James A. Garfield in March 1881, Hayes contentedly retired to Spiegel Grove. He devoted himself to nonpolitical activities, such as public education, especially in the South, and prison reform. In 1889, Mrs. Hayes died. Almost four years later, while on a visit to friends in Cleveland, Hayes suffered a heart attack. At his urgent request he was brought back to Spiegel Grove, and he died there on January 17, 1893. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
