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156-586: In the 1824 election, without an absolute majority winner in the Electoral College , the 12th Amendment dictated that the outcome of the presidential election be determined by the House of Representatives . Then Speaker of the House — and low-ranked presidential candidate in that same election — Henry Clay gave his support to John Quincy Adams , the candidate with the second-most votes. Adams

312-454: A brevet brigadier general . The division spent the following winter and spring near Charleston, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), out of contact with the enemy. Hayes saw little action until July 1863, when the division skirmished with John Hunt Morgan 's cavalry at the Battle of Buffington Island . Returning to Charleston for the rest of the summer, Hayes spent the fall encouraging

468-489: A cabinet appointment, but was disappointed to receive only an appointment as assistant U.S. treasurer at Cincinnati, which he turned down. He agreed to be nominated for his old House seat in 1872 but was disappointed when he lost the election to Henry B. Banning , a fellow Kenyon College alumnus. In 1873, Lucy gave birth to another son, Manning Force Hayes. That same year, the Panic of 1873 hurt business prospects across

624-559: A direct election for president (as proposed by Hamilton among others), failed to get traction among slave states. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt describe it as "not a product of constitutional theory or farsighted design. Rather, it was adopted by default, after all other alternatives had been rejected." In 1787, the Constitutional Convention used the Virginia Plan as the basis for discussions, as

780-636: A rider that would have repealed the Enforcement Acts , which had been used to suppress the Ku Klux Klan . Chapters had flourished across the South and it had been one of the insurgent groups that attacked and suppressed freedmen. Those Acts, passed during Reconstruction, made it a crime to prevent someone from voting because of his race. Other paramilitary groups, such as the Red Shirts in

936-597: A "corrupt bargain". The "corrupt bargain" that placed Adams in the White House and Clay in the State Department launched a four-year campaign of revenge by the friends of Andrew Jackson. Claiming that the people had been cheated of their choice, Jacksonians attacked the Adams administration at every turn as illegitimate and tainted by aristocracy and corruption. Adams aided his own defeat by failing to rein in

1092-489: A Republican governor with a Democratic legislature, Hayes had a limited role in governing, especially since Ohio's governor had no veto power. Despite these constraints, he oversaw the establishment of a school for deaf-mutes and a reform school for girls. He endorsed the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and urged his conviction, which failed by one vote in the United States Senate. Nominated for

1248-507: A Republican legislature, Hayes's second term was more enjoyable. Suffrage was expanded and a state Agricultural and Mechanical College (later to become Ohio State University ) was established. He also proposed a reduction in state taxes and reform of the state prison system. Choosing not to seek reelection, Hayes looked forward to retiring from politics in 1872. As Hayes prepared to leave office, several delegations of reform-minded Republicans urged him to run for United States Senate against

1404-468: A U.S. Senate report in 1826 critiqued the evolution of the system: It was the intention of the Constitution that these electors should be an independent body of men, chosen by the people from among themselves, on account of their superior discernment, virtue, and information; and that this select body should be left to make the election according to their own will , without the slightest control from

1560-534: A criminal defense attorney, defending several people accused of murder. In one case, he used a form of the insanity defense that saved the accused from the gallows; she was instead confined to a mental institution. Hayes also defended slaves who had escaped and been accused under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 . Because Cincinnati was just across the Ohio River from Kentucky , a slave state, it

1716-405: A dissenting opinion, the original intention of the framers was that the electors would not feel bound to support any particular candidate, but would vote their conscience, free of external pressure. "No one faithful to our history can deny that the plan originally contemplated, what is implicit in its text, that electors would be free agents, to exercise an independent and nonpartisan judgment as to

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1872-552: A faction as "a number of citizens whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." A republican government (i.e., representative democracy , as opposed to direct democracy ) combined with the principles of federalism (with distribution of voter rights and separation of government powers), would countervail against factions. Madison further postulated in

2028-793: A first cousin. Hayes attended the common schools in Delaware, Ohio, and enrolled in 1836 at the Methodist Norwalk Seminary in Norwalk, Ohio . He did well at Norwalk, and the next year transferred to the Webb School, a preparatory school in Middletown , Connecticut, where he studied Latin and Ancient Greek . Returning to Ohio, he attended Kenyon College in Gambier in 1838. He enjoyed his time at Kenyon and

2184-478: A flanking attack, but instead his entire command moved backward, leaving Hayes lying in between the lines. Eventually, his men brought Hayes back behind their lines, and he was taken to hospital. The regiment continued on to Antietam , but Hayes was out of action for the rest of the campaign. In October, he was promoted to colonel and assigned to command of the first brigade of the Kanawha Division as

2340-590: A fledgling political career to join the Union army as an officer. Hayes was wounded five times, most seriously at the Battle of South Mountain in 1862. He earned a reputation for bravery in combat, rising in the ranks to serve as brevet major general. After the war, he earned a reputation in the Republican Party as a prominent member of the " Half-Breed " faction. He served in Congress from 1865 to 1867 and

2496-593: A long journey to Texas , where Hayes visited with Guy M. Bryan , a Kenyon classmate and distant relative. Business remained meager on his return to Lower Sandusky, and Hayes decided to move to Cincinnati . Hayes moved to Cincinnati in 1850, and opened a law office with John W. Herron, a lawyer from Chillicothe . Herron later joined a more established firm and Hayes formed a new partnership with William K. Rogers and Richard M. Corwine. He found business better in Cincinnati and enjoyed its social attractions, joining

2652-573: A majority. Responding to the problems from those elections, Congress proposed on December 9, 1803, and three-fourths of the states ratified by June 15, 1804, the Twelfth Amendment . Starting with the 1804 election , the amendment requires electors to cast separate ballots for president and vice president, replacing the system outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3. Some Founding Fathers hoped that each elector would be elected by

2808-464: A one-term president; his rival, Jackson, was elected president by a large majority of the electors in the election of 1828 and then he defeated Clay for a second term in the election of 1832 . The presidential election of 1876 is sometimes considered to be a second "corrupt bargain". Three Southern states had contested vote counts, and each sent the results of two different slates of electors. Since both candidates needed those electoral votes to win

2964-497: A part of the Kanawha Division . They did not meet the enemy until September, when the regiment encountered Confederates at Carnifex Ferry in present-day West Virginia and drove them back. In November, Hayes was promoted to lieutenant colonel (Matthews having been promoted to colonel of another regiment) and led his troops deeper into western Virginia, where they entered winter quarters. The division resumed its advance

3120-554: A popular election, the states identify and record their appointed electors in a Certificate of Ascertainment , and those appointed electors then meet in their respective jurisdictions and produce a Certificate of Vote for their candidate; both certificates are then sent to Congress to be opened and counted. In 48 of the 50 states, state laws mandate that the winner of the plurality of the statewide popular vote receives all of that state's electoral votes. In Maine and Nebraska , two electoral votes are assigned in this manner, while

3276-634: A second term in 1869, Hayes campaigned again for equal rights for black Ohioans and sought to associate his Democratic opponent, George H. Pendleton , with disunion and Confederate sympathies. Hayes was reelected with an increased majority, and the Republicans took the legislature, ensuring Ohio's ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , which guaranteed black (male) suffrage. With

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3432-526: A vacancy on the bench, and he considered accepting the appointment until the office of city solicitor also became vacant. The city council elected Hayes city solicitor to fill the vacancy, and he was elected to a full two-year term in April 1859 by a larger majority than other Republicans on the ticket. As the Southern states quickly began to secede after Lincoln 's election to the presidency in 1860, Hayes

3588-540: Is Wheeler?" The campaign strategy of Hayes and Wheeler emphasized conciliatory appeals to the Southern Whiggish element, attempting to "detach" old Southern Whigs from Southern Democrats. When Frederick Douglass asked whether the Republican Party would continue its devotion to protecting black civil rights or "get along without the vote of the black man in the South", Hayes and Wheeler advocated

3744-498: Is described in Article Two of the Constitution . The number of electoral votes exercised by each state is equal to that state's congressional delegation which is the number of Senators (two) plus the number of Representatives for that state. Each state appoints electors using legal procedures determined by its legislature . Federal office holders , including senators and representatives, cannot be electors. Additionally,

3900-479: Is equal to the size of its congressional delegation, each state is entitled to at least three electors regardless of its population, and the apportionment of the statutorily fixed number of the rest is only roughly proportional. This allocation has contributed to runners-up of the nationwide popular vote being elected president in 1824 , 1876 , 1888 , 2000 , and 2016. In addition, faithless electors may not vote in accord with their pledge. A further objection

4056-518: Is that swing states receive the most attention from candidates. By the end of the 20th century, electoral colleges had been abandoned by all other democracies around the world in favor of direct elections for an executive president . Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution directs each state to appoint a number of electors equal to that state's congressional delegation (the number of members of

4212-731: The Cincinnati Literary Society and the Odd Fellows Club . He also attended the Episcopal Church in Cincinnati but did not become a member. Hayes courted his future wife, Lucy Webb , during his time there. His mother had encouraged him to get to know Lucy years earlier, but Hayes had believed she was too young and focused his attention on other women. Four years later, Hayes began to spend more time with Lucy. They became engaged in 1851 and married on December 30, 1852, at Lucy's mother's house. Over

4368-742: The Collector of the Port of New York , and his subordinates Alonzo B. Cornell and George H. Sharpe , all Conkling supporters, refused to obey the order. In September 1877, Hayes demanded their resignations, which they refused to give. He submitted appointments of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. , L. Bradford Prince , and Edwin Merritt —all supporters of Evarts, Conkling's New York rival—to the Senate for confirmation as their replacements. The Senate's Commerce Committee, chaired by Conkling, voted unanimously to reject

4524-836: The Framers of the Constitution : Election expert, William C. Kimberling, reflected on the original intent as follows: "The function of the College of Electors in choosing the president can be likened to that in the Roman Catholic Church of the College of Cardinals selecting the Pope. The original idea was for the most knowledgeable and informed individuals from each State to select the president based solely on merit and without regard to State of origin or political party." According to Supreme Court justice Robert H. Jackson , in

4680-475: The House of Representatives plus two senators ). The same clause empowers each state legislature to determine the manner by which that state's electors are chosen but prohibits federal office holders from being named electors. Following the national presidential election day on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, each state, and the federal district, selects its electors according to its laws. After

4836-407: The House of Representatives pursuant to the Constitution's contingency election provision. Having already lost the presidential contest, Federalist Party representatives in the lame duck House session seized upon the opportunity to embarrass their opposition by attempting to elect Burr over Jefferson. The House deadlocked for 35 ballots as neither candidate received the necessary majority vote of

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4992-480: The New York Central , Erie , and Pennsylvania railroads, with the strikers soon numbering in the thousands. Fearing a riot , Governor Henry M. Mathews asked Hayes to send federal troops to Martinsburg, and Hayes did so, but when the troops arrived there was no riot, only a peaceful protest. In Baltimore , however, a riot did erupt on July 20, and Hayes ordered the troops at Fort McHenry to assist

5148-622: The New York Custom House , which was stacked with Conkling's spoilsmen. Jay's report suggested that the New York Custom House was so overstaffed with political appointees that 20% of the employees were expendable. Although he could not convince Congress to prohibit the spoils system, Hayes issued an executive order that forbade federal office holders from being required to make campaign contributions or otherwise taking part in party politics. Chester A. Arthur ,

5304-568: The South Carolina State House to their barracks. On April 20, he ordered McCrary to send the federal troops stationed at New Orleans 's St. Louis Hotel to Jackson Barracks . At the time of the 1876 election only three states, Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana, still had Republican governments. In Florida the Democrats won the governor's election and controlled the state house, leaving South Carolina and Louisiana as

5460-597: The South Carolina State House to their barracks. On April 20, he ordered McCrary to send the federal troops stationed at New Orleans 's St. Louis Hotel to Jackson Barracks . Because March 4, 1877, was a Sunday, Hayes took the oath of office privately on Saturday, March 3, in the Red Room of the White House , the first president to do so in the Executive Mansion. He took the oath publicly on March 5 on

5616-628: The Tenure of Office Act , which ensured that Johnson could not remove administration officials without the Senate's consent, and unsuccessfully pressed for a civil service reform bill that attracted the votes of many reform-minded Republicans. Hayes continued to vote with the majority in the 40th Congress on the Reconstruction Acts , but resigned in July 1867 to run for governor of Ohio. A popular Congressman and former Army officer, Hayes

5772-465: The Twelfth Amendment , however, only the top three candidates in the electoral vote were admitted as candidates, eliminating Henry Clay . To the surprise of many, the House elected John Quincy Adams over rival Andrew Jackson. It was widely believed that Clay, the Speaker of the House , convinced Congress to elect Adams, who then made Clay his Secretary of State . Jackson's supporters denounced this as

5928-560: The Twenty-third Amendment granted the federal District of Columbia three electors (bringing the total number from 535 to 538). A simple majority of electoral votes (270 or more) is required to elect the president and vice president. If no candidate achieves a majority, a contingent election is held by the House of Representatives , to elect the president, and by the Senate , to elect the vice president. The states and

6084-500: The pork barrel frenzy sparked by the General Survey Act . Jackson's attack on the national blueprint put forward by Adams and Clay won support from Old Republicans and market liberals, the latter of which increasingly argued that congressional involvement in internal improvements was an open invitation to special interests and political logrolling . A 1998 analysis using game theory mathematics argued that contrary to

6240-599: The spoils system since Andrew Jackson 's presidency. Instead of giving federal jobs to political supporters, Hayes wished to award them by merit according to an examination that all applicants would take. Hayes's call for reform immediately brought him into conflict with the Stalwart , or pro-spoils, branch of the Republican party. Senators of both parties were accustomed to being consulted about political appointments and turned against Hayes. Foremost among his enemies

6396-584: The ticket with the highest statewide vote. The electors meet and vote in December, and the inaugurations of the president and vice president take place in January. The merit of the electoral college system has been a matter of ongoing debate in the United States since its inception at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, becoming more controversial by the latter years of the 19th century, up to

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6552-528: The 15th member. The balance was upset when Democrats in the Illinois legislature elected Davis to the Senate, hoping to sway his vote. Davis disappointed Democrats by refusing to serve on the Commission because of his election to the Senate. As all the remaining Justices were Republicans, Justice Joseph P. Bradley , believed to be the most independent-minded of them, was selected to take Davis's place on

6708-553: The Carolinas, however, had intimidated freedmen and suppressed the vote. Hayes was determined to preserve the law protecting black voters, and vetoed the appropriation. The Democrats did not have enough votes to override the veto, but they passed a new bill with the same rider. Hayes vetoed that bill too, and the process was repeated three more times. Finally, Congress passed a bill without the offensive rider, but refused to pass another bill to fund federal marshals, who were vital to

6864-474: The Constitution was designed to be a mixture of state-based and population-based government. Congress would have two houses: the state-based Senate and the population-based House of Representatives . Meanwhile, the president would be elected by a mixture of the two modes. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 68 , published on March 12, 1788, laid out what he believed were the key advantages to

7020-568: The District of Columbia hold a statewide or district-wide popular vote on Election Day in November to choose electors based upon how they have pledged to vote for president and vice president, with some state laws prohibiting faithless electors . All states except Maine and Nebraska use a party block voting , or general ticket method, to choose their electors, meaning all their electors go to one winning ticket. Maine and Nebraska choose one elector per congressional district and two electors for

7176-670: The East Portico of the United States Capitol . In his inaugural address, Hayes attempted to soothe the passions of the past few months, saying that "he serves his party best who serves his country best". He pledged to support "wise, honest, and peaceful local self-government" in the South, as well as reform of the civil service and a full return to the gold standard . Despite his message of conciliation, many Democrats never considered Hayes's election legitimate and referred to him as "Rutherfraud" or "His Fraudulency" for

7332-565: The Electoral College with some consideration for states. At the compromise providing for a runoff among the top five candidates, the small states supposed that the House of Representatives, with each state delegation casting one vote, would decide most elections. In The Federalist Papers , James Madison explained his views on the selection of the president and the Constitution . In Federalist No. 39 , Madison argued that

7488-502: The Electoral College, in other words, was a body of men who could serve as a check on the uninformed mass electorate." In spite of Hamilton's assertion that electors were to be chosen by mass election, initially, state legislatures chose the electors in most of the states. States progressively changed to selection by popular election. In 1824 , there were six states in which electors were still legislatively appointed. By 1832 , only South Carolina had not transitioned. Since 1864 (with

7644-436: The Electoral College. The electors come directly from the people and them alone, for that purpose only, and for that time only. This avoided a party-run legislature or a permanent body that could be influenced by foreign interests before each election. Hamilton explained that the election was to take place among all the states, so no corruption in any state could taint "the great body of the people" in their selection. The choice

7800-556: The Electoral College] for the temporary and sole purpose of making the appointment. And they have EXCLUDED from eligibility to this trust, all those who from situation might be suspected of too great devotion to the President in office [in other words, no one can be an Elector who is prejudiced toward the president]... Thus without corrupting the body of the people, the immediate agents in the election will at least enter upon

7956-530: The Federalist No.   10 that the greater the population and expanse of the Republic, the more difficulty factions would face in organizing due to such issues as sectionalism . Although the United States Constitution refers to "Electors" and "electors", neither the phrase "Electoral College" nor any other name is used to describe the electors collectively. It was not until the early 19th century that

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8112-540: The Geghan Bill, which had allowed for the appointment of Catholic priests to schools and penitentiaries. Hayes's success in Ohio immediately elevated him to the top ranks of Republican politicians under consideration for the presidency in 1876. The Ohio delegation to the 1876 Republican National Convention was united behind him, and Senator John Sherman did all in his power to get Hayes the nomination. In June 1876,

8268-522: The Navy Richard W. Thompson to resign after Thompson accepted a $ 25,000 (~$ 677,772 in 2023) salary for a nominal job offered by French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps to promote a French canal in Panama. Hayes also dealt with corruption in the postal service . In 1880, Schurz and Senator John A. Logan asked Hayes to shut down the " star route " rings, a system of corrupt contract profiteering in

8424-498: The Postal Service, and to fire Second Assistant Postmaster-General Thomas J. Brady , the alleged ringleader. Hayes stopped granting new star route contracts but let existing contracts continue to be enforced. Democrats accused him of delaying proper investigation so as not to damage Republicans' chances in the 1880 elections but did not press the issue in their campaign literature, as members of both parties were implicated in

8580-637: The Scotch." Most of his close relatives outside Ohio continued to live there. John Noyes , an uncle by marriage, had been his father's business partner in Vermont and was later elected to Congress. His first cousin, Mary Jane Mead, was the mother of sculptor Larkin Goldsmith Mead and architect William Rutherford Mead . John Humphrey Noyes , the founder of the Oneida Community , was also

8736-402: The South should be restored to the Union, but not without adequate protections for freedmen and other black southerners. President Andrew Johnson , who succeeded to office following Lincoln's assassination, to the contrary wanted to readmit the seceded states quickly without first ensuring that they adopted laws protecting the newly freed slaves' civil rights; he also granted pardons to many of

8892-540: The South to uphold the Thirteenth , Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, which were intended to protect the rights of African-Americans , particularly their right to vote. Generally, political support for maintaining the troops had dissipated during Grant's second term, and Hayes had little choice but to accept some form of "home rule". He attempted to do so, as stated in his nomination acceptance letter, by gaining promises from Southern states that they would respect

9048-460: The Virginia proposal was the first. The Virginia Plan called for Congress to elect the president. Delegates from a majority of states agreed to this mode of election. After being debated, delegates came to oppose nomination by Congress for the reason that it could violate the separation of powers. James Wilson then made a motion for electors for the purpose of choosing the president. Later in

9204-409: The army to campaign, he refused, saying that an "officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress ought to be scalped." Instead, Hayes wrote several letters to the voters explaining his political positions and was elected by a 2,400-vote majority over the incumbent, Democrat Alexander Long . When the 39th Congress assembled in December 1865, Hayes

9360-400: The assertions of Jackson, his supporters, and countless later historians, the results of the election were consistent with sincere voting , that is, those Members of the House of Representatives who were unable to cast votes for their most-favored candidate apparently voted for their second- (or third-) most-favored candidate. Regardless of the various theories concerning the matter, Adams was

9516-455: The body of the people. That this intention has failed of its object in every election, is a fact of such universal notoriety that no one can dispute it. Electors, therefore, have not answered the design of their institution. They are not the independent body and superior characters which they were intended to be. They are not left to the exercise of their own judgment: on the contrary, they give their vote, or bind themselves to give it, according to

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9672-448: The campaign and opposed black suffrage . Both men campaigned vigorously, making speeches across the state, mostly focusing on the suffrage question. The election was mostly a disappointment to Republicans, as the amendment failed to pass and Democrats gained a majority in the state legislature . Hayes thought at first that he, too, had lost, but the final tally showed that he had won the election by 2,983 votes of 484,603 votes cast. As

9828-534: The citizens of a district and that elector was to be free to analyze and deliberate regarding who is best suited to be president. In Federalist No. 68 Alexander Hamilton described the Founding Fathers' view of how electors would be chosen: A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated [tasks]... They [the framers of

9984-495: The city elections in April 1861, ejecting Hayes from the city solicitor's office. Returning to private practice, Hayes formed a very brief law partnership with Leopold Markbreit , lasting three days before the war began. After the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter , Hayes resolved his doubts and joined a volunteer company composed of his Literary Society friends. That June, Governor William Dennison appointed several of

10140-480: The commission. The Commission met in February and the eight Republicans voted to award all 20 electoral votes to Hayes. Democrats, outraged by the result, attempted a filibuster to prevent Congress from accepting the commission's findings. Eventually, the filibusterers gave up, allowing the House and Senate to reassemble to complete the count of the electoral votes, and at 4:10 am on March 2, Senator Thomas W. Ferry announced that Hayes and Wheeler had been elected to

10296-402: The constitution ] have not made the appointment of the President to depend on any preexisting bodies of men [i.e. Electors pledged to vote one way or another], who might be tampered with beforehand to prostitute their votes [i.e., to be told how to vote]; but they have referred it in the first instance to an immediate act of the people of America, to be exerted in the choice of persons [Electors to

10452-454: The convention assembled with James G. Blaine of Maine as the favorite. Blaine started with a significant lead in the delegate count, but could not muster a majority. As he failed to gain votes, the delegates looked elsewhere for a nominee and settled on Hayes on the seventh ballot. The convention selected Representative William A. Wheeler from New York for vice president, a man about whom Hayes had recently asked, "I am ashamed to say: who

10608-524: The convention, a committee formed to work out various details. They included the mode of election of the president, including final recommendations for the electors, a group of people apportioned among the states in the same numbers as their representatives in Congress (the formula for which had been resolved in lengthy debates resulting in the Connecticut Compromise and Three-Fifths Compromise ), but chosen by each state "in such manner as its Legislature may direct". Committee member Gouverneur Morris explained

10764-439: The corruption. Historian Hans L. Trefousse later wrote that Hayes "hardly knew the chief suspect [Brady] and certainly had no connection with the [star route] corruption." Although Hayes and the Congress both investigated the contracts and found no compelling evidence of wrongdoing, Brady and others were indicted for conspiracy in 1882. After two trials, the defendants were acquitted in 1883. In his first year in office, Hayes

10920-487: The current vice president, as president of the Senate. Should a majority of votes not be cast for a candidate, a contingent election takes place: the House holds a presidential election session, where one vote is cast by each of the fifty states. The Senate is responsible for electing the vice president, with each senator having one vote. The elected president and vice president are inaugurated on January 20. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors. States select 535 of

11076-428: The danger of letting Democrats run the nation so soon after Southern Democrats had provoked the Civil War and, to a lesser extent, the danger a Democratic administration would pose to the recently won civil rights of southern blacks. Democrats, for their part, trumpeted Tilden's record of reform and contrasted it with the corruption of the incumbent Grant administration . As the returns were tallied on election day, it

11232-406: The election of Democratic governments in the remaining "unredeemed" southern states. The Democrats agreed, and on March 2, the filibuster was ended. Hayes was elected, but Reconstruction was finished, and freedmen were left at the mercy of white Democrats who did not intend to preserve their rights. On April 3, Hayes ordered Secretary of War George W. McCrary to withdraw federal troops stationed at

11388-488: The election process from cabal, corruption, intrigue, and faction. Some delegates, including James Wilson and James Madison, preferred popular election of the executive. Madison acknowledged that while a popular vote would be ideal, it would be difficult to get consensus on the proposal given the prevalence of slavery in the South: There was one difficulty, however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by

11544-473: The election, Congress appointed a special Electoral Commission to settle the dispute over which slates of electors to accept. After the Compromise of 1877 , the commission awarded all the disputed electoral votes to the Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes , and Congress voted to accept their report. Some of the points in the compromise are said to have already been the established position of Hayes from

11700-455: The election, but Hayes prevailed after a Congressional Commission awarded him 20 contested electoral votes in the Compromise of 1877 . The electoral dispute was resolved in a backroom deal whereby both Southern Democrats and Whiggish Republican businessmen acquiesced to Hayes's election on the condition that he end both federal support for Reconstruction and the military occupation of the former Confederate States . Hayes's administration

11856-423: The electors in the electoral colleges. It is notorious, that the electors are now chosen wholly with reference to particular candidates, and are silently pledged to vote for them. Nay, upon some occasions the electors publicly pledge themselves to vote for a particular person; and thus, in effect, the whole foundation of the system, so elaborately constructed, is subverted. Story observed that if an elector does what

12012-417: The electors voted, Jefferson and Burr were tied with one another with 73 electoral votes each. Since ballots did not distinguish between votes for president and votes for vice president, every ballot cast for Burr technically counted as a vote for him to become president, despite Jefferson clearly being his party's first choice. Lacking a clear winner by constitutional standards, the election had to be decided by

12168-458: The electors' pledge. The electors of each state meet in their respective state capital on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday of December, between December 14 and 20, to cast their votes. The results are sent to and counted by the Congress , where they are tabulated in the first week of January before a joint meeting of the Senate and the House of Representatives , presided over by

12324-572: The electors, this number matches the aggregate total of their congressional delegations. The additional three electors come from the Twenty-third Amendment , ratified in 1961, providing that the district established pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 as the seat of the federal government (namely, Washington, D.C. ) is entitled to the same number of electors as the least populous state. In practice, that results in Washington D.C. being entitled to three electors. The Electoral College

12480-451: The enemy lines and pursued them farther south. They followed up the victory with another at Fisher's Hill on September 22, and one more at Cedar Creek on October 19. At Cedar Creek, Hayes sprained his ankle after being thrown from a horse and was struck in the head by a spent round, which did not cause serious damage. His leadership and bravery drew his superiors' attention, with Ulysses S. Grant later writing of Hayes, "[h]is conduct on

12636-503: The enforcement of the Enforcement Acts. The election laws remained in effect, but the funds to enforce them were curtailed for the time being. Hayes tried to reconcile the social mores of the South with the recently passed civil rights laws by distributing patronage among southern Democrats. "My task was to wipe out the color line, to abolish sectionalism, to end the war and bring peace," he wrote in his diary. "To do this, I

12792-627: The family for a time. He was always close to Hayes and became a father figure to him, contributing to his early education. Through each of his parents, Hayes was descended from New England colonists. His earliest immigrant ancestor came to Connecticut from Scotland . Hayes's great-grandfather Ezekiel Hayes was a militia captain in Connecticut in the American Revolutionary War , but Ezekiel's son (Hayes's grandfather, also named Rutherford) left his Branford home during

12948-476: The field was marked by conspicuous gallantry as well as the display of qualities of a higher order than that of mere personal daring." Cedar Creek marked the end of the campaign. Hayes was promoted to brigadier general in October 1864 and brevetted major general . Around this time, Hayes learned of the birth of his fourth son, George Crook Hayes. The army went into winter quarters once more, and in spring 1865

13104-621: The following spring, and Hayes led several raids against the rebel forces, on one of which he sustained a minor injury to his knee. That September, Hayes's regiment was called east to reinforce General John Pope 's Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run . Hayes and his troops did not arrive in time for the battle, but joined the Army of the Potomac as it hurried north to cut off Robert E. Lee 's Army of Northern Virginia , which

13260-427: The framers anticipate candidates "running" for president. Within just a few years of the ratification of the Constitution, however, both phenomena became permanent features of the political landscape of the United States. The emergence of political parties and nationally coordinated election campaigns soon complicated matters in the elections of 1796 and 1800 . In 1796, Federalist Party candidate John Adams won

13416-499: The framers of the Constitution expected him to do, he would be considered immoral: So, that nothing is left to the electors after their choice, but to register votes, which are already pledged; and an exercise of an independent judgment would be treated, as a political usurpation, dishonorable to the individual, and a fraud upon his constituents. Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes ( / ˈ r ʌ ð ər f ər d / ; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893)

13572-587: The framing the more important consideration was that electors, expected to be more knowledgeable and responsible, would actually do the choosing." Constitutional expert Michael Signer explained that the electoral college was designed "to provide a mechanism where intelligent, thoughtful and statesmanlike leaders could deliberate on the winner of the popular vote and, if necessary, choose another candidate who would not put Constitutional values and practices at risk." Robert Schlesinger , writing for U.S. News and World Report , similarly stated, "The original conception of

13728-593: The general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.' Philip J. VanFossen of Purdue University explains that the original purpose of the electors was not to reflect the will of the citizens, but rather to "serve as a check on a public who might be easily misled." Randall Calvert, the Eagleton Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis , stated, "At

13884-401: The governor in suppressing it. Pittsburgh exploded into riots next, but Hayes was reluctant to send in troops without the governor's request. Other discontented citizens joined the railroad workers in rioting. After a few days, Hayes resolved to send in troops to protect federal property wherever it appeared to be threatened and gave Major General Winfield Scott Hancock overall command of

14040-640: The groundwork for further reform in the 1880s and 1890s. He vetoed the Bland–Allison Act of 1878 , which put silver money into circulation and raised nominal prices, but Congress overrode his veto. His policy toward western Indians anticipated the assimilationist program of the Dawes Act of 1887 . At the end of his term, Hayes kept his pledge not to run for reelection and retired to his home in Ohio. Historians and scholars generally rank Hayes as an average to below-average president. Rutherford Birchard Hayes

14196-539: The incumbent Republican, John Sherman . Hayes declined, preferring to preserve party unity and retire to private life. He especially looked forward to spending time with his children, two of whom (daughter Fanny and son Scott) had been born in the past five years. Initially, Hayes tried to promote railway extensions to his hometown, Fremont. He also managed some real estate he had acquired in Duluth, Minnesota . Not entirely removed from politics, Hayes held out some hope of

14352-446: The latter. The Democratic nominee was Samuel J. Tilden , the governor of New York. Tilden was considered a formidable adversary who, like Hayes, had a reputation for honesty. Also like Hayes, Tilden was a hard-money man and supported civil service reform. In accordance with the custom of the time, the campaign was conducted by surrogates, with Hayes and Tilden remaining in their respective hometowns. The poor economic conditions made

14508-477: The leading former Confederates. Hayes, along with congressional Republicans, disagreed. They worked to reject Johnson's vision of Reconstruction and to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866 . Reelected in 1866, Hayes returned to the lame-duck session . On January 7, 1867, he voted for the resolution that authorized the first impeachment inquiry against Andrew Johnson . He also voted during this time for

14664-454: The men best qualified for the Nation's highest offices." In support for his view, Justice Jackson cited Federalist No. 68 : 'It was desirable that the sense of the people should operate in the choice of the person to whom so important a trust was to be confided. This end will be answered by committing the right of making it, not to any pre-established body, but to men chosen by the people for

14820-540: The men of the 23rd Ohio to reenlist, and many did. In 1864, the Army command structure in West Virginia was reorganized, and Hayes's division was assigned to George Crook 's Army of West Virginia . Advancing into southwestern Virginia, they destroyed Confederate salt and lead mines there. On May 9, they engaged Confederate troops at Cloyd's Mountain , where Hayes and his men charged the enemy entrenchments and drove

14976-405: The name "Electoral College" came into general usage as the collective designation for the electors selected to cast votes for president and vice president. The phrase was first written into federal law in 1845, and today the term appears in 3 U.S.C.   § 4 , in the section heading and in the text as "college of electors". Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution provided

15132-641: The nation, including Hayes's. His uncle Sardis Birchard died that year, and the Hayes family moved into Spiegel Grove , the grand house Birchard had built with them in mind. That year Hayes announced his uncle's bequest of $ 50,000 in assets to endow a public library for Fremont, to be called the Birchard Library. It opened in 1874 on Front Street, and a new building was completed and opened in 1878 in Fort Stephenson State Park, as per

15288-403: The next five years, Lucy gave birth to three sons: Birchard Austin (1853), Webb Cook (1856), and Rutherford Platt (1858). A Methodist , Lucy was a teetotaler and abolitionist . She influenced her husband's views on those issues, though he never formally joined her church. Hayes had begun his law practice dealing primarily with commercial issues but won greater prominence in Cincinnati as

15444-469: The next four years. Hayes had firmly supported Republican Reconstruction policies throughout his career, but the first major act of his presidency was an end to Reconstruction and the return of the South to "home rule". Even without the conditions of the Wormley's Hotel agreement, Hayes would have been hard-pressed to continue his predecessors' policies. The House of Representatives in the 45th Congress

15600-503: The nominees. The full Senate rejected Roosevelt and Prince by a vote of 31–25, and confirmed Merritt only because Sharpe's term had expired. Hayes was forced to wait until July 1878, when he fired Arthur and Cornell during a Congressional recess and replaced them with recess appointments of Merritt and Silas W. Burt , respectively. Conkling opposed confirmation of the appointees when the Senate reconvened in February 1879, but Merritt

15756-410: The officers of the volunteer company to positions in the 23rd Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry . Hayes was promoted to major , and his friend and college classmate Stanley Matthews was appointed lieutenant colonel . Joining the regiment as a private was another future president, William McKinley . After a month of training, Hayes and the 23rd Ohio set out for western Virginia in July 1861 as

15912-486: The only states where Republican regimes were still supported by federal troops. Without troops to enforce the voting rights laws, these soon fell to Democratic control. Hayes's later attempts to protect the rights of southern blacks were ineffective, as were his attempts to rebuild Republican strength in the South. But he did defeat Congress's efforts to curtail federal power to monitor federal elections. Democrats in Congress passed an army appropriation bill in 1879 with

16068-451: The original plan by which the electors voted for president. Under the original plan, each elector cast two votes for president; electors did not vote for vice president. Whoever received a majority of votes from the electors would become president, with the person receiving the second most votes becoming vice president. According to Stanley Chang, the original plan of the Electoral College was based upon several assumptions and anticipations of

16224-429: The party in power unpopular and made Hayes suspect he would lose the election. Both candidates concentrated on the swing states of New York and Indiana , as well as the three southern states— Louisiana , South Carolina , and Florida —where Reconstruction Republican governments still barely ruled, amid recurring political violence, including widespread efforts to suppress freedman voting. The Republicans emphasized

16380-671: The people. The right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of Negroes. The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to the fewest objections. The convention approved the committee's Electoral College proposal, with minor modifications, on September 4, 1787. Delegates from states with smaller populations or limited land area, such as Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland, generally favored

16536-623: The political impetus for the Pendleton Act of 1883," which was signed into law by President Chester Arthur. Hayes allowed some exceptions to the ban on assessments, permitting George Congdon Gorham , secretary of the Republican Congressional Committee, to solicit campaign contributions from federal officeholders during the Congressional elections of 1878. In 1880, Hayes quickly forced Secretary of

16692-417: The popular will of the nation. Winner-take-all systems, especially with representation not proportional to population, do not align with the principle of " one person, one vote ". Critics object to the inequity that, due to the distribution of electors, individual citizens in states with smaller populations have more voting power than those in larger states. Because the number of electors each state appoints

16848-421: The present day. More resolutions have been submitted to amend the Electoral College mechanism than any other part of the constitution. An amendment that would have abolished the system was approved by the House in 1969, but failed to move past the Senate. Supporters argue that it requires presidential candidates to have broad appeal across the country to win, while critics argue that it is not representative of

17004-426: The presidency and vice presidency by an electoral margin of 185–184. As inauguration day neared, Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders met at Wormley's Hotel in Washington to negotiate a compromise . Republicans promised concessions in exchange for Democratic acquiescence to the committee's decision. The main concession Hayes promised was the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and an acceptance of

17160-551: The presidential election. Finishing in second place was Democratic-Republican Party candidate Thomas Jefferson , the Federalists' opponent, who became the vice president. This resulted in the president and vice president being of different political parties. In 1800, the Democratic-Republican Party again nominated Jefferson for president and also again nominated Aaron Burr for vice president. After

17316-399: The reasons for the change. Among others, there were fears of "intrigue" if the president were chosen by a small group of men who met together regularly, as well as concerns for the independence of the president if he were elected by Congress. Once the Electoral College had been decided on, several delegates (Mason, Butler, Morris, Wilson, and Madison) openly recognized its ability to protect

17472-719: The rebels from the field. Following the rout, the Union forces destroyed Confederate supplies and again successfully skirmished with the enemy. Hayes and his brigade moved to the Shenandoah Valley for the Valley Campaigns of 1864 . Crook's corps was attached to Major General David Hunter 's Army of the Shenandoah and soon back in contact with Confederate forces, capturing Lexington, Virginia , on June 11. They continued south toward Lynchburg , tearing up railroad track as they advanced, but Hunter believed

17628-428: The remaining electoral votes are allocated based on the plurality of votes in each of their congressional districts . The federal district, Washington, D.C. , allocates its 3 electoral votes to the winner of its single district election. States generally require electors to pledge to vote for that state's winning ticket; to prevent electors from being faithless electors , most states have adopted various laws to enforce

17784-556: The rights, and especially the voting rights, of the freedmen. On the other political side, the Democratic platform of Samuel Tilden , also promised the removal of troops, but with no mention of any attempts to guarantee the freedmen's rights. For a time, Hayes's approach had some success, but gradually Southern states moved to build new barriers to black suffrage and flourishing—barriers which would hold legally for almost an entire century. Gerald Ford 's 1974 pardon of Richard Nixon

17940-485: The selection of the president should be "made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station [of president]." Hamilton stated that the electors were to analyze the list of potential presidents and select the best one. He also used the term "deliberate." In a 2020 opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court, the court additionally cited John Jay 's view that the electors' choices would reflect "discretion and discernment." Reflecting on this original intention,

18096-484: The situation, marking the first use of federal troops to break a strike against a private company. The riots spread further, to Chicago and St. Louis , where strikers shut down railroad facilities. By July 29, the riots had ended and federal troops returned to their barracks. No federal troops had killed any of the strikers, or been killed themselves, but clashes between state militia troops and strikers resulted in deaths on both sides. The railroads were victorious in

18252-503: The sole exception of newly admitted Colorado in 1876 for logistical reasons), electors in every state have been chosen based on a popular election held on Election Day . The popular election for electors means the president and vice president are in effect chosen through indirect election by the citizens. The framers of the Constitution did not anticipate political parties . Indeed George Washington 's Farewell Address in 1796 included an urgent appeal to avert such parties. Neither did

18408-429: The special purpose, and at the particular conjuncture... It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow citizens from

18564-421: The state delegations in the House (The votes of nine states were needed for a conclusive election.). On the 36th ballot, Delaware's lone Representative, James A. Bayard , made it known that he intended to break the impasse for fear that failure to do so could endanger the future of the Union. Bayard and other Federalists from South Carolina, Maryland, and Vermont abstained, breaking the deadlock and giving Jefferson

18720-617: The task free from any sinister bias [Electors must not come to the Electoral College with bias]. Their transient existence, and their detached [unbiased] situation, already taken notice of, afford a satisfactory prospect of their continuing so, to the conclusion of it." However, when electors were pledged to vote for a specific candidate, the slate of electors chosen by the state were no longer free agents, independent thinkers, or deliberative representatives. They became, as Justice Robert H. Jackson wrote, "voluntary party lackeys and intellectual non-entities." According to Hamilton, writing in 1788,

18876-507: The terms of the bequest. Hayes served as chairman of the library's board of trustees until his death. Hayes hoped to stay out of politics in order to pay off the debts he had incurred during the Panic, but when the Republican state convention nominated him for governor in 1875, he accepted. His campaign against Democratic nominee William Allen focused primarily on Protestant fears about the possibility of state aid to Catholic schools . Hayes

19032-425: The three disputed unredeemed southern states together with some of the western states, they would emerge with an electoral college majority. On November 11, three days after election day, Tilden appeared to have won 184 electoral votes, one short of a majority. Hayes appeared to have 166, with the 19 votes of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina still in doubt. Republicans and Democrats each claimed victory in

19188-454: The three latter states, but the results in those states were rendered uncertain because of fraud by both parties. To further complicate matters, one of the three electors from Oregon (a state Hayes had won) was disqualified, reducing Hayes's total to 165, and raising the disputed votes to 20. If Hayes was not awarded all 20 disputed votes, Tilden would be elected president. There was considerable debate about which person or house of Congress

19344-413: The time of his accepting the Republican nomination. Hayes's detractors labeled the alleged compromise a "Corrupt Bargain" and mocked him with the nickname "Rutherfraud". The most often cited item in the "compromise" was the agreement to accept Southern "home rule" by withdrawing the remaining Northern troops from Southern capitals. That would remove an important tool the federal government had used to force

19500-454: The top five candidates, ensuring selection of a presiding officer administering the laws would have both ability and good character. Hamilton was also concerned about somebody unqualified but with a talent for "low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity" attaining high office. In the Federalist No. 10 , James Madison argued against "an interested and overbearing majority" and the "mischiefs of faction" in an electoral system . He defined

19656-411: The troops at Lynchburg were too powerful, and Hayes and his brigade returned to West Virginia. Hayes thought Hunter lacked aggression, writing in a letter home that "General Crook would have taken Lynchburg." Before the army could make another attempt, Confederate General Jubal Early 's raid into Maryland forced their recall to the north. Early's army surprised them at Kernstown on July 24, where Hayes

19812-415: The votes were counted in the U.S. presidential election of 1824 , no candidate had received the majority needed of the presidential electoral votes (although Andrew Jackson had the most), thereby putting the outcome in the hands of the House of Representatives . There were four candidates on the ballot: John Quincy Adams , Henry Clay , Andrew Jackson , and William H. Crawford . Following the provisions of

19968-414: The war for the relative peace of Vermont. His mother's ancestors migrated to Vermont at a similar time. Hayes wrote: "I have always thought of myself as Scotch, but of the fathers of my family who came to America about thirty were English and two only, Hayes and Rutherford, were of Scotch descent. This is on my father's side. On my mother's side, the whole thirty-two were probably all of other peoples besides

20124-587: The war quickly came to a close with Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox. Hayes visited Washington, D.C. , that May and observed the Grand Review of the Armies , after which he and the 23rd Ohio returned to their home state to be mustered out of the service. While serving in the Army of the Shenandoah in 1864, Hayes was nominated by Republicans for the House of Representatives from Ohio's 2nd congressional district . Asked by friends in Cincinnati to leave

20280-483: The will of their constituents. They have degenerated into mere agents, in a case which requires no agency, and where the agent must be useless... In 1833, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story detailed how badly from the framers' intention the Electoral Process had been "subverted": In no respect have the views of the framers of the constitution been so completely frustrated as relates to the independence of

20436-710: Was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1845 and opened his own law office in Lower Sandusky (now Fremont ). Business was slow at first, but he gradually attracted clients and also represented his uncle Sardis in real estate litigation. In 1847 Hayes became ill with what his doctor thought was tuberculosis . Thinking a change in climate would help, he considered enlisting in the Mexican–American War , but on his doctor's advice instead visited family in New England. Returning from there, Hayes and his uncle Sardis made

20592-530: Was New York Senator Roscoe Conkling , who fought Hayes's reform efforts at every turn. To show his commitment to reform, Hayes appointed one of the best-known advocates of reform at the time, Carl Schurz , to be Secretary of the Interior and asked Schurz and Secretary of State William M. Evarts to lead a special cabinet committee charged with drawing up new rules for federal appointments. Treasury Secretary John Sherman ordered John Jay to investigate

20748-466: Was a destination for escaping slaves, and many such cases were tried in its courts. A staunch abolitionist, Hayes found his work on behalf of fugitive slaves personally gratifying as well as politically useful, as it raised his profile in the newly formed Republican Party . Hayes's political reputation rose with his professional plaudits. He declined a Republican nomination for a judgeship in 1856. Two years later, some Republicans proposed that Hayes fill

20904-495: Was a quid pro quo. Ford cut Holtzman off, declaring, "There was no deal, period, under no circumstances." Electoral College (United States) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In the United States , the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years during the presidential election for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president . The process

21060-507: Was advancing into Maryland . Marching north, the 23rd was the lead regiment encountering the Confederates at the Battle of South Mountain on September 14. Hayes led a charge against an entrenched position and was shot through his left arm, fracturing the bone. He had one of his men tie a handkerchief above the wound in an effort to stop the bleeding, and continued to lead his men in the battle. While resting, he ordered his men to meet

21216-474: Was against such funding and, while not known to be personally anti-Catholic , he allowed anti-Catholic fervor to contribute to the enthusiasm for his candidacy. The campaign was a success, and on October 12, 1875, Hayes was returned to the governorship by a 5,544-vote majority. The first person to earn a third term as governor of Ohio, Hayes reduced the state debt, reestablished the Board of Charities, and repealed

21372-559: Was approved by a vote of 31–25 and Burt by 31–19, giving Hayes his most significant civil service reform victory. For the remainder of his term, Hayes pressed Congress to enact permanent reform legislation and fund the United States Civil Service Commission , even using his last annual message to Congress in 1880 to appeal for reform. Reform legislation did not pass during Hayes's presidency, but his advocacy provided "a significant precedent as well as

21528-780: Was authorized to decide between the competing slates of electors, with the Republican Senate and the Democratic House each claiming priority. By January 1877, with the question still unresolved, Congress and President Grant agreed to submit the matter to a bipartisan Electoral Commission , which would be authorized to determine the fate of the disputed electoral votes. The commission was to be made up of five representatives , five senators , and five Supreme Court justices . To ensure partisan balance, there would be seven Democrats and seven Republicans, with Justice David Davis , an independent respected by both parties, as

21684-493: Was born in Delaware, Ohio , on October 4, 1822, to Rutherford Ezekiel Hayes, Jr. and Sophia Birchard. Hayes's father, a Vermont storekeeper, had taken the family to Ohio in 1817. He died ten weeks before Rutherford's birth. Sophia took charge of the family, raising Hayes and his sister, Fanny, the only two of the four children to survive to adulthood. She never remarried, and Sophia's younger brother, Sardis Birchard, lived with

21840-689: Was clear that the race was close: Democrats had carried most of the South, as well as New York, Indiana, Connecticut , and New Jersey . In the Northeastern United States , an increasing number of immigrants and their descendants voted Democratic. Although Tilden won the popular vote and claimed 184 electoral votes, Republican leaders challenged the results and charged Democrats with fraud and voter suppression of blacks (who would otherwise have voted Republican) in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. Republicans realized that if they held

21996-400: Was considered by Ohio Republicans to be an excellent standard-bearer for the 1867 election campaign . His political views were more moderate than the Republican party's platform, although he agreed with the proposed amendment to the Ohio state constitution that would guarantee suffrage to black male Ohioans. Hayes's opponent, Allen G. Thurman , made the proposed amendment the centerpiece of

22152-513: Was controlled by a majority of Democrats, and they refused to appropriate enough funds for the army to continue to garrison the South. Even among Republicans, devotion to continued military Reconstruction was fading in the face of persistent Southern insurgency and violence. Only two states, South Carolina and Louisiana, were still under Reconstruction's sway when Hayes assumed the presidency on March 5. On April 3, Hayes ordered Secretary of War George W. McCrary to withdraw federal troops stationed at

22308-486: Was described as a "corrupt bargain" by critics of the disgraced former president. The critics claimed that Ford's pardon was quid pro quo for Nixon's resignation, which elevated Ford to the presidency. The most public critic was US Representative Elizabeth Holtzman , who, as the lowest-ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, was the only representative who explicitly asked whether the pardon

22464-455: Was elected governor of Ohio, serving two consecutive terms from 1868 to 1872 and half of a third two-year term from 1876 to 1877 before his swearing-in as president. Hayes won the Republican nomination for president in the 1876 United States presidential election . In the disputed general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Samuel J. Tilden while losing the popular vote. Initially, neither candidate secured enough electoral votes to win

22620-630: Was faced with the United States' largest labor uprising to date, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 . To make up for financial losses suffered since the panic of 1873, the major railroads had cut their employees' wages several times in 1877. In July of that year, workers at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad walked off the job in Martinsburg, West Virginia , to protest their reduction in pay. The strike quickly spread to workers of

22776-436: Was granted the presidency, and then proceeded to select Clay to be his Secretary of State . In the 1876 election, accusations of corruption stemmed from officials involved in counting the necessary and hotly contested electoral votes of both sides, in which Rutherford B. Hayes was elected by a congressional commission . Ford, who had been appointed by Nixon, became president when Nixon resigned, and gave Nixon clemency. After

22932-510: Was influenced by his belief in meritocratic government and equal treatment without regard to wealth, social standing, or race. One of the defining events of his presidency was the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 , which he resolved by calling in the U.S. Army against the railroad workers. It remains the deadliest conflict between workers and strikebreakers in American history. As president, Hayes implemented modest civil-service reforms that laid

23088-481: Was lukewarm about civil war to restore the Union. Considering that the two sides might be irreconcilable, he suggested that the Union "[l]et them go." Though Ohio had voted for Lincoln in 1860, Cincinnati voters turned against the Republican party after secession. Its residents included many from the Southern United States , and they voted for the Democrats and Know-Nothings , who combined to sweep

23244-490: Was officially selected as the means of electing president towards the end of the Constitutional Convention, due to pressure from slave states wanting to increase their voting power, since they could count slaves as 3/5 of a person when allocating electors, and by small states who increased their power given the minimum of three electors per state. The compromise was reached after other proposals, including

23400-403: Was ready to resort to unusual measures and to risk my own standing and reputation within my party and the country." All his efforts were in vain; Hayes failed to persuade the South to accept legal racial equality or to convince Congress to appropriate funds to enforce the civil rights laws . Hayes took office determined to reform the system of civil service appointments, which had been based on

23556-422: Was slightly wounded by a bullet to the shoulder. He also had a horse shot out from under him, and the army was defeated. Retreating to Maryland, the army was reorganized again, with Major General Philip Sheridan replacing Hunter. By August, Early was retreating up the valley, with Sheridan in pursuit. Hayes's troops fended off a Confederate assault at Berryville and advanced to Opequon Creek , where they broke

23712-552: Was successful scholastically; while there, he joined several student societies and became interested in Whig politics. His classmates included Stanley Matthews and John Celivergos Zachos . He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with the highest honors in 1842 and addressed the class as its valedictorian . After briefly reading law in Columbus , Ohio, Hayes moved east to attend Harvard Law School in 1843. Graduating with an LL.B , he

23868-580: Was sworn in as a part of a large Republican majority. Hayes identified with the party's moderate wing, but was willing to vote with the radicals for the sake of party unity. The major legislative effort of the Congress was the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , for which Hayes voted and which passed both houses of Congress in June 1866. Hayes's beliefs were in line with his fellow Republicans on Reconstruction issues: that

24024-403: Was that the decision would be made without "tumult and disorder", as it would be a broad-based one made simultaneously in various locales where the decision makers could deliberate reasonably, not in one place where decision makers could be threatened or intimidated. If the Electoral College did not achieve a decisive majority, then the House of Representatives was to choose the president from among

24180-593: Was the 19th president of the United States , serving from 1877 to 1881. A staunch abolitionist from Ohio , he was also a brevet major general for the Union army during the American Civil War . As an attorney in Ohio, Hayes served as Cincinnati 's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861. He was a staunch abolitionist who defended refugee slaves in court proceedings. At the start of the Civil War, he left

24336-463: Was to be made by a majority of the Electoral College, as majority rule is critical to the principles of republican government . Hamilton argued that electors meeting in the state capitals were able to have information unavailable to the general public, in a time before telecommunications. Hamilton also argued that since no federal officeholder could be an elector, none of the electors would be beholden to any presidential candidate. Another consideration

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