The Rise of Rutherford B. Hayes
The Ohio Lawyer and War Hero Who Would be President
Rutherford B. Hayes achieved the Presidency in part because his early life offered very little in the way of scandal. He was a capable lawyer and a wartime hero.
Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) was nominated for the Presidency in 1876 as part of the Republican Party. Though he was not favored to win, he was somewhat popular, in part, because he had given people very little reason to oppose him.
The Rise of Hayes
Born in Delaware, Ohio to a newly widowed mother (his father had died only weeks earlier), Rutherford B. Hayes prospered during his early life. He did well in school, studying hard and rising up the academic ladder (financed by his Uncle, Sardis Berchard).
Hayes attended private schools in Ohio and Connecticut, then Kenyon College in Ohio (where he graduated as Valedictorian in 1842) and finally Harvard Law School (after having studied law on his own for ten months).
By 1845, at the age of 23, Hayes was practicing law in Ohio, having passed the state bar exam and begun a private practice in the town of Lower Sandusky.
Throughout his early life, Hayes regarded himself politically as an anti-slavery Whig. Not an abolitionist, necessarily (for they were still viewed as being too extreme in their cause), but certainly opposed to the institution.
Prior to the U.S. Civil War, Hayes had become well-known for taking up cases involving slavery, including the famous 1855 case of Rosetta Armstead, who had been freed by her owner but then arrested as a runaway slave. Through the compelling arguments of Hayes before federal courts, Armstead was eventually set free.
Prior to publically entering into a political life, Hayes had been an important proponent of Whig principles in Ohio, and after the party disintegrated after the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854, he was instrumental in developing the Ohio branch of the new Republican Party.
Even at this time, however, Hayes was more focused on the law and his personal life than on politics. When the war arose in 1861, however, even these took a backseat to Hayes' duty to his country.
The War Hero
Rutherford B. Hayes was not personally opposed to the secession of the southern states. Once the northern fort at Fort Sumter had been attacked by South Carolina on April 12, 1861, however, he was ready to support the war.
Hayes joined the army and proved to be a very capable leader of troops on the battlefield throughout the war, being promoted quickly and eventually achieving the rank of Major General. He was the only future President to be injured in the civil war (actually, he was injured a total of four times, and had three horses shot out from under him!).
Congressman and Governor
In July of 1864, even as the war still raged around him, Hayes was nominated to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives by his associates in Ohio. At first he refused the nomination due to his continued service in the war, but after winning the election, he did, in fact, resign from the army in order to take up his seat.
Congress did not convene for the first time in 1865 until December of that year. In the meantime, the war had finally ended, President Lincoln had been assassinated, and Vice President Andrew Johnson had entered the White House and began to insist upon reconstruction of the south in his own terms, sympathetic to the now wounded states.
Upon finally taking his seat in Congress, Hayes served for two years, speaking out in favor of a much more radical reconstruction policy. After Three years of faithful service (having won reelection in 1866), Hayes resigned in order to run for Governor of Ohio.
Hayes served two terms as governor, being instrumental in ratifying the 15th amendment to the Constitution in his state. After this, he publically supported President Grant as he ran for reelection in 1872 and ran for Congress once more himself in order to strengthen the Republican party. He lost, however, and retired temporarily from politics.
Election of 1876
After having been forced out of retirement in 1875 in order to run for governor once more during a time of economic hardship following the Panic of 1873 and the resulting depression during the Grant administration, Hayes' impressive victory opened the eyes of many leaders of the Republican Party.
Hayes quickly became one of the chief candidates for the Republican nomination for President in the 1876 election, though he was initially behind James G. Blaine, Oliver P. Morton, and Benjamin H. Bristow - all of whom were popular in some areas, but had other major flaws working against them (including corruption, ill health, and unpopularity among certain Republican factions).
As a compromise candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes was "obnoxious to no one," according to journalist Henry Adams, and eventually won the nomination on the seventh ballot at the party's convention.
Facing New York Governor Samuel Tilden in the general election, Hayes found himself against a formidable opponent. In fact, Tilden won the popular vote and led in the electoral college as the results of that controversial election poured in. Four states were up for grabs, being too close to call, until a congressional compromise finally stepped in, naming Hayes the winner by just a single electoral vote.
Throughout his Presidency, his opponents would refer to Hayes as being an illegitimate candidate, calling him "Rutherfraud B. Hayes." Nevertheless, at that point, Hayes had much more pressing concerns to deal with, including bringing reconstruction to an end.
Fore More Information:
The Controversial Election of 1876
The Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes
References:
"Rutherford B. Hayes." American President: An Online Reference Resource.
"Biography of Rutherford B. Hayes." The White House.
