American History - Part 120 - Grant - Republicans reject Grant - Hayes Elected President
Channel: ListenAndReadAlong
Date: 2013-06-28

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.
The American people were very disappointed with President Grant. 
As Grant's second term came to an end, he began to talk about the possibility of another four years in the White House. Republican politicians were firmly opposed. They blamed Grant for the party's defeats in state and congressional elections. Grant had to give up any hope of a third term.
 Congressman James Blaine seemed to have the best chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination in eighteen seventy-six.
However, after six ballots, Blaine appeared ready to win. To stop him, his opponents needed to unite behind another candidate. One of these candidates was Rutherford Hayes, the governor of Ohio. Hayes had fewer enemies than the other candidates. So he became the compromise candidate for delegates hoping to stop Blaine.
 On the seventh ballot of the convention, Rutherford Hayes captured the Republican nomination.
The Democratic Party met in St. Louis, Missouri. Delegates nominated Samuel Tilden, the governor of New York. Tilden had led the fight to end dishonesty in government in New York state. He had ousted a group called the Tweed Ring, which controlled New York City politics for years. Democrats said he was the man to end dishonesty in government in Washington.
The presidential election of eighteen seventy-six was very close. By midnight of Election Day, the results seemed to show that Democrat Samuel Tilden was the winner. Republican Rutherford Hayes went to bed believing he had lost.
 However, the Republicans quickly saw that the electoral votes of three southern states could decide the winner.
 In the American presidential system, whoever wins the most popular votes in a state usually gets all the electoral votes of that state. In eighteen seventy-six, the electoral votes of three states -- Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina -- were enough to give the White House to one candidate or the other.
Each party claimed victory in these three states. Each accused the other of stealing votes and counting ballots unfairly. Finally, the two parties agreed to form an electoral committee to decide who had won the disputed votes.
 The committee was supposed to include seven Republicans, seven Democrats, and one Independent. But before it could meet, the Independent member resigned. A Republican took his place. The Republicans had a majority.
  The committee first debated the disputed votes of Florida. After much discussion, the eight Republicans on the committee voted to accept the votes of Florida's Republican electors. They rejected a proposal to investigate the way the votes were counted in the state. They said there was not enough time for a full investigation.
 The same thing happened with the disputed votes of Louisiana and South Carolina. The Republicans on the committee voted to count the Republican electors. The Democrats voted to count the democratic electors. In each case, the Republicans won, by a vote of eight to seven.
  As a result, Rutherford Hayes gained the electoral votes of all three states. This gave him enough to win the election.
 The situation seemed very tense and dangerous. Many feared the start of another civil war. Negotiations finally provided a peaceful solution.
  Representatives of the two parties met secretly to work out a compromise.
 The Democrats agreed to permit Republican Rutherford Hayes to be sworn-in as President. In return, Hayes agreed to end federal support of radical Republican governments in the south. He promised to name southerners to his cabinet and other important jobs. And he said he would provide more federal aid for schools and railroads in the south. As part of the agreement, Hayes promised not to act aggressively to support the civil rights of black southerners.
 JACK   Hayes' opponent, Democrat Samuel Tilden, did not oppose the agreement. Tilden was an old man. His health was poor. He agreed that four years of Rutherford Hayes would be better than four years of civil war.
 So it was that Rutherford Hayes became the nineteenth president of the United States. He would surprise a lot of people after he reached the White House. That will be our story next week.