Rutherford B. Hayes

19th President of the United States

### Children

Birchard Austin Hayes (son), Webb C. Hayes (son), Rutherford P. Hayes (son), Joseph Thompson Hayes (son), George Crook Hayes (son), Fanny Hayes (daughter), Scott Russell Hayes (son), Manning Force Hayes (son)

### Parents

Rutherford Hayes Jr. (father)Sophia Birchard (mother)

### Siblings

Fanny Arabella Hayes (sister), Rutherford Hayes III (brother), Lorenzo Hayes (brother), Sarah Sophia Hayes (sister)

### Education

Kenyon College (BA)Harvard University (LLB)

### Hair color

Reddish brown

As the 19th President of the United States (1877-1881), **Rutherford B. Hayes** oversaw the end of Reconstruction, began the efforts that led to civil service reform, and attempted to reconcile the divisions left over from the Civil War.

*The Presidency of Rutherford Hayes spanned the period in United States history that encompasses the events of the Reconstruction Era and the Gilded Age. President Rutherford Hayes represented the Republican political party which influenced the domestic and foreign policies of his presidency.*

## Biography

Beneficiary of the most fiercely disputed election in American history, Rutherford B. Hayes brought to the Executive Mansion dignity, honesty, and moderate reform.

To the delight of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, Lucy Webb Hayes carried out her husband’s orders to banish wines and liquors from the White House.

Born in Ohio in 1822, Hayes was educated at Kenyon College and Harvard Law School. After five years of law practice in Lower Sandusky, he moved to Cincinnati, where he flourished as a young Whig lawyer.

He fought in the Civil War, was wounded in action, and rose to the rank of brevet major general. While he was still in the Army, Cincinnati Republicans ran him for the House of Representatives. He accepted the nomination, but would not campaign, explaining, “an officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer… ought to be scalped.”

Elected by a heavy majority, Hayes entered Congress in December 1865, troubled by the “Rebel influences … ruling the White House.” Between 1867 and 1876 he served three terms as Governor of Ohio.

Safe liberalism, party loyalty, and a good war record made Hayes an acceptable Republican candidate in 1876. He opposed Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York.

Although a galaxy of famous Republican speakers, and even Mark Twain, stumped for Hayes, he expected the Democrats to win. When the first returns seemed to confirm this, Hayes went to bed, believing he had lost. But in New York, Republican National Chairman Zachariah Chandler, aware of a loophole, wired leaders to stand firm: “Hayes has 185 votes and is elected.” The popular vote apparently was 4,300,000 for Tilden to 4,036,000 for Hayes. Hayes’s election depended upon contested electoral votes in Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. If all the disputed electoral votes went to Hayes, he would win; a single one would elect Tilden.

Months of uncertainty followed. In January 1877 Congress established an Electoral Commission to decide the dispute. The commission, made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats, determined all the contests in favor of Hayes by eight to seven. The final electoral vote: 185 to 184.

Northern Republicans had been promising southern Democrats at least one Cabinet post, Federal patronage, subsidies for internal improvements, and withdrawal of troops from Louisiana and South Carolina.

Hayes insisted that his appointments must be made on merit, not political considerations. For his Cabinet he chose men of high caliber, but outraged many Republicans because one member was an ex-Confederate and another had bolted the party as a Liberal Republican in 1872.

Hayes pledged protection of the rights of Negroes in the South, but at the same time advocated the restoration of “wise, honest, and peaceful local self-government.” This meant the withdrawal of troops. Hayes hoped such conciliatory policies would lead to the building of a “new Republican party” in the South, to which white businessmen and conservatives would rally.

Many of the leaders of the new South did indeed favor Republican economic policies and approved of Hayes’s financial conservatism, but they faced annihilation at the polls if they were to join the party of Reconstruction. Hayes and his Republican successors were persistent in their efforts but could not win over the “solid South.”

Hayes had announced in advance that he would serve only one term, and retired to Spiegel Grove, his home in Fremont, Ohio, in 1881. He died in 1893.

## Personality

The character traits of President Rutherford Hayes can be described as outgoing, gregarious, relaxed and straight-laced - he did not drink, smoke or gamble. It has been speculated that the Myers-Briggs personality type for Rutherford Hayes is an ENTP (extroversion, intuition, thinking, perception). An outgoing character with a strong desire to improve the world they live in. Rutherford Hayes Personality type: Loyal, innovative, flexible, rational and resourceful.

## Nicknames

* "Rutherfraud"
* "His Fraudulency"
* "Dark Horse-President"
* "Rud"

## Inauguration

The **inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes** as the 19th president of the United States took place publicly on Monday, March 5, 1877, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 23rd inauguration and marked the commencement of the only four-year term of Rutherford B. Hayes as president and William A. Wheeler as vice president.

As March 4, 1877, fell on a Sunday, Hayes was sworn in at the Red Room of the White House on March 3, becoming the first president to take the presidential oath of office in the White House. This ceremony was held in secret under tight security, as the previous year's election had been so bitterly divisive to the point that outgoing President Grant feared an insurrection by Samuel J. Tilden's supporters, while assuring any Democratic Party attempt to hijack a public inauguration ceremony would fail.

Having been sworn in already in private, Hayes took the oath again publicly two days later, and served until March 4, 1881. Hayes' best known quotation, "He serves his party best who serves his country best," is from his inaugural address. Hayes became the first president not to invoke God or a supreme being in his inaugural address.

## Accomplishments and major events

*The major accomplishments and the famous, main events that occurred during the time that Rutherford Hayes was president included the Compromise of 1877 and the End of Reconstruction. Other important events included Civil Service Reforms, the Bland-Allison Act (1878) and initiating the American controlled canal in Panama.*

**The Compromise of 1877 - End of Reconstruction**

Summary: The The Compromise of 1877 was a deal between Democrats and Republicans settled the disputed 1876 U.S. Presidential election in favor of Rutherford Hayes, restored " Home Rule" in the South and ended Reconstruction.

**The Great Railroad Strike of 1877**

Summary: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 started on the Baltimore and Ohio line at  Maryland on July 14, 1877 over pay cuts during an economic depression.  The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 lasted under one month and was the first nationwide strike in the United States.

**The Great Migration of the Exodusters**

Summary: The Great Migration of the Exodusters involved the mass migration of African Americans to Kansas, that following the Homestead Act was open for settlement that began in 1879. The Exodusters were led by a former slave called Benjamin "Pap" Singleton to escape racism and segregation practices in the south and intimidation by white supremacists such as the Ku Klux Klan

**The Rise of Big Business and Corporations**

Summary: The Rise of Big Business and Corporations using unfair business practices began to escalate during the presidency of Rutherford Hayes. Large corporations eliminated many smaller companies, became extremely powerful and were able to influence social and political policies in the United States.  The Big Businesses and Corporations used their influence to extract favorable legislation and gave little concern for working conditions which led to social unrest including riots and strikes and the rise of labor Unions.

**The Captains of Industry**

Summary: The Captains of Industry was the term applied to the entrepreneurs and inventors who made a positive impact on America during the late 1800's. Some of the men perceived as 'Captains of Industry' used unfair practises to reach the top and these more unscrupulous men were also called Robber Barons.

**The Robber Barons**

Summary: The Robber Barons was the nickname given to ruthless American Capitalists who made a negative impact on America during the late 1800's. The ruthless and greedy Robber Barons used unethical business practices and unscrupulous tactics to build monopolies with a total disregard for their workers, their customers or their competitors.

## Post Presidency

Hayes declined to seek reelection in 1880, keeping his pledge not to run for a second term. During the 1880 Republican National Convention, he opposed the nomination of both Conkling and Arthur for the Vice Presidency, as well as opposing Grant's attempt to run for a third term. Hayes considered Grant a failure as president, and believed the president should have a single six-year term. He was gratified by the election of fellow Ohio Republican James A. Garfield to succeed him, and consulted with him on appointments for the next administration. After Garfield's inauguration, Hayes and his family returned to Spiegel Grove. In 1881, he was elected a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He served as commander-in-chief (national president) of the Loyal Legion from 1888 until his death in 1893. Although he remained a loyal Republican, Hayes was not too disappointed in Democrat Grover Cleveland's election to the presidency in 1884, approving of Cleveland's views on civil service reform. He was also pleased at the progress of the political career of William McKinley, his army comrade and political protégé.

In retirement, Hayes was troubled by the disparity between the rich and the poor, saying in an 1886 speech, "free government cannot long endure if property is largely in a few hands and large masses of people are unable to earn homes, education, and a support in old age." Hayes was greatly saddened by his wife's death in 1889. When she died, he wrote, "the soul had left [Spiegel Grove]". After Lucy's death, Hayes's daughter Fanny became his traveling companion, and he enjoyed visits from his grandchildren.

## Death

Hayes died of complications of a heart attack at his home on January 17, 1893, at the age of 70. His last words were "I know that I'm going where Lucy is." President-elect Cleveland and Ohio governor McKinley, who would be Cleveland's immediate successor in 1897, led the funeral procession that followed his body until Hayes was interred in Oakwood Cemetery.

## Facts and trivia

* Rutherford B. Hayes never knew his father, as he died shortly before his birth. His mother's younger brother, Sardis Birchard, lived with the family for a time. He was always close to Hayes and became a father figure to him, contributing to his early education. Hayes would later inherit Spiegel Grove, his estate in Fremont, Ohio, from Sardis Birchard.
* Through each of his parents, Hayes was descended from New England colonists. His earliest immigrant ancestor came to Connecticut from Scotland in 1625. 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 the war for the relative peace of Vermont.
* 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, Hayes attended Kenyon College in Gambier in 1838. He enjoyed his time at Kenyon, and 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 and with highest honors in 1842 and addressed the class as its valedictorian.
* Although a number of previous presidents were lawyers, Hayes was the first to actually graduate law school.
* After briefly reading law in Columbus, Ohio, Hayes moved east to attend Harvard Law School in 1843. Graduating with an LL.B, he 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.
* Hayes courted his future wife, Lucy Webb, during his time in Cincinatti, Ohio. 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. They had eight children.
* Hayes wife, Lucy Webb Hayes, was the first first lady to be a college graduate; she received a degree in liberal arts from Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College in 1850 at the age of 18.
* As an attorney in Ohio, Hayes served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861.
* At the start of the American Civil War, Hayes left 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 and was promoted to brevet major general. Seven U.S. presidents served in the Civil War, but Hayes was the only one who was wounded in action.
* After the war, Hayes served in Congress from 1865 to 1867 as a Republican. Hayes left Congress to run for governor of Ohio and was elected to two consecutive terms, from 1868 to 1872. He served half of a third two-year term from 1876 to 1877 before his swearing-in as president.
* In 1877, Hayes assumed the presidency following the 1876 United States presidential election, one of the most contentious in U.S. history. Hayes lost the popular vote to Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, and neither candidate secured enough electoral votes. According to the U.S. Constitution, if no candidate wins the Electoral College, the House of Representatives is tasked with selecting the new president. Hayes secured a victory when a Congressional Commission awarded him 20 contested electoral votes in the Compromise of 1877.
* 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 the East Portico of the United States Capitol.
* Hayes presidency represents a turning point in U.S. history, as historians consider it the formal end of Reconstruction. Hayes, a prominent member of the Republican "Half-Breed" faction, placated both Southern Democrats and Whiggish Republican businessmen by ending the federal government's
* Hayes's administration was influenced by his belief in meritocratic government and in 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 US 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 the groundwork for further reform in the 1880s and 1890s.
* Hayes vetoed the Bland–Allison Act of 1878, which put silver money into circulation and raised nominal prices; Hayes saw the maintenance of the gold standard as essential to economic recovery.
* Hayes declined to seek reelection in 1880, keeping his pledge not to run for a second term. He was gratified with the election of fellow Ohio Republican James A. Garfield to succeed him, and consulted with him on appointments for the next administration. After Garfield's inauguration, Hayes and his family returned to Spiegel Grove.
* In 1881, Hayes was elected a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He served as commander-in-chief (national president) of the Loyal Legion from 1888 until his death in 1893.
* Although he remained a loyal Republican, Hayes was not too disappointed in Democrat Grover Cleveland's election to the presidency in 1884, approving of Cleveland's views on civil service reform. He was also pleased at the progress of the political career of William McKinley, his army comrade and political protégé.
* Hayes became an advocate for educational charities and federal education subsidies for all children. He believed education was the best way to heal the rifts in American society and allow people to improve themselves. In 1887 Hayes was appointed to the Board of Trustees of Ohio State University, the school he helped found as governor of Ohio.
* In retirement, Hayes was troubled by the disparity between the rich and the poor, saying in an 1886 speech, "free government cannot long endure if property is largely in a few hands and large masses of people are unable to earn homes, education, and a support in old age."
* Hayes was greatly saddened by his wife's death in 1889. When she died, he wrote, "the soul had left [Spiegel Grove]". After Lucy's death, Hayes's daughter Fanny became his traveling companion, and he enjoyed visits from his grandchildren.
* In 1890, Hayes chaired the Lake Mohonk Conference on the Negro Question, a gathering of reformers that met in upstate New York to discuss racial issues.
* Hayes died of complications of a heart attack at his home on January 17, 1893, at the age of 70. His last words were "I know that I'm going where Lucy is." President-elect Cleveland and Ohio Governor McKinley led the funeral procession that followed his body until Hayes was interred in Oakwood Cemetery.
* After the donation of his home to the state of Ohio for Spiegel Grove State Park, Hayes was reinterred there in 1915. The next year the Hayes Commemorative Library and Museum, the country's first presidential library, opened on the site, funded by contributions from the state of Ohio and Hayes's family.
* Rutherford B. Hayes High School in Hayes's hometown of Delaware, Ohio, was named in his honor, as is Hayes Hall, built in 1893, at the Ohio State University. It is Ohio State's oldest remaining building, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1970, due to its front facade, which remains virtually untouched from its original appearance. Hayes knew the building would be named in his honor, but did not live to see it completed.
* Hayes's supporters have praised his commitment to civil-service reform; his critics have derided his leniency toward former Confederate states as well as his withdrawal of federal support for African Americans' voting and civil rights.
* Historians and scholars generally rank Hayes as an average to below-average president.

## References

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford\_B.\_Hayes#Post-presidency\_(1881%E2%80%931893)
* https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/rutherford-b-hayes/
* https://www.american-historama.org/presidents-united-states/rutherford-hayes.htm
* https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hayes-229