US Presidents · 19th century

Rutherford B. Hayes

1822–1893 · American

Republican

In office: 1877–1881

Rutherford B. Hayes, a Union officer and governor of Ohio, won the bitterly disputed election of 1876 against Samuel Tilden by a single electoral vote after a special Electoral Commission awarded him the contested states. The Compromise of 1877 that settled the dispute saw federal troops withdrawn from the South, bringing Reconstruction to an end. He served one term, as he had pledged.

How to spot them

▸The disputed 1876 election against Samuel Tilden, decided by an Electoral Commission (185 electoral votes to 184)
▸The Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction
▸Mocked as 'Rutherfraud' and 'His Fraudulency'
▸His wife 'Lemonade Lucy' banned alcohol from the White House; the White House Easter Egg Roll began under him

In office

The Compromise of 1877 (1877)

Settled the disputed 1876 election; federal troops were withdrawn from the South, ending Reconstruction

Federal troops sent against the Great Railroad Strike (1877)

The first great nationwide strike, suppressed with federal troops

First White House Easter Egg Roll (1878)

Children were invited to roll eggs on the White House lawn

Veto of the Bland–Allison silver act (1878)

Congress passed the silver coinage act over his veto

Quick-fire facts

•The 19th President of the United States
•Tilden won the popular vote in 1876; Hayes won the electoral college 185–184
•Wounded several times as a Union officer in the Civil War
•His wife Lucy Webb Hayes, a temperance supporter, was nicknamed 'Lemonade Lucy'
•The first telephone was installed in the White House during his presidency

Drill it — 5 cards

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Sources

Miller Center, University of Virginia — Rutherford B. Hayes