President of the United States: Rutherford B Hayes, man who failed to win over the South despite ending Reconstruction

Editor’s Note: This is part of  a series of profiles taking a closer look at US presidents  ahead of the 2024 presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Rutherford B Hayes came to the White House amidst the chaos.

The United States had just witnessed its most controversial and corrupt presidential election ever.

But Hayes overcame those inauspicious beginnings to restore honour and dignity to the White House.

Let’s take a closer look at the 19th President of the United States.

Early years

Hayes was born on October 4, 1822, in Ohio’s Delaware.

His father, Rutherford Hayes, was a farmer.

Unfortunately, Rutherford died two months before his son was born.

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Hayes’ mother was Sophia Birchard.

Hayes attended Kenyon College and then Harvard Law.

He moved back to Ohio, where he took up a law practice.

It was here that he took up a number of cases of slaves and began his association with the Republican Party.

It was here that Hayes married abolitionist Lucy Webb.

When the Civil War broke out, Hayes volunteered to serve in the Union Army.

He was appointed to the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and rose swiftly through the ranks to become brevetted Major General.

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Hayes was seriously injured in the Battle of South Mountain.

Politics

It was during this time in the army that Hayes’ name was put forward by the Republicans to serve in the House of Representatives.

Though Hayes accepted their solicitations on his behalf, he steadfastly refused to campaign.

“An officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer… ought to be scalped,” Hayes remarked.

Hayes entered the Ohio House of Representatives in 1865 and then became Ohio Governor in 1868.

Hayes would go on to serve as Ohio Governor for three terms.

But he already had one eye on the White House.

Hayes gained national prominence for his unyielding backing of the gold standard.

His upstanding reputation was a breath of fresh air for America – which was looking to move on from the scandal-plagued administration of Ulysses S Grant, a backlash from Reconstruction and an economic depression.

Few, including Hayes, expected the Republicans to prevail against Democratic opponent Samuel J Tilden.

However, a dispute over the Electoral Votes of Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida left the contest in the balance.

A special Electoral Commission comprising eight Republicans and seven Democrats was constituted to settle the issue.

Hayes won eight to seven — a vote that went down strictly on party lines.

Such was the controversy that Hayes took the oath of office on March 3, 1877, in the White House in secret.

Time in office

Hayes angered many in his own party by appointing an ex-Confederate member to the Cabinet as well as a number of persons from the South to prominent federal positions.

Though Hayes had committed to protecting the rights of blacks, he also pledged a return to “wise, honest, and peaceful local self-government.”

He did this by immediately withdrawing federal troops from the South – thus bringing the era of Reconstruction to a close.

Hayes’ attempts to reform the civil service — and his battle against Senator Roscoe Conkling and future president Chester Arthur — also angered a faction of his own party.

He also sent federal troops to crush the national railroad strikes of 1877 and signed into law a bill allowing women lawyers to argue before the Supreme Court.

Hayes did not seek the nomination of the Republican Party in 1880.

Instead, he returned to his home in Ohio, where he contended himself working on prison reform and education for black youth in the South.

Legacy

Though Hayes made every attempt to win the South over to his side, it was a battle that he could not win.

His ending of Reconstruction and strikebreaking continues to rankle historians to this day.

Hayes’ battle over the New York Customs House also laid the foundation for the passage of the 1883 Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act.