Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th President of the United States (1877–1881). As president, he 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 and Reconstruction.
Hayes, an attorney in Ohio, became city solicitor of Cincinnati from 1858 to 1861. When the Civil War began, he 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; he earned a reputation for bravery in combat and was promoted to the rank of major general. After the war, he served in theU.S. 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, and then to a third term, from 1876 to 1877.
In 1876, Hayes was elected president in one of the most contentious and confused elections in national history. He lost the popular vote to Democrat Samuel J. Tilden but he won an intensely disputed electoral college vote after a Congressional commission awarded him twenty contested electoral votes. The result was the Compromise of 1877, in which the Democrats acquiesced to Hayes's election and Hayes ended all federal army intervention in Southern politics. That caused the collapse of Republican state governments and led to a solidly Democratic South.
Hayes believed in meritocratic government, equal treatment without regard to race, and improvement through education. He ordered federal troops to quell the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. He implemented modest civil service reforms that laid the groundwork for further reform in the 1880s and 1890s. He vetoed the Bland-Allison Act that would have put silver money into circulation and raised prices, insisting that maintenance of the gold standard was essential to economic recovery. His policy toward Western Indians anticipated the assimilationist program of the Dawes Act of 1887.
Hayes kept his pledge not to run for re-election, retired to his home in Ohio and became an advocate of social and educational reform. His biographer Ari Hoogenboom says his greatest achievement was to restore popular faith in the presidency and to reverse the deterioration of executive power that had set in after Lincoln's death.
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[show]Family and early life[edit]
Childhood and family history[edit]
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio, on October 4, 1822, the son of Rutherford Hayes Jr. and Sophia Birchard. Hayes's father, aVermont storekeeper, took the family to Ohio in 1817 but died ten weeks before his son's birth. Sophia took charge of the family, bringing up Hayes and his sister, Fanny, the only two of her four children to survive to adulthood.[1] She never remarried;[2] Sophia's younger brother, Sardis Birchard, lived with the family for a time,[3] was always close to Hayes, became a father figure to him and contributed to his early education.[4]
Through both his father and mother, Hayes was of New England colonial ancestry.[5] His earliest American ancestor emigrated to Connecticut fromScotland in 1625.[6] 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 New Haven home during the war for the relative peace of Vermont.[7] His mother's ancestors arrived in Vermont at a similar time, and most of his close relatives outside Ohio continued to live there. John Noyes, an uncle by marriage, had been his father's business partner in Vermont and was later elected to Congress.[8] His first cousin, Mary Jane Noyes Mead, was the mother of sculptor Larkin Goldsmith Mead and architect William Rutherford Mead.[8] John Humphrey Noyes, the founder of the Oneida Community, was also a first cousin.[9]
Education and early law career[edit]
Hayes attended the common schools in Delaware, Ohio, and enrolled in 1836 at the Methodist Norwalk Seminary in Norwalk, Ohio.[10] He did well at Norwalk, and the following year transferred to a preparatory school in Middletown, Connecticut, where he studied Latin and Ancient Greek.[11] Returning to Ohio, Hayes entered Kenyon College in Gambier in 1838.[12] He enjoyed his time at Kenyon, and was successful scholastically;[13] while there, he joined several student societies and became interested in Whig politics.[14] He graduated with highest honors in 1842 and addressed the class as its valedictorian.[15]
After briefly reading law in Columbus, Ohio, Hayes moved east once more to attend Harvard Law School in 1843.[16] 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).[17] Business was slow at first, but he gradually attracted a few clients and also represented his uncle Sardis in real estate litigation.[18] In 1847, Hayes became ill with what his doctor thought to be tuberculosis. Thinking a change in climate would help, he considered enlisting in the Mexican–American War, but on his doctor's advice he instead visited family in New England.[19] Returning from there, Hayes and his uncle Sardis made another long journey to Texas, where Hayes visited with Guy M. Bryan, a Kenyon classmate and distant relative.[20] Business remained meager on his return to Lower Sandusky, and Hayes decided to move to Cincinnati.[21]
Cincinnati law practice and marriage[edit]
Hayes moved to Cincinnati in 1850, and opened a law office with John W. Herron, a lawyer from Chillicothe.[22][a] Later, Herron joined a more established firm and Hayes formed a new partnership with William K. Rogers and Richard M. Corwine.[24] He found business better in Cincinnati, and enjoyed the social attractions of the larger city, joining the Cincinnati Literary Society and the Odd Fellows Club.[25] He also attended theEpiscopal Church in Cincinnati but did not become a member.[25] Hayes courted his future wife, Lucy Webb, during his time there.[26] 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.[27]Four years later, Hayes began to spend more time with Lucy. They became engaged in 1851 and married on December 30, 1852, at the house of Lucy's mother.[26] Over the next five years, Lucy gave birth to three sons: Birchard Austin (1853), Webb Cook (1856), and Rutherford Platt (1858).[24] Lucy, a Methodist, teetotaler, and abolitionist, influenced her husband's views on those issues, although he never formally joined her church.[28]
Hayes had begun his law practice dealing primarily with commercial issues but won greater prominence in Cincinnati as a criminal defense attorney,[29] defending several people accused of murder.[30] In one case, he used a form of the insanity defense that saved the accused from thegallows; she was instead confined to a mental institution.[31] Hayes also defended slaves who had escaped and were accused under the recently enacted Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.[32] As Cincinnati was just across the Ohio River from Kentucky, a slave state, many such cases were tried in its courts. A staunch abolitionist, Hayes found his work on behalf of fugitive slaves personally gratifying as well as politically useful, as it raised his profile in the newly formed Republican party.[33] His political reputation rose with his professional plaudits. Hayes declined the Republican nomination for a judgeship in 1856.[34] Two years later, some Republicans proposed Hayes to fill a vacancy on the bench and he considered accepting the appointment until the office of city solicitor also became vacant.[35] The city council elected Hayes to fill the vacancy, and he won a full two-year term from the voters in April 1859 with a larger majority than other Republicans on the ticket.[36]
Civil War[edit]
West Virginia and South Mountain[edit]
As the Southern states started to secede after Lincoln's election to the Presidency in 1860, Hayes was lukewarm on the idea of a civil war to restore the Union. Considering that the two sides might be irreconcilable, he suggested that the Union "[l]et them go."[37] Although Ohio had voted for Lincoln in 1860, the Cincinnati voters turned against the Republican party after secession, and the Democrats and Know-Nothings combined to sweep the city elections in April 1861, ejecting Hayes from the city solicitor's office.[38] Returning to private practice, Hayes formed a very brief law partnership withLeopold Markbreit, lasting a mere three days before the war began.[38] After the Confederates had fired on Fort Sumter, Hayes resolved his doubts and joined a volunteer company composed of his Literary Society friends.[39] That June, Governor William Dennison appointed several of the officers of the volunteer company to positions in the 23rd Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Hayes was promoted to major, and his friend and college classmate Stanley Matthews was appointed lieutenant colonel;[40] also joining the regiment as a private was another future president, William McKinley.[40]
After a month of training, Hayes and the 23rd Ohio set out for western Virginia in July 1861 as a part of the Kanawha Division.[41] They passed the next few months out of contact with the enemy until September, when the regiment encountered Confederates at Carnifex Ferry in present-day West Virginia and drove them back.[42] In November, Hayes was promoted to lieutenant colonel (Matthews having been promoted to colonel of another regiment) and led his troops deeper into western Virginia, where they entered winter quarters.[43] The division resumed its advance the following spring, and Hayes led several raids against the rebel forces, on one of which he sustained a minor injury to his knee.[44] That September, Hayes's regiment was called east to reinforce General John Pope's Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run.[45] Although Hayes and his troops did not arrive in time for the battle, they joined the Army of the Potomac as it hurried north to cut off Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, which was advancing into Maryland.[45] Marching north, the 23rd was the lead regiment encountering the Confederates at the Battle of South Mountain on September 14.[46] Hayes led a charge against an entrenched position and was shot through his left arm, fracturing the bone.[47] He had one of his men tie a handkerchief above the wound in an effort to stop the bleeding, and continued to lead his men in the battle. While resting, he ordered his men to meet a flanking attack, but instead his entire command moved backward, leaving Hayes lying in between the lines. Fearing he might not survive, Hayes left messages for his wife and friends with a wounded Confederate soldier who was lying near him. Eventually, his men brought Hayes back behind their lines, and he was taken to hospital. The regiment continued on to Antietam, but Hayes was out of action for the rest of the campaign.[48] In October, he was promoted to colonel and assigned to command of the first brigade of the Kanawha Division as a brevet brigadier general.[49]
Army of the Shenandoah[edit]
The division spent the following winter and spring near Charleston, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), out of contact with the enemy.[50] Hayes saw little action until July 1863, when the division skirmished with John Hunt Morgan's cavalry at the Battle of Buffington Island.[51] Returning to Charleston for the rest of the summer, Hayes spent the fall encouraging the men of the 23rd Ohio to re-enlist, and many did so.[52] In 1864, the Army command structure in West Virginia was reorganized, and Hayes's division was assigned to George Crook's Army of West Virginia.[52] Advancing into southwestern Virginia, they destroyed Confederate salt and lead mines there.[53] On May 9, they engaged Confederate troops at Cloyd's Mountain, where Hayes and his men charged the enemy entrenchments and drove the rebels from the field.[53] Following the rout, the Union forces destroyed Confederate supplies and again successfully skirmished with the enemy.[53]
Hayes and his brigade moved to the Shenandoah Valley for the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Crook's corps was attached to Major General David Hunter's Army of the Shenandoah and soon back in contact with Confederate forces, capturing Lexington, Virginia on June 11.[54] They continued south toward Lynchburg, tearing up railroad track as they advanced.[54] Hunter believed the troops at Lynchburg were too powerful, however, and Hayes and his brigade returned to West Virginia.[54] Hayes thought that Hunter lacked aggression, writing in a letter home that "General Crook would have taken Lynchburg."[54] Before the army could make another attempt, Confederate General Jubal Early's raid into Maryland forced their recall to the north. Early's army surprised them at Kernstown on July 24, where Hayes was slightly wounded by a bullet to the shoulder.[55] Hayes also had a horse shot out from under him, and the army was defeated.[55] Retreating into Maryland, the army was reorganized again, with Major General Philip Sheridan replacing Hunter.[56] By August, Early was retreating up the valley, with Sheridan in pursuit. Hayes's troops fended off a Confederate assault at Berryville and advanced to Opequon Creek, where they broke the enemy lines and pursued them farther south.[57] They followed up the victory with another atFisher's Hill on September 22, and one more at Cedar Creek on October 19.[58] At Cedar Creek, Hayes sprained his ankle after being thrown from a horse and was struck in the head by a spent round, which did not cause serious damage.[58] Hayes's conduct drew the attention of his superiors, with Ulysses S. Grant later writing of Hayes that "[h]is conduct on the field was marked by conspicuous gallantry as well as the display of qualities of a higher order than that of mere personal daring."[59]
Cedar Creek marked the end of the campaign. Hayes was promoted to brigadier general in October 1864 and brevetted major general.[60] Around this time, Hayes learned of the birth of another son, George Crook Hayes. The army went into winter quarters once more, and in spring 1865 the war quickly came to a close with Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox. Hayes visitedWashington, D.C. that May and observed the Grand Review of the Armies, after which he and the 23rd Ohio returned to their home state to be mustered out of the service.[61]
Post-war politics[edit]
Congressman[edit]
While serving in the Army of the Shenandoah in 1864, Hayes received the Republican nomination to the House of Representatives from Ohio's 2nd congressional district.[62] Asked by friends in Cincinnati to leave the army to campaign, Hayes refused, saying that an "officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress ought to be scalped."[62]Instead, Hayes wrote several letters to the voters explaining his political positions and was elected by a 2,400-vote majority over the incumbent Democrat, Alexander Long.[62]
When the 39th Congress assembled in December 1865, Hayes was sworn in as a part of a large Republican majority. Hayes identified with the moderate wing of the party, but was willing to vote with the radicals for the sake of party unity.[63] The major legislative effort of the Congress was the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, for which Hayes voted and which passed both houses of Congress in June 1866.[64] Hayes's beliefs were in line with his fellow Republicans on Reconstruction issues: that the South should be restored to the Union, but not without adequate protections for freedmen and other black southerners.[65] President Andrew Johnson, to the contrary, wanted to readmit the seceded states quickly without first ensuring that they adopted laws protecting the newly freed slaves' civil rights and granted pardons to many of the leading former Confederates.[65] Hayes, along with congressional Republicans, disagreed. They worked to reject Johnson's vision of Reconstruction and to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866.[66] Re-elected in 1866, Hayes returned to the lame-duck session to vote for the Tenure of Office Act, which ensured that Johnson could not remove administration officials without the Senate's consent.[67] He also unsuccessfully pressed for a civil service reform bill that attracted the votes of many reform-minded Republicans.[68] Hayes continued to vote with the majority in the 40th Congress on the Reconstruction Acts, but resigned in July 1867 to campaign for governor of Ohio.[69]
Governor of Ohio[edit]
A popular Congressman and former soldier, Hayes was considered by Ohio Republicans to be an excellent standard-bearer for the 1867 election campaign.[70] Hayes's political views were more moderate than the Republican party's platform, although he agreed with the proposed amendment to the Ohio state constitution that would guarantee suffrage to black Ohioans.[70] Hayes's opponent,Allen G. Thurman, made the proposed amendment the centerpiece of the campaign, and both men campaigned vigorously, making speeches across the state, mostly focusing on the suffrage question.[70] The election was mostly a disappointment to Republicans, as the amendment failed to pass and Democrats gained a majority in the state legislature.[71] Hayes thought at first that he, too, had lost, but the final tally showed that he had won the election by 2,983 votes of 484,603 votes cast.[71]
As a Republican governor with a Democratic legislature, Hayes had a limited role in governing, especially since Ohio's governor had no veto power. Despite these constraints, Hayes oversaw the establishment of a school for deaf-mutes and a reform school for girls.[72] He also endorsed the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and urged his conviction, which failed by one vote in the United States Senate.[73] Nominated for a second term in 1869, Hayes campaigned once more for equal rights for black Ohioans and sought to associate his Democratic opponent, George H. Pendleton with disunion and racism.[74] Hayes was re-elected with an increased majority, and the Republicans took the legislature, ensuring Ohio's ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guaranteed black suffrage.[74] With a Republican legislature, Hayes's second term was more enjoyable, and he was gratified to see suffrage expanded and a state Agricultural and Mechanical College (later to become Ohio State University) established.[75] He also proposed a reduction in state taxes and reform of the state prison system.[76] Choosing not to seek re-election, Hayes looked forward to retiring from politics in 1872.[77]
Private life and return to politics[edit]
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As Hayes prepared to leave office, several delegations of reform-minded Republicans urged him to run against the incumbent Republican, John Sherman, for United States Senate.[77] Hayes declined the offers, preferring to preserve party unity and retire to private life.[77] Hayes especially looked forward to spending time with his children, two of whom (daughter Fanny and son Scott) had been born in the past five years.[78][b] Initially, Hayes tried to promote railway extensions to his hometown, Fremont, and spent the rest of his time managing some real estate he had acquired in Duluth, Minnesota.[80] Not entirely removed from politics, Hayes held out some hope of a cabinet appointment, but was disappointed to receive only an appointment as assistant U.S. treasurer at Cincinnati, which he turned down.[81] He also allowed himself to be nominated for his old House seat in 1872 but was not disappointed when he lost the election to Henry B. Banning, a fellow Kenyon College alumnus.[82] In 1873, Lucy gave birth to another son, Manning Force Hayes.[83][c] That same year, the Panic of 1873 hurt business prospects across the nation, including Hayes's. Sardis Birchard died that year and the Hayes family moved into Spiegel Grove, the grand house Birchard had built with them in mind.[85] Hayes hoped to remain out of politics in order to pay off the debts he had incurred during the Panic, but when the Republican state convention nominated him for governor in 1875, he accepted.[86] The campaign against Democratic nominee William Allen focused primarily on Protestant fears of the possibility of state aid to Catholic schools.[87] Hayes was against such funding and, while he was not known to be personally anti-Catholic, he allowed anti-Catholic fervor to contribute to the enthusiasm for his candidacy.[87] The campaign was a success, and Hayes was returned to the governorship by a 5,544-vote majority.[87]
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