 |
Rutherford Birchard Hayes
b. 4 Oct 1822, Delaware, Delaware County, Ohio
d. 17 Jan 1893, Spiegel Grove in Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio |
| Title: |
President of the United States |
| Term: |
4 Mar 1877 - 4 Mar 1881 |
| Chronology: |
2 Mar 1877,
election to the office of President of the United States is declared upon counting electoral votes (cast 6 Dec 1876),
joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [1][2] |
|
3 Mar 1877,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, private ceremony, Red Room, White House, Washington, D.C. |
|
4 Mar 1877,
commencement of term |
|
5 Mar 1877,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, inaugural ceremony as part of the special session of the Senate, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [3][4] |
|
4 Mar 1881,
expiration of term |
| Biography: |
| Attended the common schools, the Methodist Academy in Norwalk, Ohio, and the Webb Preparatory School in Middletown, Connecticut; graduated from Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, in August 1842 and from the Harvard Law School in January 1845; admitted to the bar on 10 May 1845, and commenced practice in Lower Sandusky (now Fremont); moved to Cincinnati in 1849 and resumed the practice of law; city solicitor (1857-1859); commissioned major of the 23rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry (27 Jun 1861); lieutenant colonel (24 Oct 1861); colonel (24 Oct 1862); brigadier general of Volunteers (9 Oct 1864); brevetted major general of Volunteers (3 Mar 1865); elected as a Republican to the 39th and 40th Congresses (4 Mar 1865 - 20 Jul 1867); resigned, having been nominated for Governor of Ohio; Governor of the State of Ohio (13 Jan 1868 - 8 Jan 1872); unsuccessful candidate for election to the 43rd Congress; again elected Governor (10 Jan 1876 - 2 Mar 1877); resigned, having been elected President of the United States (4 Mar 1877 - 4 Mar 1881); withdrew federal troops from those areas of the South still occupied, thus ending the era of Reconstruction (1865-1877); used federal troops against the strikers in the great railroad strikes of 1877; Congress overrode his veto of the Bland-Allison Act (1878), which provided for government purchase of silver bullion and restoration of the silver dollar as legal tender. |
| Biographical sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (2005). |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (6 Dec 1876) |
| Rutherford Birchard Hayes |
185 |
| Samuel Jones Tilden |
184 |
| total number of electors appointed |
369 |
| number of votes for a majority |
185 |
|
| Source of electoral results: Congressional Record, 44th Congress, 2nd Session, 2068. |
| |
| [1] |
The joint session of Congress for counting electoral votes began 1 Feb 1877, but disputes concerning the electoral vote returns from four states deadlocked its proceedings. Anticipating this development, the Congress had created a special commission to resolve such disputes under An Act to provide for and regulate the counting of votes for President and Vice President, and the decision of questions arising thereon, for the term commencing March 4, A. D. 1877 (effective 29 Jan 1877). Each time a problem in counting arose, the joint session went into recess and referred the disputed votes to the Commission which considered the cases. The joint session was convened on 15 occasions: 1 Feb 1877, 10 Feb 1877, 12 Feb 1877, 19 Feb 1877, 20 Feb 1877, 21 Feb 1877, 24 Feb 1877, 26 Feb 1877, 28 Feb 1877, 1 Mar 1877, and 2 Mar 1877. The results were announced at 04:10 2 Mar 1877 (Congressional Record, 44th Congress, 2nd Session, 1190-2068). |
| [2] |
Congressional Record, 44th Congress, 2nd Session, 2068. |
| [3] |
Public ceremony of inauguration was postponed as 4 Mar 1877 fell on a Sunday. |
| [4] |
Congressional Record, 45th Congress, Special Session of the Senate, 1-4. |
|
Image: photograph (1865). |
