Part 19 of My Presidential Review Series
Moving on quicker than usual, I write of Rutherford B. Hayes. Rutherford is the longest first name of any president. His was the closest election in the history of this country. Hayes was the first of the presidents to begin to win back power to the Executive Office taken by Congress in the Johnson years. He was the second president to make a campaign pledge to serve only once. He served March 4, 1877 to March 3, 1881.
As I said before, Hayes' election was the closest in U.S. history. His opponent, Samuel J. Tilden, was thought to have won both before and after the votes were cast. With 185 needed to win, Tilden led 184-166 with South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, and one Oregon electoral vote in dispute. Hayes was ahead in South Carolina, but Tilden was winning in Louisiana and Florida until Republican officials declared many Democratic ballots invalid. Congress established a 15-man electoral commission made of five senators (three Republican and two Democrat), five representatives (three Democrat and two Republican), and five Supreme Court justices (two appointed by Democrats, 2 appointed by Republicans); the fifth justice was picked by the other 4, a Republican appointee heralded for his independence. In February 1877 the commission awarded all electoral votes to Hayes by a vote of 8-7 strictly along party lines. Some southerners threatened rebellion rather than accept what they considered rank usurpation, but Tilden restrained his followers and conceded the election. Hayes further mollified the South with the Compromise of 1877, by which he agreed to recall all troops from the South, begin true reconstruction of the Southern infrastructure, and appoint at least one southern Democrat to his Cabinet.
As promised in the Compromise of 1877, Hayes recalled all troops from the South, at which point white supremacy was restored and the Southern states went solidly Democratic, and would remain so for 100 years.
The Bland-Allison Act, sponsored by Democratic Representative Richard Bland and Republican Senator William B. Allison, was passed over Hayes' veto to become law in 1878. It was a "soft money" measure that required the federal government to buy $2-4 million worth of silver for coinage. It was intended to inflate currency and as such aid farmers, debtors, and silver miners. It was superseded by the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
Hayes eagerly enforced the Resumption of Specie Act passed by Grant. Treasury Secretary Sherman was instructed to redeem all greenbacks tendered after January 1, 1879 in gold. Denounced by Western soft-money advocates, it nonetheless increased public confidence in American currency.
In June 1877 Hayes issued an executive order barring federal employees from taking part in political activities. He called for comprehensive civil service reform and funding of a civil service commission many times, but Congress failed to act. He favored competitive examinations conducted in the Interior Department and Post Office.
The Chinese had been emigrating to the American West Coast, by 1880 constituting 9% of the California population. At first they were welcomed as cheap labor for the railroads, but as the railroad boom waned, Chinese immigrants started looking for jobs and became a threat to the citizens of California. In 1879 Congress passed a bill nullifying the Burlingame treaty, which gave Chinese citizens the right to emigrate to the U.S. Hayes vetoed the measure, not wishing to strain relations with China. He instead authorized Secretary of State Evarts to negotiate a treaty, the Treaty of 1880, restricting but not banning future Chinese immigration. It was superseded by the Chinese Exclusion Act.
At this time, the French were attempting to build a canal across Central America. In a message to Congress in March 1880, Hayes asserted that any canal built there would be under American influence and they would not allow any European power to build it.
Hayes died on January 17, 1893.
Hayes, like so many before and after him, did little in his presidency. Radical Reconstruction was ended, a very good thing, but I don't believe it can really be considered an accomplishment of his presidency. However, his attempts and limited successes at civil service reform started a precedent, which would lead to the mass amounts of reform accomplished by Roosevelt and Wilson. Also, he stood up to Congress, finally starting to regain some power lost to the legislative branch.
Overall Ranking: 22
"I am not liked as a President by the politicians in office, in the press, or in Congress. But I am content to abide the judgement-the sober second thought-of the people."