Blaine. Hayes was by no means a national
figure, although he had served in the Union army, had been in Congress,
and, as has been said, was governor of Ohio at the time of his
nomination. Nor was he a man of more than very ordinary ability,
upright, honest, and mediocre. The Democratic candidate was Samuel J.
Tilden, a political star of the first magnitude, and the contest which
followed was unprecedented in American history.
Tilden received a popular majority of half a million votes, and 184
electoral votes, out of the 185 necessary to elect, without counting the
votes from Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana, all of which he had
carried on the face of the returns. The Republicans disputed the vote in
these states, however, and by the inexorable use of party machinery and
carpet-bag government, declared Hayes elected. For a time, so manifest
was the partisan bias of this decision, the country seemed on the verge
of another Civil War, but Tilden led in wiser council, and Hayes was
permitted to take his seat. It is the only instance in a national
election where the will of the people at the polls has been defied and
overridden.
Hayes was a sincere and honest man, and he felt keenly the cloud which
the manner of his election cast over his administration. He was never
popular with his party, and no doubt he felt that the debt he owed it
for getting him his seat was a doubtful one.
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