Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford B. Hayes
Mathew Benjamin Brady · Public domain · source
Name	Rutherford B. Hayes
Caption	Portrait of President Hayes
Order	19th
Office	President of the United States
Vicepresident	William A. Wheeler
Term start	March 4, 1877
Term end	March 4, 1881
Predecessor	Ulysses S. Grant
Successor	James A. Garfield
Birth date	4 October 1822
Birth place	Delaware, Ohio
Death date	17 January 1893
Death place	Fremont, Ohio
Party	Republican
Spouse	Lucy Webb Hayes
Alma mater	Kenyon College, Harvard Law School
Profession	Lawyer
Branch	Union Army
Serviceyears	1861–1865
Rank	Brevet Major General
Battles	American Civil War

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. His presidency is most historically significant for its role in formally ending the Reconstruction Era in the Southern United States, a decision with profound and lasting consequences for the civil rights of African Americans. While often framed as a compromise to restore national unity, his administration's policies effectively withdrew federal protection for Freedmen and enabled the consolidation of Jim Crow laws and disfranchisement across the Solid South.

Early Life and Political Career

Rutherford B. Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio in 1822. He graduated from Kenyon College and Harvard Law School before establishing a legal practice in Cincinnati. His political career began with the Whig Party, but he became a founding member of the Republican Party in the 1850s, opposing the expansion of slavery. During the American Civil War, Hayes served with distinction in the Union Army, rising to the rank of brevet major general. After the war, he served as a U.S. Congressman from Ohio and later as the Governor of Ohio, where he supported Radical Republican policies for a time, including black suffrage.

Presidency and the End of Reconstruction

Hayes assumed the presidency after the contentious 1876 election, which was resolved by the Electoral Commission of 1877. His administration is defined by the Compromise of 1877, an informal, unwritten deal with Democratic leaders from the South. In exchange for their acceptance of his election, Hayes agreed to order the removal of the last federal troops from the statehouses of South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida. This action marked the definitive end of military reconstruction and federal enforcement of the Reconstruction Amendments, including the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Hayes framed this as a policy of "Home Rule" for the South, intended to heal sectional divisions and promote national economic development, notably through support for railroad expansion.

Civil Rights and the Compromise of 1877

The Compromise of 1877 had a catastrophic impact on African American civil rights. While Hayes expressed a personal commitment to the constitutional rights of Freedmen, his practical policy was one of federal non-intervention. He believed that civic virtue and education, rather than federal force, would eventually secure rights for black citizens. This approach abandoned the Freedmen's Bureau model of protection and allowed Southern Democratic "Redeemer" governments to seize power. The immediate consequence was the violent suppression of black voting and the systematic imposition of legal codes that enforced racial segregation and economic peonage. Key civil rights legislation, like the Enforcement Acts, was no longer prosecuted with vigor, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Civil Rights Cases (1883). Hayes's presidency thus represents a pivotal conservative shift, prioritizing Sectional reconciliation and states' rights over the radical promise of Reconstruction.

Post-Presidency and Later Views

After leaving the White House in 1881, Hayes returned to Fremont, Ohio, and focused on philanthropic work, notably in the field of education reform. He served on the board of the Peabody Education Fund and as president of the Slater Fund, organizations that promoted vocational and industrial education, primarily in the South for both black and white students. In his later writings and speeches, Hayes expressed deep regret over the deteriorating conditions for African Americans in the South. He became a vocal advocate for African-American education, believing it was the only sustainable path to uplift and eventual citizenship rights. However, he remained consistent in his opposition to using federal authority to intervene, maintaining his conservative belief in localism and the slow work of moral and educational improvement over governmental coercion.

Legacy and Historical Assessment

The historical assessment of Rutherford B. Hayes is deeply intertwined with the evaluation of the end of Reconstruction. Traditional, more conservative historiography once praised him as a peacemaker who restored stability and Sectional reconciliation after a bitter war. Modern scholarship, particularly since the Civil rights movement, heavily criticizes his administration for abandoning civil rights and enabling the rise of the Jim Crow system that would persist for nearly a century. His presidency is seen as a decisive retreat from the commitments of the Reconstruction Amendments. While his personal integrity and post-presidential advocacy for education are noted, his legacy is fundamentally defined by the Compromise of 1877, a political bargain that traded thethe federal protection of African American rights for a promise of national unity and economic growth, a decision whose negative consequences would not be fully addressed until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Category:Presidents of the United States Category:American civil rights Category:19th-century American politicians