HAYES, RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD president of the United States, 1877-1881, was born in Delaware, 0., on Oct. 4, 1822. His ancestry was English and Scotch, his people having first settled in America in New Eng land. He attended an academy at Norwalk, 0., and later went to a school in Middletown, Conn. In 1842 he graduated from Kenyon college, 0., and in 1845 from the Harvard Law school. The same year he was admitted to the bar, and began to prac tice at Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), 0. Three years later he removed to Cincinnati. From 1858-61 he was city solicitor there. In 1861 he became major of a regiment of volunteers, the 23rd Ohio Infantry, and in July of that year was sent to western Virginia, for active service. He served throughout the Civil War, and was severely wounded at South mountain. By successive promotions he became a brigadier-general of volunteers, and by brevet a major-general of volunteers. In 1864 he was elected a member of Congress on the Republican ticket, and again in 1866. In the National legislature he supported his party's programme of reconstruction. In 1868 he became governor of Ohio, serving until 1872. In 1875 he was again elected governor after a campaign wherein the Republicans advocated the resump tion of specie payment, and the Democrats an increase of fiat paper money. The "sound money" campaign in Ohio attracted national attention, and in 1876 Hayes received the Republican nomination for the presidency over James G. Blaine. Samuel J. Tilden was the Democratic candidate. He had a reputation as a reformer, having destroyed the "Tweed ring" in New York and been prominently engaged in other public work. The strength of the Democratic candidate, together with the scandals of Grant's administrations which had tended to discredit the Repub lican party, resulted in a close election, which depended upon the contested returns from South Carolina, Florida, Oregon and Louisiana. Partisans on both sides were much excited. It was agreed, however, to refer the contested returns to an electoral corn mission created by act of Congress. The commission voting eight to seven decided all of the contested returns in favor of the Re publicans, and Hayes was declared elected on March 2, 187 7.
The administration of President Hayes is notable principally for the pacification policy adopted by it with respect to the Southern States. The Federal troops, which had since the war been stationed in the Southern capitals, were withdrawn, thereby bringing about the end of the "carpet-bag governments" con ducted often by unprincipled politicians from the North. This action brought Hayes into sharp conflict with many of the political leaders of his party. It, however, made more rapid the slow recovery of the South from the effects of the war, and was highly beneficial to the nation. In his endeavours to bring about reforms in the civil service, and in his advocacy of the establishment of a civil service commission, Hayes also met with the opposition and disapproval of the politicians of his party. The New York faction, under the leadership of Roscoe Conkling, particularly resented his measures in endeavouring to divorce the service from politics. Another notable accomplishment of the Hayes adminis tration was the provision for the resumption of specie payments on Jan. I, 1879. Prior to this time Hayes vetoed a bill, known as the Bland-Allison bill, providing that a silver dollar should be coined of the weight of 412-1 gr. to become full legal tender for all debts and dues, public and private, except where otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract, but the measure passed over his veto. He was at all times a sincere advocate of sound money.
Hayes has generally been considered an able executive, thor oughly honest and sincerely devoted to the interests of the peo ple and the country generally. Upon his retirement from the Presidency, he returned to his home at Fremont, engaging actively in various philanthropic enterprises. It was there that he died, after a short illness, on Jan. 17,