96 OHIO HISTORY
The Nomination of
Rutherford Hayes
for the Presidency
For the first time since the Civil War
the Republican party faced the
possibility of defeat in 1876, so strong
was public sentiment against the cor-
ruption of Grant's administration. The
Republican candidate would have
the handicap of representing the
scandal-torn party in power; his Demo-
cratic opponent would possess the great
political advantage of being able
to attack the policies and personnel
associated with a poor President. Thus
the choice of a safe Republican
candidate acceptable to a majority of the
convention delegates but not intimately
connected with Grant or any part
of the new coalition was of the greatest
importance if the party wished to
stay in power. "The Great
Unknown" became the manner of describing
this leader in the weeks preceding the
Cincinnati Convention of June 1876.1
On the eye of the convention four major
contenders vied for support:
Representative James G. Blaine of Maine,
Senator Roscoe Conkling of New
York, Senator Oliver P. Morton of
Indiana, and Secretary of the Treasury
Benjamin H. Bristow of Kentucky. Three
other men were put forward as
favorite sons by their state
delegations: Postmaster General Marshall Jewell
of Connecticut, Governor Rutherford B.
Hayes of Ohio, and Governor John
Hartranft of Pennsylvania. Of these
three only Hayes was a serious con-
tender; the Jewell and Hartranft
candidacies were intended merely as hold-
ing operations until the balloting
narrowed down to two or three candi-
dates.
Blaine, the congressional candidate,
held a commanding lead in delegate
strength, yet lacked nearly 100 votes to
win the nomination on the first
ballot. He was the only national
candidate in the group having first ballot
supporters in 36 of the 49 states and
territories. Like Henry Clay before
him, he inspired great devotion among
his followers. Blaine compensated
for his lack of a military record by
using his great oratorical powers to
brand the South as tile region of
rebellion. Such tactics won both firm
friends and bitter enemies. Although he
became a member of the rules
committee and Speaker of the House, the
striking weakness of Blaine on
Capitol Hill appeared in the notable
lack of constructive legislation bear-
ing his name.
Senator Conkling, another brilliant
orator, disliked Blaine intensely from
the day Blaine mercilessly described his
"turkey gobbler strut." Conkling
who controlled the New York State
Republican organization, was more
closely identified with President Grant
than any other Republican and
hence was the acknowledged
administration candidate. With only token
support outside his own state, Conkling
could undoubtedly deliver the large
New York delegation as he willed. This
represented alone nearly one fifth
of the votes needed to nominate a
standard bearer.
NOTES ON PAGE 194
HAYES NOMINATION for the PRESIDENCY 97
Senator Morton, Indiana's brilliant war
governor and long a champion
of Negro rights, controlled the party
machinery in his pivotal state, and
held the confidence of the southern
carpetbag delegations. Morton, unlike
his major rivals, had a record of solid
executive and legislative accomplish-
ment, in addition to outstanding
oratorical skill. His great handicap was
physical; since 1865 he had suffered
from paralysis of the legs. Hayes ad-
mired Morton and knew him best of the
leading contenders.
Benjamin H. Bristow was the favorite of
the reformers because as Secre-
tary of the Treasury he had vigorously
prosecuted the Whiskey Ring con-
spirators. His backers included most of
the Liberal Republicans of 1872,
eastern conservatives, Cincinnati
newspaper editors and Chicago business
leaders. Although his delegate strength
was thin, it was widely distributed
over New England, the South, and Middle
West.
Hayes became a promising Republican
presidential possibility when he
won an unprecedented third term as
governor of Ohio on October 12, 1875.
Later that same month he stumped
Pennsylvania with Governor John Hart-
ranft, everywhere addressing large
crowds and receiving much attention as
a rising leader in the party. At
Harrisburg the politically powerful Cam-
eron family entertained him. His age,
war record, executive and legislative
experience, demonstrated vote-getting
ability, and the importance of Ohio
in national politics all combined to
make him an attractive candidate for
the party's highest honor.2
Ohio friends of Hayes began organizing
in January 1876. Senator John
Sherman, after consulting with Representative
Charles Foster, put his polit-
ical prestige behind the governor by
writing a letter to state senator A. M.
Burns promoting Hayes as the favorite
son choice of the Ohio convention
delegation. Hayes received a unanimous
endorsement from the 750 member
state party convention on March 29,
1876.3
Hayes, inwardly calm and outwardly
indifferent, gave no public sign of
seeking his party's nomination.
Privately he kept in unbroken communica-
tion with his managers.4 Some
of them feared he might break his silence,
declare himself an avowed candidate, and
hurt his favorable position.
"Write no letters," said one.
"Let well enough alone." "For God's sake
avoid all entangling alliances with the
present administration," warned
another.5 Such advice was unnecessary.
The Governor understood his polit-
ical situation perfectly, read his
informant's dispatches diligently, and let
the nomination manage itself. At the
very least, nearly everyone conceded,
the vice-presidential nomination would
be his if he wished to accept it.6
Privately Hayes supported Bristow to
head the ticket knowing full well this
would be to his benefit if the
Kentuckian's chances faded.7
The choice of Cincinnati's Exposition
Hall as the convention site, orig-
inally expected to aid the Bristow and
Morton candidacies, ultimately
worked to aid the Hayes cause. Of all
the cities in America, Cincinnati alone
could consider Hayes as her very own,
for here he had begun his legal and
political career in earnest. Here he
joined the famed Literary Club, mingled
in polite society, and married Lucy
Webb. From here he went to war, to
Congress, and the State House.
98 OHIO HISTORY
A week of great excitement in Cincinnati
began on Friday, June 9 as
many of the delegates to the national
Republican convention, unofficial
supporters of the leading candidates,
and total strangers poured into the
city. The Reform Club of New York,
numbering about fifty or sixty men,
all for Bristow, arrived early Saturday
morning at the Gibson House. The
New York City Republican Club, composed
of 200 strong and accompanied
by a fine band, all in Conkling's
interest, put up at the Grand Hotel. Other
groups from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
with two more splendid bands,
arrived on Monday and registered at the
Arlington and Burnet House. A
whole host came from Indianapolis in
Morton's behalf on Tuesday.8
The Bristow Club of Cincinnati,
numbering between 2000 and 3000, en-
gaged Pike's Opera House and Currier's
Band for the week of the conven-
tion. Flags were hung out all over the
city, and the hotels were draped in
the American colors, and at night
handsomely illuminated. The Grand
Hotel had a semi-circle of colored
lights over the main entrance, and just
under them a row of gas jets arranged so
as to spell the name of ROSCOE
CONKLING. The Burnet House had a similar
row of gas jets in front of
the building spelling the name of JAMES
G. BLAINE. The Bristow Club
hung a strip of muslin across Fourth
Street in front of Pike's Opera House
bearing the inscription BRISTOW and
REFORM. The Morton and Hayes
delegates were not quite so conspicuous
in their display, although they too
had their respective headquarters and
flags, and banners, with the names of
their favorites stitched on.
Excitement and enthusiasm grew feverish
long before the convention as-
sembled on Wednesday morning. Each
evening the hotels were brilliantly
illuminated and bands played in front of
their respective headquarters.
People milled about in great masses
choking traffic, and amid the din ora-
tors extolled the merits of the
Republican party or their favorite candidate
for the nomination. Other crowds surged
through the streets. Cheers and
fire works rent the air. Red and green
lights burned on nearly every corner.
Meanwhile political workers sounded the
sentiments of delegates and visi-
tors, attempting to win them over by argument,
entreaty, or promises. Odd-
ly there was no fighting, no drunkeness
to speak of, and little unseemly
conduct.
The supporters of Conkling were the
first on the scene and they worked
hard in his cause. However, theirs was
an up-hill struggle, and it was gen-
erally known before the convention
opened that the New Yorker stood no
real chance of being nominated. The
Morton men began with more votes
than Conkling, but they did not arrive
so early or work so hard for their
candidate. By evening on Wednesday, the
first day of the convention, they
conceded Morton could not be nominated
either.
The Blaine backers also arrived early
and in great numbers. They had
among
the delegates nearly 200 who were instructed, or requested to vote
for him, and a large number among the
uninstructed delegates who made
no concealment of their preference for
him either at the time they were
elected or during the week of the
convention. With so many votes already
secured, it was easy for his managers to
persuade other uncommitted dele-
HAYES NOMINATION for the PRESIDENCY 99
gates to come over to Blaine. They
assured those who were tempted by pa-
tronage prospects that he was destined
to win and they might as well join
the bandwagon early and thus merit his
recognition and favor. Whenever
they found anyone with malice against
the South, they boasted how James
G. Blaine's oratory discomfited the
rebels in the House of Representatives.
They said if he were only elected President,
his would be the most brilliant
administration the world ever saw. They
spoke of his eloquence and power
as a speaker and claimed no one could
make a livelier canvass or such a
glorious success as he. They said
nothing about his using his position and
influence as Speaker of the House to
forward railroad schemes in which he
was interested; they said nothing about
his own letters which proved him
to be speculating in stocks, whose value
depended wholly on Congressional
legislation. In short, they said nothing
of all the disreputable and suspicious
circumstances surrounding his past life
and overshadowing the future of
their candidate.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, June 11, Blaine
suffered a sunstroke on the steps
of a church in Washington. For two days
he lay unconscious and the report
went out that he was dying. No one
wished to say hard things against a man
who was lying at death's door, no matter
how true they might be, and so
during the rest of Sunday, Monday and
Tuesday, the friends of Blaine
worked on the sympathies and feelings of
the crowd. Even Hayes, who felt
that Blaine's nomination would be fatal
to the cause, was nonetheless moved
to send a highly emotional message, a
rare response indeed for him:
I have just read with the deepest sorrow
of your illness. My eyes are
almost blinded with tears as I write.
All good men among your coun-
trymen will pray, as I do, for your
immediate and complete recovery.
This affects me as did the death of
Lincoln. God bless you and restore
you.9
On Tuesday Blaine's fever passed, and he
sent a message of convalescence
to Eugene Hale and William P. Frye, his
managers at Cincinnati. Reassur-
ing telegrams were sent nearly every
hour of the day thereafter to some one
or other of his friends to be posted in
the bar rooms of hotels and on the
bulletin boards in various newspaper
offices.
Thus Blaine's friends were jubilant and
confident of victory on Tuesday
night. They claimed more than 300 votes
on the first ballot, and that they
would gain enough on the second ballot,
from delegations who had to first
cast one complimentary vote for a
"favorite son," to nominate their man.
But their very confidence was their
undoing. From the fear and depression
created among other managers and
delegates arose a desperate spirit to
combine and defeat Blaine. He was so far
recovered that there was no longer
any fear for life. Speeches were made at
meetings of the Bristow Club, held
in Pike's Opera House, on Tuesday and
Wednesday nights, warning of the
great danger to the Republican party.
The Cincinnati papers, the Commer-
cial and the Gazette, entered the fray with a will
and said boldly that his
nomination would be the ruin of the
Republican party and that they could
not support him. The New York Times did
the same. Carl Schurz and
100 OHIO HISTORY
other Liberals and independents warned
that if Blaine were nominated
they would either support the Democratic
ticket, nominated at St. Louis,
or organize a third party movement. The
claims of Bristow as a reform
candidate were pushed with great
earnestness and too much zeal for his
own good. The Bristow men were
determined that Blaine should not be
nominated if it was possible to prevent
it, and they openly avowed their
intention to "kick" against
the nomination if he won it. This attitude auto-
matically made all of Blaine's backers
sworn enemies of Bristow. Supporters
of Morton and Conkling also were
prejudiced against Bristow since he had
been put forward as "more holy than
they." Further, the regular machine
politicians of the convention were
opposed to him because they said he and
all his supporters were
"kickers" and independents and dangerous fellows
and not true to the party. Others resented
the idea of having a candidate
forced upon them as they insisted
Bristow was, and said that when people
came to them and told them they must
nominate Bristow or perish, they
would rather perish than do it. Thus
Bristow's friends aroused a great deal
of opposition among the different
elements in the convention, and thereby
sacrificed their candidate. They were
loyal to a cause, and not to Bristow,
but in sacrificing him, they insured
Blaine's defeat too. Furthermore, as his
subsequent career suggests, Bristow
lacked presidential stature, and he failed
to effectively lead the reform forces.
The Hayes delegation led by former
Governor Edward F. Noyes, though
present in Cincinnati since the Friday
prior to the convention, kept quietly
in the background. They said nothing
against any of the other candidates
and manifested no preferences for one
over another. They did not even
make any fuss over Hayes, simply saying
they were instructed to vote for
him and should do so while there was any
chance of his success. They were
friendly with the supporters of every
other candidate in the field, were
careful to arouse no opposition, and
ultimately succeeded in making Hayes
the second choice of nearly every
delegate. Young Webb Hayes, in Cincin-
nati as his father's private observer,
wrote a summary of the situation on
Monday evening June 12: "Greatest
good feeling prevails toward you on
all sides...The Ohio men are jubilant
and willing to sleep with any other
of the delegates. All friends--no enemys"
[sic].10
At a meeting of the Ohio delegation held
a day or two before the con-
vention, the work of visitation and
conference with delegates from other
states was assigned to different
members. Among these was Clark Waggoner,
alternate-at-large and Hayes's Toledo
friend. Waggoner kept a small record
book of his activities and carefully
noted the situations of the delegations
visited by him.11 Meanwhile other Hayes
managers, William Henry Smith,
James M. Comly, Ralph P. Buckland, and
A. E. Lee, the Governor's secre-
tary, worked to promote Hayes's
nomination. Another valuable ally inside
the Bristow camp was Stanley Matthews,
intimate friend of Hayes since
Kenyon college days, and brother-in-law
of Dr. Joseph T. Webb, a brother
of Mrs. Hayes. Matthews could take
advantage of any change in Bristow's
fortunes to assist the Hayes cause,
especially since Hayes himself was gen-
erally reported to favor Bristow's candidacy.
By 8 P. M. on Monday evening
HAYES NOMINATION for the PRESIDENCY 101
Smith wired the Governor: "At this
hour I think I can safely predict that
Ohio will win."12
The national convention opened on
Wednesday June 14 at noon, but
before they met, Murat Halstead and
Richard Smith, both Bristow backers,
used their Cincinnati papers, the Commercial
and Gazette, to print solid
columns of protest against the
nomination of Blaine, and issued sheets con-
taining damaging correspondence [the
Mulligan letters] of Blaine, arranged
in the order of their dates, with a
running commentary on the inferences
to be drawn from them.
If the convention would have proceeded
to ballot for president and vice-
president at once, the Blaine men felt
they could have won, but the ballot-
ing was delayed by the tactics of
Bristow's supporters who were endeavoring
to postpone action upon the nominations
as long as possible. They sought
to stall for time so that sober second
thoughts, which they expected would
come to many of the delegates, would
save the party from making a blunder.
The first day was consumed in effecting
a permanent organization,
speechmaking, and appointment of
standing committees.13 Repeated ef-
forts to adjourn failed. That evening
the speechmaking continued giving
time for more earnest talk with the
delegates against the nomination of
Blaine. Thursday morning the papers
renewed their attack on him. Still,
his support was so large that the Blaine
forces had their way in regard to
every decision not directly connected
with his actual nomination. Thus
when a motion was made to exclude the
territories, since they had no elec-
toral votes, from voting for nominees,
the Blaine contingent succeeded in
voting it down and thereby secured for
their candidate twelve to fourteen
additional convention votes. In debating
the report of the rules committee
the proposal to recess after each ballot
was also defeated. Again, when a
vote was taken on the report of the
committee on credentials in favor of
admitting the Jeremiah Haralson
delegation from Alabama, instead of a
rival one headed by Senator George
Spencer which was favorable to Morton
and Conkling, the Blaine men won again
by a vote of 375 to 354. This
maneuver gained another sixteen votes
for their column. On this ballot
the Kentucky delegation voted against
seating the Spencer group, and this
action so antagonized the Indiana
delegation that it probably prevented
Bristow from getting more than five
votes from Indiana when Morton's
name was ultimately withdrawn on the
fifth ballot.
Blaine's group, however, was defeated in
all its attempts to force a vote
for president and vice-president. The
delay, so precious to the candidate's
opponents and so dangerous to him, could
not be overcome by his man-
agers. They had tried on Thursday
morning to have a ballot taken before
the committee on resolutions was ready
to report the platform. In this they
were frustrated. Again, after all the
committees had reported and the plat-
form had been adopted, which happened
during the afternoon of Thurs-
day, June 15, they tried to force the
convention to a nomination. At 2:50
P. M. the same day, the roll of
states was finally called and any with a candi-
date to present was allowed ten minutes
for a speech in his favor. Ex-
Governor Stephen W. Kellogg of
Connecticut nominated Postmaster Gen-
102 OHIO HISTORY
eral Marshall Jewell. This endorsement
was understood to be complimen-
tary, perhaps it would put Jewell in a
favorable position for the vice-presi-
dential nomination. Colonel Richard W.
Thompson of Indiana, an orator
of the old school, nominated Senator
Morton in a fine speech, evoking con-
siderable applause, and the nomination
was seconded by a mulatto, ex-
Governor P. B. S. Pinchback of
Louisiana. Then General John M. Harlan
arose to nominate Bristow. He made a
telling speech, more loudly ap-
plauded by the people in the galleries
than by the delegates, and the nom-
ination was seconded by Luke Poland of
Vermont, George William Curtis,
editor of Harper's Weekly, and
Richard H. Dana of Massachusetts. Curtis
made a fine speech, Poland a dull one,
while Dana unwisely intimated that
Massachusetts would vote Democratic in
November if the convention failed
to nominate Bristow.
Following Dana, Blaine was nominated by
Robert J. Ingersoll of Illinois,
who made the most effective speech of
the day which is still considered to be
one of the great masterpieces of
nominating oratory. He began by turning
on the preceding speaker and saying,
"Gentlemen of the Convention:
Massachusetts may be satisfied with the
loyalty of Benjamin H. Bristow. So
am I. But if any man nominated by tile
convention can not carry the State
of Massachusetts, I am not satisfied
with the loyalty of Massachusetts."14
This was said with tremendous force and
emphasis and brought out an over-
whelming round of applause from the
Blaine delegates. It was a wonderful
turn heaping contempt upon Bristow's
supporters. Then Ingersoll went on
to laud and praise his hero, James G.
Blaine, who "like an armed warrior,
like a plumed knight, marched down the
halls of the American congress
and threw his shining lance full and
fair against the brazen forehead of
every traitor to his country and every
maligner of his fair reputation."15
So many in the convention hall rose and
cheered until it seemed as
though Blaine must be nominated without
a shadow of doubt or wavering.
He undoubtedly would have been if a
ballot could have been taken just
then, or even that afternoon before
adjournment. But this was not to be.
A Negro delegate from Georgia, Henry M.
Turner, followed Ingersoll,
giving a poor speech which provoked the
laughter of the hall a half dozen
times. He did not stop until the
audience drowned him out with cries of
"time, time, you've said
enough," and the chairman told him he had better
make room for others. He yielded,
smiling and said "Lord bless you--I'se
got a dozen good points I could make
yet."16 General Frye of Maine fol-
lowed with a speech seconding the
nomination of Blaine. New York was
called. Stewart L. Woodford arose and
delivered a masterful speech nom-
inating Senator Conkling. He gave Blaine
a cruel stab by satirizing his re-
cent illness: ". . . that the God
of all life would spare James G. Blaine; and
today, with the most loving of his
friends, New York congratulates him that
his strength is renewed, and his health
so fully restored."17
Then Ohio was called, and Governor
Edward F. Noyes in his rich sono-
rous voice nominated Governor Hayes,
stressing his candidate's war record,
financial independence, political
experience, and especially three successive
gubernatorial victories over prominent
Ohio Democrats, each one consid-
ered an aspirant for the presidency. In a potent phrase designed to counter Ingersoll's reference to Blaine's "bloody shirt" oratory, Noyes char- acterized Hayes as "a man who, during dark and stormy days of the rebellion, when those who are invincible in peace and invisible in battle were ut- tering brave words to cheer their neighbors on, himself in the fore-front of battle, followed by his leaders and his flag until the authority of our gov- ernment was reestablished."18 Noyes made an effective speech which was generously applauded. The greatest acclaim of the day, however, had fol- lowed Ingersoll's speech nominating Blaine, and second to that the speech of Harlan nominating Bristow. Governor Hartranft was nominated by Representative Linn Bartholomew of Pennsylvania who made the amaz- ing declaration that the other nom- inees possessed great intellectual su- periority over his candidate, but that Hartranft knew "enough to know that he does not know everything, and is willing to take and to follow good, sound, wholesome advice"!19 Since there were no other candi- dates, the roll call of states ceased, and one of the Morton managers, Will Cumbach, made a motion to adjourn. This was yelled down by the Blaine faction. One of the Conkling men, Samuel S. Edick, then made a motion for an informal ballot (not binding upon the convention, but which would should the relative strength of the several candidates) to be followed by immediate adjournment until 10 A.M. Friday. Blaine supporters overpow- ered this motion too. William P. Frye of Maine, inquired if the hall could be lighted, and permanent chairman Edward McPherson replied: "I de- sire to say for the information of the |
|
104 OHIO HISTORY convention, that I am informed that the gas lights of this hall are in such condition that they cannot safely be lighted."20 The motion to adjourn until 10 o'clock Friday morning was renewed and carried by a small ma- jority at 5:15 P. M. The opposition to Blaine had gained another night in which to work, and the press got in a few more urgent protests against his nomination while the supporters of Morton, Conkling, Bristow, and Hayes had an op- portunity to adjust matters among themselves and settle on a plan of ac- tion. Between ten and eleven o'clock that evening Hayes received three telegrams. James M. Comly wired: Blaine opposed adjournment gave way to evident wishes of Conven- tion on pretext that Hall had no gas evening session Blaine prestige clouded other Candidates hopeful Ohio extremely confident Many over- tures some from Blaine delegation.21 The second dispatch from his son Webb read: "Governor Noyes instructs me to say that the Combinations are very favorable."22 A third message came from E. Croxsey of the New York Times: "Chances ten to one that Blaine is beaten and that you get the nomination everybody is ready now to beat Blaine and it can't be done on Conkling, Morton or Bristow."23 It was conceded then among the anti-Blaine forces during the night of June 15 that neither Morton, Conkling, Hartranft, nor Jewell could win; that the lot if not to Bristow must fall to Hayes or "the Great Unknown," possibly Secretary of State Hamilton Fish or Representative Elihu Wash- burne of Illinois. Jewell was to be withdrawn after the first complimentary ballot. Morton's supporters agreed to withdraw his name after two or three ballots, if it was demonstrated that their favorite could not win, and then, presumably, they would cast their solid vote for Bristow. The Conkling men preferred Hayes to Bristow, but would support either in preference to Blaine. It was expected that a large majority of the southern delegates would vote for Bristow as soon as Conkling and Morton were withdrawn. At the same time, it was believed that Blaine could not attain a majority until the weakness of the other leading candidates was demonstrated, and that then would be time enough to consider Hayes or someone else. The balloting proceeded toward the magic number of 379 as follows:24 |
HAYES NOMINATION for the PRESIDENCY 105
An analysis of the vote shows that the
support of Morton and Conkling
dwindled steadily from the very start.
Blaine gained fourteen and lost three
votes on the second ballot, for a net
gain of eleven or 296 total, and re-
mained relatively static on the third
and fourth ballots gaining six new
votes but losing ten for a net gain
through four ballots of only seven votes.
His managers succeeded in offsetting a
loss of six votes to Bristow and
three to Hayes by picking up eleven of
Morton's original votes. Conkling's
net loss of fifteen votes over the first
four ballots accrued principally to
Hartranft although he lost a few each to
Blaine, Bristow, and Morton. Only
Hartranft, Hayes, and Bristow gained
steadily through the first four bal-
lots, and Bristow actually stood higher
at the end of the fourth ballot than
any other candidate except Blaine. On
this ballot Michigan cast eleven
votes for Bristow while Morton lost
sixteen votes and it was evident his
delegate strength was slipping away. On
the fifth ballot Indiana ought
properly to have withdrawn Morton and
cast her entire thirty votes for
Bristow; Michigan might then have cast
her twenty-two votes for him. His
support then would have increased so
rapidly that he undoubtedly would
have combined all straggling votes and
won the nomination on the sixth
ballot. But the Morton men, acting under
advice from Washington, still
clung to their candidate. As Bristow
gained nothing from any other source,
Michigan decided to switch to Hayes on
the fifth ballot. The chairman an-
nounced: "There is a man in this
section of the country who has beaten
in succession three Democratic
candidates for President in his own state,
and we want to give him a chance to beat
another Democratic candidate for
the Presidency in the broader field of
the United States. Michigan there-
fore casts her twenty-two votes for
Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio!"25 It
had the effect to send Hayes stock up at
once. North Carolina gave him
eleven votes more, and he gained
scattered support from other states, enough
to boost his strength above 100. Nine of
the North Carolina votes were
transferred directly from Blaine to Hayes.
This depressed Blaine stock and
left him but 286 votes, the lowest
number since the first ballot.
A few days after the convention General
Harlan, leader of the Kentucky
delegation, in a letter to Bristow,
wrote his explanation of the turning
point:
The action of the Michigan delegation in
consolidating its vote for
Hayes on the fifth ballot caused a
stampede in our ranks. . . The union
of that delegation on Hayes was a
surprise to us, and as soon as it was
done I felt that our cause was hopeless.
The failure of the Indiana dele-
gation to change to you on the fifth
ballot induced the Michigan folks
to make the break to Hayes.26
William A. Howard, chairman of the
Michigan delegation, in turn, wrote
to Hayes, explaining why his state voted
for Hayes on the fifth ballot in-
stead of Bristow:
On the 4th ballot 10 had voted for
Bristow 5 for Hayes and 7 for
Blaine. All were admirers of Blaine but
believing his nomination
would force upon the party a defensive
campaign & perhaps defeat we
106 OHIO HISTORY
felt bound to prevent his nomination.
The 5th ballot commenced and
13 win [went] for Bristow 5 for Hayes
& 4 for Blaine. It was certain
that Conklin & Morton must soon be
withdrawn & if the Bristow &
Hayes strength could be united &
draw to itself the greater part of the
Conklin & Morton vote it would
defeat Blaine. So I told the delega-
tion if they would unite & throw the
vote solid & adhere firmly we
could make a nomination & perhaps
save the party from defeat. The
Bristow men said unite on him, the
minority ought to yield to ma-
jority &C. In the absence of facts
we were obliged to rely on the sup-
posed logic of the situation. I thought
the two N.Y. delegates must have
exasperated the other 68 by the
persistency with which they had ad-
vocated the nomination of Bristow even
refusing to join in a harmless
complimentary vote for Conklin. I said
if we strike for Bristow we
shall fail for want of New York votes.
It is not in human nature while
exasperated & heated that they, the
68 should take the candidate of
the two. If we strike for Hayes we shall
win. They reluctantly yielded
--the last man after I was on my
crutches to announce the vote.27
People in the galleries and the
supporters of other prominent candidates
now began to count Blaine out of the
race, supposing he had reached his
greatest strength and therefore there
was no serious effort to continue sup-
porting an opposition candidate in the
sixth ballot. Hayes gained a few
more votes from Illinois, Iowa, Texas,
Tennessee, Virginia, and West Vir-
ginia, some of them being transferred
from Bristow, and came out two
ahead of Bristow on this ballot.
Meanwhile, North Carolina, not satisfied
with the slow progress Hayes
was making and believing after all that
Blaine was destined to win, took
twelve votes from Hayes and cast them
for Blaine. This produced great
cheering made louder when Pennsylvania
cast fourteen votes for Blaine.
South Carolina then increased her votes
for Blaine from five to ten. With
308 votes on this ballot, it was
apparent from the way the Blaine people be-
gan to move about among the southern
delegates plus the confusion among
the Pennsylvania delegation, that a big
push would be made on the next
ballot to nominate Blaine, and that the
opposition must combine now or
never.
The Indiana and Kentucky delegates
consulted earnestly together; Massa-
chusetts and New York retired for
consultation. When the seventh ballot
started, everyone knew the end was near.
Blaine gained one vote from Ala-
bama and eleven votes from Arkansas.
California gave him sixteen, whereas
she had given him only six before. And
so he kept gaining from every
state, until it seemed as though nothing
could stop him. Every new gain
was cheered wildly by his supporters.
When Indiana was reached, Blaine
had gained thirty-two votes. Amid
intense excitement, Indiana was called
and chairman Will Cumbach walked slowly
up to the platform. In a pa-
thetic and dignified speech, he withdrew
the name of Morton, thanked tile
convention for the noble support they
had given him, and announced In-
diana's vote as twenty-five for
Rutherford B. Hayes and five for Benjamin
H. Bristow. At this point the
anti-Blaine forces began shouting. The people
HAYES NOMINATION for the PRESIDENCY 107
in the galleries rose to their feet,
swung hats and handkerchiefs and gave
three long rounds of applause. Iowa
delivered her twenty-two votes for
Blaine as before. Kentucky was called.
General Harlan arose and walked
to the podium. He stood there, his lips
trembling with emotion, waiting for
the storm of applause to be hushed, and
then spoke grandly. He thanked
the convention for the support they had
given Colonel Bristow, and the
thanks of Kentucky were especially due
to those men of Massachusetts and
Vermont, who when it was whispered
throughout the length and breadth
of the land that Benjamin H. Bristow was
not to be president because he
was born and reared in the South, had
come forward and said they were
satisfied that a Kentuckian could be
loyal. Thereupon he withdrew Bris-
tow's name and cast Kentucky's entire
vote for Rutherford B. Hayes. Wild
and tumultuous applause broke loose.
Louisiana, which had given Blaine only
six votes, now cast fourteen for
him. This gave the Blaine forces another
chance to cheer; and so the con-
test wavered. When Massachusetts cast
twenty-one for Hayes, Michigan
twenty-two, and Mississippi sixteen, the
applause was deafening. When New
York was called, there was a lull of
anxious expectation. Governor Theo-
dore M. Pomeroy advanced to the platform
and amid perfect silence, said:
"To indicate that New York is in
favor of unity and victory, she casts sixty-
one votes for Rutherford B. Hayes,"
but the remainder of his sentence,
"and nine votes for James G.
Blaine," was drowned out.28 North Carolina
again swung over to Hayes and cast her
solid vote of twenty for him. Ohio
followed as usual with forty-four, but
now the vote seemed to count much
more, and the Exposition Hall rang with
the cheers of the united opposi-
tion.
When Pennsylvania was called, there was
another lull of expectation.
Blaine could still win with a bloc vote
here. Don Cameron, the young Sec-
retary of War, mounted a chair in front
of his delegation, withdrew the
name of Hartranft, and announced thirty
votes for Blaine and twenty-eight
for Hayes, which made both sides cheer
long and loud. South Carolina
divided evenly, Texas gave all but one vote
to Hayes. Tennessee added
eighteen more for Hayes, and Vermont her
entire ten. Before the terri-
tories were reached some of the
reporters who were quick at figures dis-
covered Hayes had a majority, jumped up
in their seats, swung their hats
and shouted "Hayes! Hayes!"
The territories were called amid great con-
fusion and the chairmen of all but
Montana and Wyoming doggedly cast
their votes for James G. Blaine though
they knew their man was beaten.
The tally showed Blaine 351; Bristow 21;
Hayes 384.
Cheering lasted about fifteen or twenty
minutes. The nomination of
Hayes was made unanimous, and the
convention proceeded to nominate a
vice-president. The names of William A.
Wheeler and Stewart L. Wood-
ford of New York, Joseph M. Hawley and
Marshall Jewell of Connecticut,
and Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of New
Jersey, were presented. Early in
the balloting it became evident that
Wheeler was the favorite. All the
Blaine men voted for him, and Woodford
withdrew his own name before
New York was reached. New York cast her
solid vote for Wheeler, Penn-
108
OHIO HISTORY
sylvania
voted for Frelinghuysen, Jewell was withdrawn, and before the
first ballot
was completed, a motion to make Wheeler's nomination un-
animous
carried by an overwhelming shout.
The outcome
of the convention did not surprise William Henry Smith,
general
agent for the Western Associated Press and the canniest of all the
Hayes
managers. Smith not only guided the Hayes movement forward but
had
confidently predicted the ticket of Hayes and Wheeler nearly five
months
before the national convention assembled in Cincinnati, certainly
one of the
more remarkable forecasts in American political history. Hayes
acknowledged
his mentor's role:
Your
sagacity in this matter, take it all in all, is beyond that of any
other friend
. . . And the way it was to come you told to a letter. Others
of much
sagacity have written, but nothing like yours. Not merely saga-
city
either--how much you did to fulfill the prediction I shall perhaps
never know,
but I know it was very potent.29
A state by
state re-examination of the seven ballots for the 1876 Repub-
lican
presidential nomination reveals even more clearly how narrow a vic-
tory Hayes
had won, and the remarkable race made by Blaine against the
field not
only as the front runner on six ballots but also burdened by the
doubts
raised before and during the convention concerning the Mulligan
letters and
his illness. Despite his handicaps Blaine might have been nom-
inated if
Hayes had not barely garnered enough votes on the seventh ballot.
Composite
vote figures for all seven ballots by candidates demonstrate
Blaine's
great appeal:
Composite
Vote Analysis
Maximum
support over Maximum support on a
seven
ballots single ballot
Blaine 398 351
Bristow 149 126
Hayes 388 384
Morton 137 124
Conkling 105 99
Hartranft 80 71
Jewel 11 11
Wheeler 3 3
Washburne 4 4
These
figures show that Blaine failed to hold forty-seven delegates who
had voted
for him on earlier ballots. The North Carolina delegation with
twenty votes
which he controlled on five of his first six ballots deserted him
on the
crucial seventh poll. A floor fight over the unit rule during the sec-
ond ballot
also boomeranged on Blaine's managers. When Pennsylvania was
called and
her vote given as fifty-eight for Hartranft, it was challenged by
HAYES NOMINATION for the PRESIDENCY 109
one of the delegates who stated that he
and another delegate wanted to
vote for Blaine. They subsequently were
joined by two others. McPherson,
the convention chairman and loyal to
Blaine, ruled that "it is the right of
any and of every member equally, to vote
his sentiments in this conven-
tion."30 An appeal to this decision
was put to the convention and the chair-
man's decision was declared sustained.
Thereupon a motion to reconsider
the motion upholding the decision of the
chair carried 381 to 359. On the
roll call, the decision of the
convention chairman was again sustained 395
to 353. At the time, the vote was hailed
as a victory for Blaine. However,
on the seventh ballot, when Pennsylvania
divided thirty for Blaine and
twenty-eight for Hayes, it was a major
factor in defeating him. As J. C. Lee
explained later to Hayes: "Had not
McPherson ruled as he did on the Pa.
question, or had the Convention reversed
his decision, the 28 votes for you
in Pa. would have been carried by the 30
Blaine votes to Blaine, and that
would have given Blaine 379, just enough
to nominate him & more to
spare."31 In raising the
unit rule question the Blaine faction won a minor
victory that paved the way to ultimate
defeat.
Hayes, on the other hand, won the
nomination because his managers
were shrewd enough to let Bristow's
supporters make the fight against
Blaine, and after it was over, they gathered
in the victory. Furthermore, by
concentrating on second choice support
for Hayes, he became the only
candidate to gain strength on every
ballot and take votes away from each
of his rivals. Hayes in the end received
most of the Bristow and Conkling
support, about one-half of the Morton
and Hartranft votes, and even took
votes away from Blaine. Over all seven
ballots Hayes lost only four delegates
who had on some ballot voted for him,
but even with this remarkable
holding power he had only five votes to
spare. In retrospect, the shift of
Michigan away from Blaine and Bristow to
Hayes may be considered the
decisive turning point in the balloting.
A. B. Watson, a member of the
Michigan delegation, later revealed how
when Hayes was nominated "the
Ohio delegation rushed forward, and
embracing the veteran chairman of
the Michigan delegation, exclaimed 'You
have nominated the next Presi-
dent.' "32 John C. Lee of
Ohio conceded: "I must not forget to say that in
Gov. Bagley and Wm. A. Howard of
Michigan we formed original and most
effective friends. They had taken in the
situation much more completely
than many, yes, 9/10 of our own
delegates."33
William Henry Smith praised the
leadership of Noyes as:
The one who above all others deserves
praise. It was something to
have noble men in the Ohio delegation:
and to have such long-time
friends and new friends as Stephenson,
Comly, Gano, Thrall, Morrill,
McLaughlin, King, Bickham, Wykoff, Foos,
Mitchell, Buckland, Kess-
ler, Nash, etc. of the old Literary Club
and later associations, to whom
delegates from abroad could go for
personal information. But it was of
first importance to have a leader as
Edward F. Noyes. Better manage-
ment I never saw. It was able,
judicious, untiring, unselfish, inspiring,
adroit. If there was a mistake made I
did not discover it. The disloyalty
that attempted on the part of one or two
well-known Ohioans in the
110 OHIO HISTORY
interest of Blaine, was anticipated and
cleverly disarmed. The General
seemingly never slept. His eyes were
everywhere and discipline was
preserved with as much vigor as on the
field of battle. He compre-
hended fully the situation and inspired
the confidence of the men of
New England, New York, Kentucky, and
Indiana. His personal friend-
ship for Gens. Bristow and Harlan did
not as some mischief makers
asserted would be the case, lessen his
loyalty to you, but served an im-
portant purpose at a critical
moment."34
As for Bristow, if, in a square fight
with Blaine, on the seventh ballot
the attempt had been made to nominate
him it would undoubtedly have
failed, as the Ohio delegation would
either have held firm for Hayes, or
broken up so as to give Blaine sixteen
votes. Blaine also would have picked
up ten more in Pennsylvania, some in New
York, and some scalawags in
southern delegations. Harlan also later
confessed to W. Q. Gresham that
he had made a deal with the Hayes men.
Hayes carried out his part of the
bargain by placing Harlan on the Supreme
Court in 1877. Bristow, piqued
over failure to receive the justiceship
for himself, and feeling that Harlan
had betrayed him, never spoke to Harlan
after the latter's appointment.35
Two weeks after the Republican
convention the Democrats met in St.
Louis and chose Governor Samuel J.
Tilden of New York as their standard
bearer. Tilden, a bachelor and
multimillionaire, helped expose and prose-
cute the notorious Tweed Ring of New
York City. This activity aided in
his election to the governorship in 1874
where he further enhanced his
reputation as a reformer. Aloof and shy,
constantly brooding over his rather
poor health, Tilden devoted many hours
to his fine library. His will later
provided funds to establish the now
famous New York Public Library.
Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana, second
in the balloting to Tilden at St.
Louis, received the vice-presidential
nomination by acclamation. They made
a strange pair with Tilden supporting
the hard money views of the eastern
wing of the party, and Hendricks
advocating the greenback position of the
western Democrats.
The stage was set for the most
extraordinary presidential election in
American history.
THE AUTHOR: Kenneth E. Davison is
Professor of History and chairman of the
American Studies program at Heidelberg
College.