Hayes-Cleveland
The Election of 1876
• Rutherford B. Hayes-Ohio
VS.
• Samuel J. Tilden-NY
1. A Disputed election
• Extremely close election
• Both Democrats and Republicans claimed victory
• 3 Southern states were recounted and went from
Democrat to Republican
• Decided by a special commission of 8 Republicans
and 7 Democrats
• Democrats agreed to allow Hayes to be President if
the Republicans would end military control of the
South
The Compromise of 1877
• The government would remove federal troops from the
South
• The government would provide land grants and loans for
the construction of railroads linking the South to the West
coast
• Southern officials would receive federal funds for
construction and improvement projects
• Hayes would appoint a Democrat to his cabinet
• The Democrats promised to protect African American civil
and political rights
• Confirmed in the House of Representatives
• Ended Reconstruction in the South
2. Hayes and the telephone
Hayes had the first White House phone
Installed on May 10, 1877.
3. Post-Civil War Reconstruction in the
South is biggest issue
• Still don’t have equal rights for African Americans
who face violence and poverty
• 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments passed
• Reconstruction changed society, especially in the
South
4. Hayes is Shocked
• Thought blacks would be protected from
violence in the South
• Felt betrayed by former Confederate leaders
5. Civil Service
• Civil Service involves working for the government
• Elected officials handed out jobs for political
support or to reward friendships
• Also called patronage or spoils system
• White House scandals had raised questions about
how people should receive government jobs
• 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Civil Service
Act
• People had to start taking a Civil Service Exam to
get a government job
The Spoils System
• Government jobs are handed out to members
of the party in power for their loyalty
• Opposite of merit system in which one
receives a job based on his qualifications
6. James A. Garfield White House Firsts
• First former college president and first
preacher
7. Garfield’s Problems
• He was a waffler who couldn’t always make
decisions because he didn’t want to ruffle
anyone’s feathers
8. Garfield’s Big “Win”
• Took on Roscoe Conkling, Senator from NY
who appointed the Collector of the Port of
New York
• Garfield appointed a rival of Conkling’s
• Conkling resigned from the Senate
A 1880 political cartoon
shows Conkling working at
a "Presidential puzzle" of
heads of possible
candidates
9. July 2, 1881
• Garfield was shot twice (arm and torso) by Charles
Guiteau
• Guiteau felt Garfield owed him a
government job for helping him win the
presidency
Guiteau
• Garfield went to the Baltimore
and Potomac Railroad on his way
to deliver a speech at his college
Alma Mater
The Baltimore and Potomac
• He was shot at the RR Station
Railroad Station
10. Garfield and his doctors
Garfield did not die immediately
after he was shot. He remained
conscious and alert for several
weeks following the shooting. He
died after 79 days.
Doctors probed his wound with
Dirty unsterilized instruments and
their fingers, looking for the bullet
that lodged by his spine.
Garfield Facts While he lie suffering at the White House
• A crude air conditioner was created to help relieve Garfield from the stifling
Washington Heat
• Alexander Graham Bell invented a metal detector to search for the bullet in
Garfield’s back. The metal bed frame kept it from working properly.
11. Chester A. Arthur
•
•
•
•
•
Sharp dresser with
Long sideburns
Partier
Avid fisherman
Didn’t like to work hard
12. Arthur’s sister, Mary Arthur McElroy, served as
White House hostess because Arthur’s wife had died
in 1880.
13. Arthur’s Irony
• Arthur, a product of New York’s political
machine, became a reformer who fought
against the spoils system.
14. The Pendleton Act of 1883
• Established Civil Service Commission
• Jobs must be awarded on basis of merit
• Job seekers must take exams
15. Arthur Rebuilds the U.S. Navy
• Built 3 steel Cruisers
• Four Monitors
Following the Civil War the U.S. Navy had declined from nearly 700 vessels to 52, most of
of which were obsolete.
Grover Cleveland
• Presidential power had waned since the Civil
War
• The most powerful men in America were
wealthy men like J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie,
and John D. Rockefeller
16. Cleveland’s view of his job
• Stop bad things from happening
• Didn’t see Presidency as a platform for positive
change
• He was honest but not proactive
• Used the veto power
• 414 was twice the vetoes as all other presidents
combined in his first term
• Vetoed bills for giving Civil War veterans pensions
and helping farmers during a drought
“The People should support the government,
but the government should not support the
people.”
17. Cleveland vetoed on bill that would
have given Civil War veterans pensions. It
cost Cleveland the veteran vote and the
election of 1888.
18.Election of 1888
• Cleveland runs for second term
• Republicans nominate Benjamin Harrison, the
grandson of William Henry Harrison
• Big money candidate
• Cleveland won the popular vote
• Harrison won the electoral college and the
presidency
Election of 1888
and 2000
1888
• Cleveland wins popular vote
• Harrison wins electoral
college
2000
• Gore wins popular vote
• GW Bush won electoral
college
19. Benjamin Harrison’s Legacy
• His Great-grandfather was a signer of the
Declaration of Independence (Benjamin V)
• Grandson of William Henry Harrison
20. Harrison’s Bid for a Second Term
• McKinley Tariff was highest, most protective
import tax in U.S. history
• Caused foreign manufacturers began to cease
exporting goods to the U.S.
• Corporations in the U.S. began to form
monopolies on essential goods because there was
no foreign competition
• Consumer prices skyrocketed
• Harrison’s popularity with common man
plummeted
21. Cleveland’s Second Term
• Only President to be elected to two nonconsecutive terms
22. Bimetallism
• The use of both gold and silver as money
• Farmers thought Bimetallism to be very
beneficial to them because it would cause
inflation which would cause prices of crops to
increase
• Opponents of free silver wanted only the Gold
Standard to be used in our money supply
The Gold Standard
• “The gold standard is a monetary system
where a country's currency or paper
money has a value directly linked to gold.
With the gold standard, countries agreed
to convert paper money into a fixed
amount of gold. A country that uses the
gold standard sets a fixed price for gold
and buys and sells gold at that price. That
fixed price is used to determine the value of
the currency.”
• The U.S. stopped using the Gold Standard in
1971.
• Bimetallism caused much controversy
• Was the topic of political debates
• 1896 and 1900:
– Gold Forces/Republicans/William McKinley
– “Silverites”/Democrats/William Jennings Bryan
• McKinley defeats Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
• Gave “Cross of Gold Speech”
– National Democratic Convention
– July 9, 1896
• Ran for president 3 times
• “The gold standard has slain tens of
thousands.”
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
• Symbolizes Bimetallism
• In the original book:
– yellow brick road: gold
– Traveled the road with silver slippers
• In 1939, the movie changed the silver slippers into ruby slippers.
– Dorothy leads:
• Scarecrow: Farmers
• Tin Woodman: Workers
• Cowardly Lion: Politicians
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–
–
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Goal is to see the Wizard (President) in Oz (Oz. = Ounce)
Munchkins: the “little” people
Wicked Witch of the West: Giant Corporations (the enemy)
Dorothy defeats the Witch: Progressives tried to defeat the
Corporations