Rutherford B. Hayes Timeline

While still serving in the Union Army, Hayes was elected to Congress from Ohio's Second District but declined to leave active military service until the war ended. He took his seat in December 1865 and served one term focused on Reconstruction issues.

Image source: United States House of Representatives

Hayes won election as governor of Ohio, campaigning on issues including African American suffrage and support for President Andrew Johnson's impeachment. He proved a capable administrator, winning reelection in 1869 before retiring briefly from politics.

Image source: Governor of Ohio

After a brief retirement, Hayes returned to politics and won a third term as governor in 1875. His reputation as a moderate reformer and war hero made him an appealing national candidate heading into the presidential election of 1876.

At the Republican National Convention in Cincinnati, Hayes emerged as a compromise candidate on the seventh ballot, chosen partly because his record lacked major scandals. He faced Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, governor of New York, in the general election.

Image source: 1876 Republican National Convention

The election between Hayes and Samuel Tilden produced conflicting results in Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, and South Carolina, with both candidates claiming victory. Tilden won the popular vote, but 20 electoral votes were contested, throwing the outcome to Congress.

Image source: 1876 United States presidential election

First Lady Lucy Hayes supported her husband's temperance convictions and prohibited alcoholic beverages at White House functions, earning her the nickname 'Lemonade Lucy.' Her stance made the Hayes administration a symbol of Victorian morality.

An informal deal between Republicans and southern Democrats awarded the disputed electoral votes to Hayes in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction and ushering in the Jim Crow era.

Image source: Compromise of 1877

Because March 4 fell on a Sunday, Hayes took the oath of office privately in the White House Red Room on March 3 and publicly on March 5 at the Capitol. He pledged civil service reform, sound money, and reconciliation between North and South.

Image source: Inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes

Honoring the Compromise of 1877, Hayes ordered the remaining federal garrisons removed from South Carolina and Louisiana, effectively ending federal enforcement of Reconstruction policies and leaving Black citizens' rights unprotected in the former Confederacy.

Image source: Reconstruction era

Hayes issued an executive order barring federal officeholders from managing party campaigns, targeting the powerful New York Custom House run by Senator Roscoe Conkling's machine. This set the stage for future merit-based reforms like the Pendleton Act.

Image source: Civil service reform in the United States

When nationwide railroad strikes erupted over wage cuts, Hayes sent federal troops to restore order, marking the first use of federal soldiers to break a labor strike. The violent suppression damaged his standing with organized labor.

Image source: Great Railroad Strike of 1877

The Hayeses opened the White House lawn to children for egg rolling games after Congress banned the activity on Capitol grounds, establishing a beloved annual White House tradition that continues to this day.

Image source: Egg rolling

Hayes vetoed legislation requiring the Treasury to purchase and coin silver dollars, fearing inflation, but Congress overrode him. The act marked a partial victory for free silver advocates and reflected growing monetary debates of the Gilded Age.

Image source: Bland–Allison Act

Hayes revoked an executive order by President Grant that would have expelled members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Utah Territory, though he continued supporting anti-polygamy measures through other means.

Image source: Mormons

As part of his reform campaign, Hayes dismissed Collector of Customs Chester A. Arthur, whose position had been used for partisan patronage. Ironically, Arthur later became vice president under James Garfield and succeeded him as president.

Image source: United States Custom House (New York City)

Hayes signed legislation permitting qualified women attorneys to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Belva Lockwood became the first woman to argue a case there in 1879, advancing women's professional opportunities in American law.

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Having promised to serve only one term, Hayes honored his pledge not to run again. His decision reflected both his reform ideals about the presidency and recognition of lingering bitterness over the disputed 1876 election.

Image source: 1880 United States presidential election

During his final year in office, Hayes undertook an unprecedented cross-country tour to California and the Pacific Northwest aboard the new transcontinental railroad, promoting national unity, economic development, and railroad expansion.

Hayes retired to Spiegel Grove, his estate in Fremont, Ohio, after a single term. Though criticized during his presidency, historians have since praised his commitment to civil service reform, sound money, and education for all Americans.

Hayes served as the first president of the John F. Slater Fund, which financed industrial and normal schools for African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. He championed educational opportunity as essential to national progress.

Image source: Slater Fund

Lucy Hayes suffered a stroke and died at Spiegel Grove at age 57. Devastated, Hayes wrote movingly of their long partnership. She had been widely admired as a gracious and intellectually engaged First Lady.

Hayes died of complications from heart disease at his home in Fremont, Ohio, at age 70, reportedly after remarking 'I know that I'm going where Lucy is.' His estate, Spiegel Grove, is now preserved as the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums.