Rutherford Bichard Hayes Essay, Research Paper

Rutherford B. Hayes (19th president)

Rutherford Bichard Hayes was not a well know president. He was not president that had the opportunity to lead us through a war. He was not a president that would draw much attention to the public eye. He was however one of the presidents that had a great triumph over a major U.S. problem, economics and civil rights following a war. The United States was just coming out of the Civil War and was in need of a new president. They were in need of one that could lead them into a booming economic system, start the process of paying off the national debt, and show them the benefits of a nation-wide unification of the North and the South.

On October 4th 1822, Sophie Bichard Hayes gave birth to Rutherford Bichard Hayes. His father Rutherford Hayes passed away two months prior to Rutherford Jr. being born. Along with his 4 other siblings, Rutherford was raised in Ohio by his mother for most of his life. Rutherford went to school in Norwalk, Ohio and Middletown, Connecticut. In 1842 he graduated from Kenyon College, in Gambier, Ohio, valedictorian of his class. After a year of study in a Columbus law office, he entered Harvard Law School and received his degree in 1845. Hayes began his practice in a small town called Lower Sandusky. Not finding many opportunities here, he left for Cincinnati in 1849 where he became a successful lawyer.

In 1952, Hayes married Lucy Ware Webb, a graduate from Wesleyan Women s College. She would later become the first wife of a President to have graduated from college.

When the Civil War began, Hayes offered his services to the State of Ohio. Knowing the Governor, William Dennison, he became the major in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Throughout his career in the army, he rose to the rank of major general. While still in the army, he was elected into congress in 1864. He did not take his seat until the Union had won the war. In 1866 he was reelected into congress and in the proceeding years became the Governor of Ohio. At the end of his second term, 1872, he decided to retire to his home in Fremont. But in 1875 he came back and was elected into a third term as Governor of Ohio. In the election of 1876 Republicans voted Hayes as their presidential candidate. After a dispute over electoral votes, Hayes became the 19th President of The United States. Due to the tension surrounding his election, Hayes secretly took oath into office on Sunday March 4th, 1877, in the Red Room of the White House.

Some of the decisions made by Hayes that stuck out during his presidency were things like sending remaining troops to Southern Courthouses to protect African Americans in their economical, civil and political rights and signing a bill to finally allow female attorneys to appear in a U.S. Supreme Court. President Hayes was also concerned with minorities, the poor, and immigrants. He believed that education and manual training would help all people achieve better lives.

Rutherford Hayes honesty and commitment renewed the life and expectations that should appear in a president and became a role model to the following presidents. Honoring his commitment not to accept a second term, Hayes retired to his home, Spiegel Grove, in Fremont, Ohio after his presidential term. From here, Hayes continued to give of his time helping veterans to receive their pensions, improving conditions in prisons, and promoting universal education. Rutherford Bichard Hayes died of heart failure at Spiegel Grove January 17, 1893, at the age of seventy.