Rutherford B.

Hayes (1876-1880) His wife did not serve Alcohol in the White house so she was called Lemonade Lucy His tainted victory, Democrats controlling the House, and limited view of power contributed to his ineffectiveness o Little legislation to deal with social/economic issues o He did attack one issues: patronage and corruption in government Conklings Machine

After Hayes stated at the beginning of his term he would not seek reelection, the republicans scrambled for a new candidate in 1880. Factions pushed for their favorite but it was compromise Ohio congressman James A. Garfield who was picked. To appease the stalwart, republicans offered Chester A. Arthur as VP who was dismissed by Hayes in the Conkling issue. The Democrats nominated Winfield Scott Hancock thinking that a civil war veteran would get him elected. Election/ President of 1880-1884 Both ignored important issued and focused on personalities They both attacked each other instead of focusing on the US Garfield barley won o After 4 months of office he was shot by a deranged office seeker named Charles Guiteau Arthur o He sided with civil service and tariff reform and against Conkling He used Garfields death to get congress to pass the first national civil service law- the Pendleton Civil Service Act o He supported the recommendation of a congressional commission to reduce the tariff but the passed law only reduced the rate of the Mongrel tariff minor o Vetoed the Chinese Exclusion Act and a wasteful bill to improve rivers and harbors, congress OVERRODE both

Election of 1884 Dirtiest in all the US elections ever Rep- James G. Blaine o He had some problems that he was doing shady dealing with the union Pacific and profiting from it Boston Journal released correspondence that Blaine had written in 1876 to a RR attorney After pleading with the attorney to sign the statement clearing him of any misdeeds, Blaine signed off with the warning Burn this Letter!

High-minded reformers in the rep party refused to support him This whole thing led to the creation (I think) of the reformers Mugwumps The democrats nominated a principled opponent, NY governor, Grover Clevelandattacked the Tammany Hall organization so he got the name Grover the Good o He too was assaulted by the press The Buffalo Evening Telegraph published a story about his fathering an illegitimate child o The Mugwumps support him even with this problem There were some good campaign slogans (bottom of page 723) NY was the deciding factor for this election o Blaine look as though he was going to win but his Black Wednesday incident caused him the state of NY

Cleveland in the White House (1884-1888) First Dem since the civil war He embraced the prevailing belief that the govt should stay out of Peoples lives and in the economy o He believed the president should restrain congress from granting special privileges to some groups at the expense of others He had costly political confrontations o He was ridiculed for his vetoes which he had 3X as many bills as all his predecessors combined o His record on civil service was mixed enough to alienate both reformers and spoilsmen Filled of federal officers with dem and increase the number of civil service jobs by 2/3 o His vocal opposition to high tariff angered many businessmen He said the tariff presented 2 Probs: 1) treasury hoarding money that temped congress to spend money on wasteful projects 2)encouraged monopoly and high prices by eliminating foreign competition But he did little to change it

The democrats reelected him 1888. The rep chose Benjamin Harrison of Indiana, grandson of former president William Henry Harrison (after van Buren, he died one month in office and Tyler took his place). Harrison lacked personal warmth and charm. Some scandal with Britain lead Cleveland on the Defense but the outcome was very close. Harrison got the Electoral College vote of Indiana and NY but Cleveland won the popular vote. Harrison won and when his campaign manager congratulated him, Harrison gave major credit to god and the manager was offended.

Harrison in the White house (1888-1892) Rep have the white house, senate, and house majority Passed many thing o Sherman antitrust act, Sherman silver purchase act, McKinley Tariff But a bill that would have guaranteed the voting rights of blacks in the South did not pass Dem filibustered the bill to death Department Pension Act of 1890