RUTHERFORD+HAYES

President Rutherford B. Hayes written by Josh Henthorne

Rutherford Hayes was the nineteenth president of the United States. He was born October 4, 1822. Although he only served one term as president he was the only president ever to have been elected by a congressional commission. President Hayes isn't a famous president and you probably don't about him. Here is a few things known about our president. President Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio. His father Rutherford Hayes had died two months before he was born. After attending Kenyon collage he went to Harvard law school where he studied law. His family had a line of military history and Hayes joined the army during the U.S. Civil War. Although he was not the only president to serve in the Civil war he was the only one to be wounded four times. After the South lost the war he resigned. He was a major when he resigned. In 1868 he was elected as the governor of Ohio. In 1877 President Hayes was first elected president. He was the President of the United States until the end of his term in 1881. But the Presidency of Hayes was not filled with many events. During his time as president he enacted the Bland Allison act. This act was made to bring silver into the American curency. It made the treasury buy around 2-4 million dollars worth of silver each month. This silver was to be used to make silver dollars. It was thought by many that President Hayes had agreed to ending reconstruction in the South and recalling all troops stationed in the South and in return he would get the presidency. President Hayes was the first president to ever use a telephone. He was also a Republican and had a religion as a methodist. One of the bills that he signed allowed women attorneys to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court. Unlike most elections, he was not elected while he had the popular vote. Most people at the time were supporting his opponent. Because of the unique type of election type President Hayes had he secretly took the oath of office in the red room inside the White House on March 3, 1877 making him the first president to ever take his oath in the White House. He was the first president to have a typewriter in the White House. His wife Lucy Hayes was the first wife of a president to ever graduate from a college. She banned alcohol from the White house during the four years that they lived there. As a result she gained the nickname lemonade Lucy. Ruthford Hayes had a rough childhood. Not only had his father died before he was born but his brother died while ice skating when he was only two years old. But Ruthford Hayes election was one of the most disputed elections in history. Ruthford Hayes was elected by a congressional commission and this made his election one of the most disputed elections in history. It was not decided like most elections. Not only was this election unusual compared to most elections but he won against his opponent Samuel J. Tilden by one vote. That is one reason why this election is one of the most disputed elections in history. After his one term presidency President Hayes announced he would not be running for a second term as president. He retired to his estate where his wife lucy died in 1889 of a stroke. Four years after the death of his wife Lucy Hayes, President Ruthford Hayes died of a heart attack January 17, 1893 at age seventy. Although he may have been involved in one of the most corrupted elections in U.S. history President Hayes fought for his beliefs as president and did what he thought was right at the time. Bibliography //The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center//. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. .Trefousse, Hans L. //Rutherford B. Hayes//. New York: Times, 2002. Print.Web. 30 Apr. 2010. .//The White House//. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. .