American History Series: President Hayes Promises Only One Term in Office

Hayes agreed to end federal support of Republican governments in the South.

10 March 2010

A Portrait of Rutherford Hayes

BARBARA KLEIN: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

Rutherford Hayes was sworn into office as the nineteenth president of the United States in eighteen seventy-seven. Hayes, a Republican, became president after a disputed election.

Representatives of his party and the Democrats met secretly to work out a compromise.

The Democrats agreed to let Hayes be sworn in. In return, he agreed to end federal support of radical Republican governments in the South.

He promised to name southerners to his cabinet and other important jobs. And he said he would provide more federal aid for schools and railroads in the South.

As part of the agreement, Hayes promised not to act aggressively to support the civil rights of black southerners.

This week in our series, Steve Ember and Richard Rael tell the story of Rutherford Hayes.

STEVE EMBER: Rutherford Hayes was born in Ohio in eighteen twenty-two. He was a good student at Kenyon College and at Harvard Law School. He opened a law office in Cincinnati. When he was thirty years old, he married Lucy Webb. Later, he served as an officer in the Union army during America's Civil War. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He also served as governor of Ohio. In this job, he helped establish the college that became Ohio State University.