Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born on October 4th, 1822, in Delaware. He attended the Kenyon College and Harvard Law School after which he started working as a lawyer in 1845.

He fought as a soldier in the Civil War and was titled Major. Between 1868 and 1876 Hayes served three ministries as Governor of Ohio.

The presidential elections of 1876 were the most controversial in the history of the United States of America. Hayes himself barely expected to win. After counting through the votes for the first time, it looked like his opponent, Samuel J. Tilden would win.  Hayes went to sleep thinking that he had lost the election, but some of the votes from Louisiana, South Caroline and Florida had been questioned. After month of dubiety, a commission was called to duty by the congress in order to make a decision, which finally made Hayes the 18thpresident of the United States of America.

Hayes presidency is also known as the Era or Reconstruction, in which Hayes made good process in reconciling the northern and southern states.

In advance, Hayes had already said that he would serve his country as President for one presidency only and retired in 1881. He died 12 years later in Fremont, Ohio.

"Wars will remain while human nature remains. I believe in my soul in cooperation, in arbitration; but the soldier's occupation we cannot say is gone until human nature is gone." (Rutherford Hayes)