Overview of the Republican Party in the Hayes Administration
President Hayes's term began with several moderate measures that were popular among the electorate but not welcomed by congressional partisans. He chose his cabinet not to satisfy the Senate but on the basis of ability. When Blaine and other Republicans slowed the process of confirmations, newspapers urged them to stop trying to regulate the new President. Blaine and his friends recognized that Hayes would be a much stronger president than Grant. Hayes also resolved the Southern situation. He met with the competing governors from South Carolina and won an agreement from Wade Hampton (the Democratic contender) to protect the rights of blacks. Within two months, all federal troops had been withdrawn from the South, bringing Reconstruction to an end and increasing Hayes's stock among moderates in all sections of the Union.
As it turned out, Hayes's attempt to create a viable two-party system in the South failed by 1879. At first, former Southern Whigs appeared willing to affiliate with the Republicans. When Klan activity and a Democratic controlled canvassing board overturned a 1,500 Republican majority in Marshall, Texas and installed the Democratic candidates anyway, Hayes recognized that the South might not uphold its part of the bargain in holding free and fair elections. Congress passed legislation for troops to observe Southern elections with riders, and Hayes was widely acclaimed for vetoing the legislation. In the 1878 midterm elections, the Democrats gained seven Senate seats to take control of the body while the Republicans narrowed their minority status in the House. The Democrats used the issue of Hayes's support of "Negro rule" in the South to win seats in the Midwest.
Setting the Date for the 1880 Convention
The Republican National Committee met in Washington DC at noon on 12/17/1879 to choose a new national chairman and set the time and place for the 1880 national convention. Chicago Republicans took a proactive approach. They gave railroad passes to many committee men and provided them with hotel rooms as a means of winning their support [NYT 12/16/1879]. Other cities vying for the nod included Cincinnati and Indianapolis [NYT 12/17/1879]. Chicago was chosen as the convention city with 24 votes to 14 for Saratoga, 2 for Cincinnati, and 2 for Indianapolis. The convention was set to open on 6/2/1880 [NYT 12/18/1879].
Pre-Convention Maneuvering
Hayes had stated from the beginning that he would not be a candidate for renomination. By mid-1879, Republicans were assessing their potential candidates. Former Pres. Grant had left on a trip to Europe in 1877. During the 2-year trip, he was unexpectedly received as a celebrity. He spoke with the leaders of the various nations and impressed the leaders of Spain by speaking in their native language. Reports of his visits were printed in newspapers in the USA, and when he returned home in late 1879, he was already being mentioned as a potential presidential candidate. Anti-Hayes Republicans on Capitol Hill (the Stalwarts), hoping to regain their control over patronage, lined up behind Grant. Sen. Blaine, who also wanted the nomination, ended his friendly opposition to Hayes so that he could seek the support of the Half Breeds, who supported the President. Treasury Secy. Sherman was the only other contender with a national following. Hayes met with Grant in Philadelphia near the end of the General's trip home from Europe and urged him unsuccessfully to withdraw from the race.
At the beginning of 1880, the race was still wide-open. The St. Paul newspaper Pioneer Press interviewed 600 Minnesota Republicans early in the year and found Grant had 245 supporters to Blaine 183, Sherman 72, Hayes 27, Washburne 24, and Garfield 23 [NYT 1/23/1880]. A similar "canvass" by the Cincinnati Gazette showed Sherman leading in that state with 1,889 supporters to Blaine's 890, Grant 541, Garfield 128, Hayes 95, and Washburne 68 [NYT 1/26/1880].
As the third choice, Sherman worked hard to recruit delegates to the National Convention. He sent emissaries into several Southern states to organize his forces for the state conventions [NYT 1/24/1880]. It was the first time in many years that anyone had worked so hard on his own behalf to win the presidential nomination, and some Northern Republicans worried that he might win based on "rotten" Southern delegates [NYT 1/28/1880]. On 1/29, Sherman won all four at large delegates from North Carolina, which had been thought to have been safe for Grant [NYT 1/30/1880]. Grant's supporters, worried about Sherman's strength, began to spread rumors that Sherman was misusing federal patronage to win delegates, and the New York Times reported on 2/15/1880 that Sherman's chances had been seriously undermined.
Grant's strength was strongest in the states with the best organized machines. In Pennsylvania, the state convention on 2/4 not only chose delegates pledged to Grant but passed a resolution 133-113 requiring the vote of the delegation to be cast as a block for Grant [NYT 2/5/1880]. Grant proceeded to win the delegates at the state conventions in New York [NYT 2/26], Kentucky [NYT 3/19], Missouri [NYT 4/15], Arkansas [NYT 4/30], and Illinois [NYT 5/21].
Grant was not able to sweep all state conventions. The North American Review wrote a series of articles on the "Third Term Question" which set forth the case of limiting presidents to only two terms [NYT 2/23/1880]. Blaine won an impressive series of states, including Maine [NYT 3/4/1880], Rhode Island [NYT 3/19], Kansas [NYT 4/2/1880], Utah [4/4], Iowa [NYT 4/5], California [NYT 4/30], and Michigan [NYT 5/13]. Vermont Republicans offered George Edmunds at their state convention [NYT 2/26/1880]. Indiana Republicans chose a slate of mostly unpledged delegates [NYT 3/1/1880], and Connecticut appointed an entire unpledged slate [NYT 4/8]. The contest in Ohio was primarily between Sherman and Blaine; although the Stalwart press reported that Blaine was leading in the county conventions, Sherman won the state convention by a margin of 463-200 [NYT 4/29]. Minnesota offered Sen. Windom [NYT 5/20]. A group of Republicans met in St. Louis on 5/6, calling themselves the "Anti-Third Term Republicans." They passed a resolution calling for RNC delegates to do all in their power to prevent the nomination of Grant [NYT 5/7].
The New York Times, a strong supporter of Grant, reported its sense of the delegate strength of the candidates on 5/24: Grant 364 (just shy of a majority), Blaine 209, Sherman 81, Edmunds 37, and Windom 10.
Grant's majority depended upon the enforcement of the unit rule, which required the entire delegate vote of a state to be cast for the candidate who won a majority of the delegates of the state. Rep. James Garfield, the Republican leader in the U.S. House and a Sherman delegate, met with the opposition forces just before the National Convention to organize the effort to overturn the unit rule [NYT 5/31].
The National Convention
The 7th Republican National Convention assembled in Exposition Hall in Chicago IL. There were 756 delegates: two for each electoral vote and two per territory.
The convention was deeply divided. Several state delegations were challenged, including especially IL, KS, and UT. The anti-Grant credentials committee proposed fair resolutions to the issue, and almost all of its recommendations passed on narrow roll call votes.
The nominating speeches contained some well-known gems. Blaine was nominated first with a disappointing speech. Roscoe Conkling, who had offended most of the moderate delegates not already behind Grant, gave a rousing speech which emphasized Grant's accomplishments but ignored the taints on his administration. James A. Garfield gave an unusual speech nominating John Sherman in which he did not mention Sherman's name until the very end.
The roll call for President was the longest in the party's history with 36 ballots. Grant took the lead on the first ballot with 40% to Blaine's 38% and Sherman's 12%. Further ballots proceeded with fewer than a dozen delegates changing votes. Just before the 29th ballot, Edmunds withdrew and gave his delegates to Sherman as a compromise candidate. The move failed to gain anyone's attention, however. On the 34th ballot, Sherman's support finally started to erode - with some delegates switching to Grant. Wisconsin, tired of the same candidates, switched its votes to Garfield. This move precipitated Garfield's speech asking the delegates to support active candidates rather than throwing their votes away. Indiana switched to Garfield on the 35th ballot as Grant gained and Sherman and Blaine fell further behind. The 36th ballot decided the race. When Iowa was called, it switched its vote from Blaine to Garfield. As Blaine's biggest state, Iowa was critical to his chances. After this shift, all of Blaine'e remaining delegates except for three voted for Garfield. Sherman and Washburne's delegates followed suit and contributed to a 52.8% Garfield victory (Grant had 40.5%).
Chester A. Arthur (NY) was nominated for VP on the first ballot over Washburne.
| Presidential Balloting, RNC 1880 |
| Contender: ballot | 1st | 2d | 3d | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th |
| Ulysses S. Grant | 304 | 305 | 305 | 305 | 305 | 305 | 305 | 306 | 308 | 305 | 305 | 304 |
| James G. Blaine | 284 | 284 | 282 | 281 | 281 | 281 | 281 | 284 | 282 | 282 | 281 | 283 |
| John Sherman | 93 | 94 | 93 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 94 | 91 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 92 |
| George F. Edmunds | 34 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 |
| Elihu B. Washburne | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 33 |
| William Windom | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| James A. Garfield | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Rutherford B. Hayes | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Benjamin Harrison | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Presidential Balloting, RNC 1880 |
| Contender: ballot | 1st | 11th | 21st | 29th | 34th | 35th | 36th |
| James A. Garfield | -- | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 50 | 399 |
| Ulysses S. Grant | 304 | 305 | 305 | 305 | 312 | 313 | 306 |
| James G. Blaine | 284 | 281 | 276 | 278 | 275 | 257 | 42 |
| John Sherman | 93 | 93 | 96 | 116 | 107 | 99 | 3 |
| Elihu B. Washburne | 30 | 32 | 35 | 35 | 30 | 23 | 5 |
| George F. Edmunds | 34 | 31 | 31 | 12 | 12 | 11 | -- |
| Others | 11 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
Temporary & Permanent Chairman: George F. Hoar (MA)
6th Republican National Convention (1876)
8th Republican National Convention (1884)
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