#19 Rutherford B Hayes

1877--1881

--Hayes was not expected to win the presidential election of 1876, and was described by one political journalist as "a third rate non-entity, whose only recommendation is that he is obnoxious to no one." However, Hayes won the presidency by a single electoral vote (he lost the popular vote by roughly 250,000).

 

To decide the results of the election peacefully, the two houses of Congress set up the bi-partisan Electoral Commission to investigate and decide the winner. The Commission voted 8 to 7 – along party lines – to award Hayes all the contested electoral votes. Because of the nature of his election, Democrats often referred to Hayes as "Rutherfraud B. Hayes". 

--Hayes was the first president to take the oath of office inside the White House.

 

--During the Hayes administration "Jim Crow" laws spread around the country that prevented African Americans from voting. Hayes was reluctant to redeploy federal troops to enforce the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

--Rutherford B. Hayes preferred theatrical entrances, often accompanied by a well-placed smoke bomb. He also often adjourned from state dinners with a flourish and burst of smoke--through which he seemed to disappear--to the delight and applause of his guests.