Elections Revisited: 1876 General Election

[Kaine for Senate '18]

The poll will close on Sunday.

[??????????]

Tilden

[Workers' Friend]

Tilden

[Daniel Adams]

Tilden

Do you know what Tilden's economic positions were? He was a member of the laissez-faire wing of the Democratic Party, the Bourbon Democrats, which sadly died out in the early 1900s when Bryan's populists took over. Wikipedia mentions Tilden "worked closely with the New York City business community" as governor. He cut taxes, supported free trade, and sound money. Probably someone you'd call an "enemy" of the workers.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Tilden

Do you know what Tilden's economic positions were? He was a member of the laissez-faire wing of the Democratic Party, the Bourbon Democrats, which sadly died out in the early 1900s when Bryan's populists took over. Wikipedia mentions Tilden "worked closely with the New York City business community" as governor. He cut taxes, supported free trade, and sound money. Probably someone you'd call an "enemy" of the workers.

By that logic, I vote for Hayes.

[Workers' Friend]

Tilden

Do you know what Tilden's economic positions were? He was a member of the laissez-faire wing of the Democratic Party, the Bourbon Democrats, which sadly died out in the early 1900s when Bryan's populists took over. Wikipedia mentions Tilden "worked closely with the New York City business community" as governor. He cut taxes, supported free trade, and sound money. Probably someone you'd call an "enemy" of the workers.

Damn it, ah well, like I had a choice for anything back then.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Tilden

Do you know what Tilden's economic positions were? He was a member of the laissez-faire wing of the Democratic Party, the Bourbon Democrats, which sadly died out in the early 1900s when Bryan's populists took over. Wikipedia mentions Tilden "worked closely with the New York City business community" as governor. He cut taxes, supported free trade, and sound money. Probably someone you'd call an "enemy" of the workers.

     That cuts it; I'm a Tilden voter now.

[Daniel Adams]

Tilden

Do you know what Tilden's economic positions were? He was a member of the laissez-faire wing of the Democratic Party, the Bourbon Democrats, which sadly died out in the early 1900s when Bryan's populists took over. Wikipedia mentions Tilden "worked closely with the New York City business community" as governor. He cut taxes, supported free trade, and sound money. Probably someone you'd call an "enemy" of the workers.

     That cuts it; I'm a Tilden voter now.

Ditto. Tilden was also a member of the Free Soil wing of the Democratic Party, so he wouldn't have been beholden to the interest of former slave-owners like Seymour or Greeley. In any case, Hayes was an extreme pragmatist who probably would've abandoned freedmen even if he had won the election indisputably.

[Workers' Friend]

Tilden

Do you know what Tilden's economic positions were? He was a member of the laissez-faire wing of the Democratic Party, the Bourbon Democrats, which sadly died out in the early 1900s when Bryan's populists took over. Wikipedia mentions Tilden "worked closely with the New York City business community" as governor. He cut taxes, supported free trade, and sound money. Probably someone you'd call an "enemy" of the workers.

     That cuts it; I'm a Tilden voter now.

Then I am a Hayes voter now.

[Daniel Adams]

Tilden

Do you know what Tilden's economic positions were? He was a member of the laissez-faire wing of the Democratic Party, the Bourbon Democrats, which sadly died out in the early 1900s when Bryan's populists took over. Wikipedia mentions Tilden "worked closely with the New York City business community" as governor. He cut taxes, supported free trade, and sound money. Probably someone you'd call an "enemy" of the workers.

     That cuts it; I'm a Tilden voter now.

Then I am a Hayes voter now.

Hayes was also pro-business. He was a strong supporter of sound money and protectionism (big business was against free trade back then). Economic populism wasn't really represented by any major party until the Populist Party was founded in 1884.

[Workers' Friend]

Tilden

Do you know what Tilden's economic positions were? He was a member of the laissez-faire wing of the Democratic Party, the Bourbon Democrats, which sadly died out in the early 1900s when Bryan's populists took over. Wikipedia mentions Tilden "worked closely with the New York City business community" as governor. He cut taxes, supported free trade, and sound money. Probably someone you'd call an "enemy" of the workers.

     That cuts it; I'm a Tilden voter now.

Then I am a Hayes voter now.

Hayes was also pro-business. He was a strong supporter of sound money and protectionism (big business was against free trade back then). Economic populism wasn't really represented by any major party until the Populist Party was founded in 1884.

In that case, I abstain.

[Rob]

Tilden, making this the first time I would have supported a Democrat for president. As noted by someone upthread, he was an antislavery Democrat who supported Van Buren in 1848 and fiercely opposed the anti-American wing of his party during the Civil War. He had the best civil rights record of any Democratic candidate from the party's founding to FDR.

Most importantly, though, a Tilden victory would have meant the continuation of Reconstruction. Hayes' "victory" under such peculiar circumstances was the worst thing that could have happened to African-Americans, as his backers sold them down the river in exchange for white southern compliance with the results. The corrupt bargain marked the GOP's shift from idealism and progressivism to big business sleaze.

[Fritz]

Are we voting on who we liked, or who we think actually won?  1876 was clearly and unequivocally a stolen election, awarded to the loser (much moreso than 2000).

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Are we voting on who we liked, or who we think actually won?  1876 was clearly and unequivocally a stolen election, awarded to the loser (much moreso than 2000).

It's the person you would've supported.

[PBrunsel]

Rutherford Hayes is an unsung exceptional president. He began the fight for civil service reform, thre out crooks and cronies from govenrment office, appointed a unity cabinet following a bitter election, began limited trust busting while still protecting the rights of business, fought to protect Chinese immigrants from mob violence in California and retired after one succesful term.

If that is not enough, I don't know what is.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Rutherford Hayes is an unsung exceptional president. He began the fight for civil service reform, thre out crooks and cronies from govenrment office, appointed a unity cabinet following a bitter election, began limited trust busting while still protecting the rights of business, fought to protect Chinese immigrants from mob violence in California and retired after one succesful term.

If that is not enough, I don't know what is.

I totally agree.  Chester A. Arthur is another sorely underrated President.

[Daniel Adams]

Rutherford Hayes is an unsung exceptional president. He began the fight for civil service reform, thre out crooks and cronies from govenrment office, appointed a unity cabinet following a bitter election, began limited trust busting while still protecting the rights of business, fought to protect Chinese immigrants from mob violence in California and retired after one succesful term.

If that is not enough, I don't know what is.

I fault him for being an excessive pragmatist. There wasn't a single principle he wouldn't compromise on. During his earlier years in politics, Hayes was moderately pro-free trade, but to win Republican support for his candidacy, he became a protectionist. He made no effort to ensure blacks' civil rights would be protected after federal troops were removed from South. His support for civil service was certainly commendable, but he again compromised on it in another effort to mend relations with Southern Democrats, appointing them to important posts within the civil service with little regard to their merit. He did veto a bill to restrict Chinese immigration in 1879, but in 1882 he approved a bill that banned the entrance of Chinese laborers for ten years. Another negative aspect of his administration was his support for the odious Blaine amendments, motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment among Republicans at the time. Hayes himself once lamented the fact that "Catholic foreigners" were becoming a majority in his home state of Ohio.

Hayes' presidency was mediocre and will forever be stained by the fact that in ending Reconstruction so abruptly he abandoned the freedmen, naïvely hoping Southern governments would protect their civil rights. Tilden would have been a vastly superior president.

[Four49]

Rutherford Hayes is an unsung exceptional president. He began the fight for civil service reform, thre out crooks and cronies from govenrment office, appointed a unity cabinet following a bitter election, began limited trust busting while still protecting the rights of business, fought to protect Chinese immigrants from mob violence in California and retired after one succesful term.

If that is not enough, I don't know what is.

I fault him for being an excessive pragmatist. There wasn't a single principle he wouldn't compromise on. During his earlier years in politics, Hayes was moderately pro-free trade, but to win Republican support for his candidacy, he became a protectionist. He made no effort to ensure blacks' civil rights would be protected after federal troops were removed from South. His support for civil service was certainly commendable, but he again compromised on it in another effort to mend relations with Southern Democrats, appointing them to important posts within the civil service with little regard to their merit. He did veto a bill to restrict Chinese immigration in 1879, but in 1882 he approved a bill that banned the entrance of Chinese laborers for ten years. Another negative aspect of his administration was his support for the odious Blaine amendments, motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment among Republicans at the time. Hayes himself once lamented the fact that "Catholic foreigners" were becoming a majority in his home state of Ohio.

Hayes' presidency was mediocre and will forever be stained by the fact that in ending Reconstruction so abruptly he abandoned the freedmen, naïvely hoping Southern governments would protect their civil rights. Tilden would have been a vastly superior president.

I agree, Hayes' negatives outweighed his positives.  Plus, Tilden fought Tammany Hall.  And did this -

Of his fortune (estimated at $7,000,000) approximately $4,000,000 was bequeathed for the establishment and maintenance of a free public library and reading-room in the City of New York; but, as the will was successfully contested by relatives, only about $3,000,000 of the bequest was applied to its original purpose; in 1895, the Tilden Trust was combined with the Astor and Lenox libraries to found the New York Public Library, whose building bears his name on its front.

...which is pretty cool.

[Dr. Cynic]

Tilden the Robbed!
Tilden the Reformer!
Tilden the........Virgin?!

[WillK]

Rutherford Hayes is an unsung exceptional president. He began the fight for civil service reform...

Grant began it.  Hayes was just continuing it.

[Lief 🗽]

Tilden, I guess. It's not like there was a difference between the two of them.