Why is rutherford b hayes famous

He died at his beloved Spiegel Grove in Several family portraits and original furnishings adorn the house. The library in particular contains numerous mementoes including two framed photographs of Lincoln.

Hayes, an avid reader, designed the room to display portraits of former political greats. The graves of Lucy and Rutherford Hayes are on a small hill at the south end of the estate.

The State of Ohio constructed a museum and library building on the grounds of Spiegel Grove in Two additions date from and The research library has approximately 70, volumes, including the president's personal library. The exhibits in the museum focus on the life and times of Rutherford B. Hayes, his family, and Ohio history.

A life-size diorama of Hayes in camp during the Civil War illustrates his active participation in that conflict. The Rutherford B. For mapping purposes only the address is Spiegel Grove.

Click here for the National Historic Landmark registration file: text and photos. Hayes home is also an Ohio Historical Society Site. Daily tours of both are available year-round, Tuesday —Saturday am to pm and Sundays and Holidays pm to pm. Visitors can opt to tour one building or both.

Tours of the Hayes Home are guide led and take 45 minutes. The Hayes Museum is a self-guided tour, with docent-led tours available for groups of 15 or more by prior arrangement. For more information visit, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center website or call toll free The website provides a wealth of information on the place and people of Spiegel Grove.

Spiegel Grove Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Ohio. Historians have blamed Hayes for the end of Reconstruction, for breaking the Great Strike of , for championing the gold standard, for a Native American policy that aimed at acculturation, for negotiating a treaty that led to Chinese exclusion, and for being an inconsistent civil service reformer. Yet, it remains hazardous to dismiss Hayes so summarily. Too often scholars have measured him against the ideals of a later era.

Historians have not adequately understood his limited options, nor have they always interpreted his actions fully, or even fairly. He did not break the Great Strike, for example, and only sent troops to stop riots when state and local authorities legally requested. Additionally, for all practical purposes, Reconstruction was over when Hayes took office. His only real choice was not whether but when troops had to cease protecting Republican governments in South Carolina and Louisiana.

His opposition to inflation and support of the gold standard—policies supposedly against the interest of workers and farmers—were accompanied by the return of a general prosperity. His Indian policy was indeed paternalistic and did aim at acculturation, but he stopped the removal of some Native Americans to the Indian Territory. At the same time, he embraced a policy of peace, which had its beginnings under Ulysses S. Grant, and not one of annihilation.

The treaty with China accommodated the racist temper of Californians and of Congress, but its aim was restriction, not exclusion. Reformers were not entirely happy, and spoilsmen were angered by Hayes's civil service policy, but he left the party machinery sufficiently intact to win in In addition, the experiment with the New York customhouse proved the feasibility of reform and made possible the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act.

Hayes is also significant for the strikingly modern actions he took to enhance the power of the presidency. He defeated Republican senators over the so-called "courtesy of the Senate" convention and did not let them dictate appointments in the field service.

He also defeated the Democratic congressional majority's stance toward the President's legislative role by not letting it destroy his veto power. In defeating the Democrats in the "Battle of the Riders," he relied on the power of public opinion, which he aroused in his stirring veto messages. Hayes traveled more widely than any previous President and, although he did not electioneer, he used every opportunity to speak on issues close to his heart.

In this manner, he bypassed Congress to appeal directly to the people. After winning the presidency in one of the most contested elections in American history, he led the country through the end of Reconstruction and resigned after one term in office. Hayes was born on October 4, , in Delaware, Ohio. Three years later he emerged with a law degree from Harvard Law School and began practicing law in Lower Sandusky, Ohio.

Four years later, in , Hayes picked up and moved to the more bustling Cincinnati, where his law practice flourished and where he was first drawn to the Republican Party. Hayes fought in the Army during the Civil War, rising to the rank of major general and sustaining severe injuries at the Battle of South Mountain.

While Hayes was still in the Army, Republicans from Cincinnati convinced him to run for the House of Representatives, and he was easily elected, entering Congress in December Two years later, he had resigned and begun his first term as governor of Ohio, going on to serve three terms. Despite such widely known figures as Mark Twain campaigning on his behalf, Hayes never thought he could win, and when the popular vote came in, Hayes had lost by a narrow ,vote margin.

However, contested electoral-college votes in Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina kept the candidate afloat: If all of the disputed votes went to Hayes, he would win; if even a single vote went to Tilden, Hayes was finished. In what would end up being one of the most controversial elections in American history, uncertainty reigned for months after the election, until January , when Congress established an ad hoc electoral commission to decide the dispute once and for all.

The commission was composed of eight Republicans and seven Democrats, so it was no surprise that it decided in favor of Hayes by an vote, handing the final electoral tally to Hayes by a count. The result was contentious, and to avoid fueling any burning flames of resentment, Hayes secretly took the oath of office on Saturday, March 3, , in the Red Room of the White House.

The Democrats allegedly agreed to the decision in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from South Carolina and Louisiana, marking the end of Reconstruction in the South, in what is called the Compromise of Hayes did remove the last federal troops from the South, which has hurt his reputation with some historians. But others said Hayes had no choice, and most federal troops had already left the South during the Grant administration.

Arthur would become President in Under Hayes, the American economy also recovered from the disastrous Panic of Today, Hayes is little remembered in the United States, but he is treated as a national hero in one nation: Paraguay.