Hail to the Chiefs Part XIX: And Some Were Just Born In Ohio
Originally written October 23, 2010
In his Civil War course David Blight made the quip "Some were born great, some achieve greatness....and some were just born in Ohio." Ohio is second only to Virginia for the number of presidents born there. Rutherford B. Hayes would be the 2nd of 3 Ohioans in a row to be elected president.
Always notorious for being one of the more obscure presidents, Hayes first caught my attention a little over 4 years ago. I was in the backseat of my sister's car. We were driving back from my grandfather's funeral in Amherst, Ohio. I noticed the sign for the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library. I knew I'd be back in the area that summer to visit my grandma, and decided that would DEFINITELY be part of the itinerary. I certainly didn't regret it. Hayes's obscurity is deserved, but he's still my favorite of the lesser known presidents.
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio on October 4, 1822. An only child, his father died before his birth. His uncle Sardis Birchard moved in with the family and became both a guardian and a father figure to young "Rud" as he was often called.
Other than that....a lot of his early life was ridiculously happy and wholesome. If they flossed in the 19th century, I'm sure young Rud did that too. He was an easy going likable fellow who got good grades. Then he went to law school and was successful and well-liked there too. The same can be said for his law career.
In 1852 he married Lucy Ware Webb. Lucy and Rutherford were very much in love and devoted to each other. Easily one of the happiest marriages in the White House. Lucy was a staunch proponent of the temperance movement, which later earned her the nickname "Lemonade Lucy." Initially, out of deference to his wife, while Rutherford would still drink, he would hide the wine bottle under the table. Later when he was in the White House he abstained from alcohol altogether to try and set a good example for the country.
In 1860 Hayes enlisted in the Civil War. Being an Ohio native, his unit spent a lot of time stationed in the newly formed neighboring state of West Virginia. Not surprisingly in the military he was once again...say it with me...successful and well-liked! Kind of makes you sick, eh?
Near the end of the war, his native Ohioans said "Gee Rud, you're successful and well-liked! Let's elect you to Congress!" He spent one full term in Congress, and 3 terms as the governor of Ohio.
In 1876 the Republicans had the unhappy task of trying to choose a successor for Ulysses S. Grant. They settled on Hayes because he was "offensive to no one." Being from a key state like Ohio didn't hurt his cause either.
The 1876 election was very close, involved some voting complications in the state of Florida, and the Republican took office despite the Democrat winning the popular vote. Sound familiar? A notable difference being Hayes made an effort to win over the democrats once he came into office.
If Hayes is famous for anything, it is the notoriety for being the president that ended Reconstruction. Grant had gotten the ball rolling, and it was definitely in the spirit of the time that most white Americans were interested in getting troops out of the South, and the southern states to be self-governing once more. Hayes naively believed the Southern states would keep their promises to maintain Civil Rights for blacks. He would later come to regret his decision to end Reconstruction, and spend a significant amount of his retirement years promoting Black Education causes.
Other than ending reconstruction...there is a reason you either haven't heard, or have only vaguely heard of, the next series of presidents. They didn't have a heck of a lot of power. It was really the captains of industry who were calling the shots at this points. Much more familiar names like: Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan... Although if you asked our buddy Rud how you thought he was doing, he would have cheerfully told you that he thought he was a pretty good president.
Hayes as promised in his campaign, only served one term. At his retirement he spent a lot of time promoting his various causes. Besides education, he was very pro-library. He was friends with Melvil Dewey, founder of the Dewey Decimal system, and had started a free library in his hometown. The Hayes Library is the very first American presidential library. Besides being in a beautiful setting, it has some interesting artifacts. One of the Hayes sons was an officer in the military, and contributed items in the house from East Asia. I wasn't used to seeing such interesting decor in a president's house. I also had a particularly good tour guide, who practically had the other ladies and I in tears as he related the love story of Rutherford and Lucy Hayes.
Sadly, I couldn't find pop culture clips for Hayes himself. Toyed with making a youtube video of him using the song "Purple Haze." Instead, I decided to use a clip from a show that took place in the fictional town of Rutherford, Ohio. A town that I figured was named after President Hayes.
In his Civil War course David Blight made the quip "Some were born great, some achieve greatness....and some were just born in Ohio." Ohio is second only to Virginia for the number of presidents born there. Rutherford B. Hayes would be the 2nd of 3 Ohioans in a row to be elected president.
Always notorious for being one of the more obscure presidents, Hayes first caught my attention a little over 4 years ago. I was in the backseat of my sister's car. We were driving back from my grandfather's funeral in Amherst, Ohio. I noticed the sign for the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library. I knew I'd be back in the area that summer to visit my grandma, and decided that would DEFINITELY be part of the itinerary. I certainly didn't regret it. Hayes's obscurity is deserved, but he's still my favorite of the lesser known presidents.
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born in Delaware, Ohio on October 4, 1822. An only child, his father died before his birth. His uncle Sardis Birchard moved in with the family and became both a guardian and a father figure to young "Rud" as he was often called.
Other than that....a lot of his early life was ridiculously happy and wholesome. If they flossed in the 19th century, I'm sure young Rud did that too. He was an easy going likable fellow who got good grades. Then he went to law school and was successful and well-liked there too. The same can be said for his law career.
In 1852 he married Lucy Ware Webb. Lucy and Rutherford were very much in love and devoted to each other. Easily one of the happiest marriages in the White House. Lucy was a staunch proponent of the temperance movement, which later earned her the nickname "Lemonade Lucy." Initially, out of deference to his wife, while Rutherford would still drink, he would hide the wine bottle under the table. Later when he was in the White House he abstained from alcohol altogether to try and set a good example for the country.
In 1860 Hayes enlisted in the Civil War. Being an Ohio native, his unit spent a lot of time stationed in the newly formed neighboring state of West Virginia. Not surprisingly in the military he was once again...say it with me...successful and well-liked! Kind of makes you sick, eh?
Near the end of the war, his native Ohioans said "Gee Rud, you're successful and well-liked! Let's elect you to Congress!" He spent one full term in Congress, and 3 terms as the governor of Ohio.
In 1876 the Republicans had the unhappy task of trying to choose a successor for Ulysses S. Grant. They settled on Hayes because he was "offensive to no one." Being from a key state like Ohio didn't hurt his cause either.
The 1876 election was very close, involved some voting complications in the state of Florida, and the Republican took office despite the Democrat winning the popular vote. Sound familiar? A notable difference being Hayes made an effort to win over the democrats once he came into office.
If Hayes is famous for anything, it is the notoriety for being the president that ended Reconstruction. Grant had gotten the ball rolling, and it was definitely in the spirit of the time that most white Americans were interested in getting troops out of the South, and the southern states to be self-governing once more. Hayes naively believed the Southern states would keep their promises to maintain Civil Rights for blacks. He would later come to regret his decision to end Reconstruction, and spend a significant amount of his retirement years promoting Black Education causes.
Other than ending reconstruction...there is a reason you either haven't heard, or have only vaguely heard of, the next series of presidents. They didn't have a heck of a lot of power. It was really the captains of industry who were calling the shots at this points. Much more familiar names like: Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan... Although if you asked our buddy Rud how you thought he was doing, he would have cheerfully told you that he thought he was a pretty good president.
Hayes as promised in his campaign, only served one term. At his retirement he spent a lot of time promoting his various causes. Besides education, he was very pro-library. He was friends with Melvil Dewey, founder of the Dewey Decimal system, and had started a free library in his hometown. The Hayes Library is the very first American presidential library. Besides being in a beautiful setting, it has some interesting artifacts. One of the Hayes sons was an officer in the military, and contributed items in the house from East Asia. I wasn't used to seeing such interesting decor in a president's house. I also had a particularly good tour guide, who practically had the other ladies and I in tears as he related the love story of Rutherford and Lucy Hayes.
Sadly, I couldn't find pop culture clips for Hayes himself. Toyed with making a youtube video of him using the song "Purple Haze." Instead, I decided to use a clip from a show that took place in the fictional town of Rutherford, Ohio. A town that I figured was named after President Hayes.