Presidents in Retirement: Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Hayes had promised to sit only one term as president, and he kept that pledge. Elected in the most controversial and contentious elections, he lost the official popular vote (though who actually won will never be known due to voter suppression in southern states). He was awarded the disputed electoral votes by a commission divided by partisan interests, and his presidency was hamstrung from the start.
Hayes declined to seek re-election in 1880, keeping his pledge not to run for a second term. He said that he was pleased to learn that his fellow Ohio Republican James A. Garfield was selected to succeed him as his party's candidate for president, and even more pleased when Garfield won. Garfield consulted with Hayes on appointments for the next administration. After Garfield's inauguration, Hayes and his family returned to their home known as "Spiegel Grove" in Fremont, Ohio.
In 1881, Hayes, who was a veteran of the Civil War, was elected a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He served as commander-in-chief (national president) of the Loyal Legion from 1888 until his death in 1893. He remained a loyal Republican, but in his diary, Hayes said that he was not too disappointed in Grover Cleveland's election to the Presidency in 1884. He agreed with Cleveland's views on civil service reform and his conservatism. Hayes also followed, with pride, the political career of someone he had once been a mentor to, fellow Ohioan William McKinley, his army comrade and political protégé. (At the start of the Civil War, Hayes had been appointed as a Major in the 23rd Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, while the much younger McKinley signed on as a private).
One of the causes that Hayes advocated for in his retirement was educational charities. He argued that there should be federal education subsidies for all children and he believed that education was the best way to heal the rifts in American society and allow individuals to improve themselves. Hayes was appointed to the Board of Trustees of The Ohio State University, the school he helped found when he was governor of Ohio, in 1887. He emphasized the need for vocational, as well as academic, education. He wrote, "I preach the gospel of work. I believe in skilled labor as a part of education." He lobbied Congress, unsuccessfully as it turned out, to pass a bill written by Senator Henry W. Blair that would have allowed federal aid for education for the first time.
Hayes's views on education did not only apply to white children. He gave a speech in 1889 encouraging African-American students to apply for scholarships from the Slater Fund, one of the charities with which he was affiliated. One student who later achieved fame, was W. E. B. Du Bois, who received a scholarship from the fund in 1892. Hayes was also an advocate for better prison conditions and better and more humane treatment of prisoners.
Another issue that Hayes addressed in his retirement was the economic disparity between the rich and the poor. He gave a speech in 1886 in which he said that "free government cannot long endure if property is largely in a few hands and large masses of people are unable to earn homes, education, and a support in old age." In 1887, Hayes recorded these thoughts on that subject in his diary:
"In church it occurred to me that it is time for the public to hear that the giant evil and danger in this country, the danger which transcends all others, is the vast wealth owned or controlled by a few persons. Money is power. In Congress, in state legislatures, in city councils, in the courts, in the political conventions, in the press, in the pulpit, in the circles of the educated and the talented, its influence is growing greater and greater. Excessive wealth in the hands of the few means extreme poverty, ignorance, vice, and wretchedness as the lot of the many. It is not yet time to debate about the remedy. The previous question is as to the danger—the evil. Let the people be fully informed and convinced as to the evil. Let them earnestly seek the remedy and it will be found. Fully to know the evil is the first step towards reaching its eradication. Henry George is strong when he portrays the rottenness of the present system. We are, to say the least, not yet ready for his remedy. We may reach and remove the difficulty by changes in the laws regulating corporations, descents of property, wills, trusts, taxation, and a host of other important interests, not omitting lands and other property."
Hayes had a very strong marriage and loved his wife Lucy very much. He was greatly saddened by Lucy's death on June 25, 1889, from a stroke at the age of 57. Hayes wrote in his diary that "the soul had left" Spiegel Grove when Lucy died. After Lucy's death, Hayes's daughter Fanny became his traveling companion, and he enjoyed visits from his grandchildren. In what was the only time that Hayes left the country, he and Fanny traveled to Bermuda.
In 1890, Hayes chaired the "Lake Mohonk Conference on the Negro Question". This was a think tank of reformers who met in upstate New York to discuss racial issues. Hayes had been criticized as President for removing federal troops from the south, part of the compromise that settled the 1876 election, but one which ended Reconstruction. In his retirement, he showed great concern about the plight of African-Americans, and perhaps this was his way of making amends for a decision that he regretted and one for which history had been critical of him.
Rutherford Hayes died of complications of a heart attack at his home of Spiegel Grove on January 17, 1893. He was 70 years of age. His last words were a reminder of the love he had for his late wife. He said, "I know that I'm going where Lucy is." President-elect Grover Cleveland and Ohio Governor William McKinley led the funeral procession that followed Hayes's body until he was interred in Oakwood Cemetery. Later, following the donation of his home to the state of Ohio for the Spiegel Grove State Park, he was re-interred there in 1915. The following year the Hayes Commemorative Library and Museum, the first presidential library in the United States, was opened on the site, funded by contributions from the state of Ohio and Hayes' family.
Hayes declined to seek re-election in 1880, keeping his pledge not to run for a second term. He said that he was pleased to learn that his fellow Ohio Republican James A. Garfield was selected to succeed him as his party's candidate for president, and even more pleased when Garfield won. Garfield consulted with Hayes on appointments for the next administration. After Garfield's inauguration, Hayes and his family returned to their home known as "Spiegel Grove" in Fremont, Ohio.
In 1881, Hayes, who was a veteran of the Civil War, was elected a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He served as commander-in-chief (national president) of the Loyal Legion from 1888 until his death in 1893. He remained a loyal Republican, but in his diary, Hayes said that he was not too disappointed in Grover Cleveland's election to the Presidency in 1884. He agreed with Cleveland's views on civil service reform and his conservatism. Hayes also followed, with pride, the political career of someone he had once been a mentor to, fellow Ohioan William McKinley, his army comrade and political protégé. (At the start of the Civil War, Hayes had been appointed as a Major in the 23rd Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, while the much younger McKinley signed on as a private).
One of the causes that Hayes advocated for in his retirement was educational charities. He argued that there should be federal education subsidies for all children and he believed that education was the best way to heal the rifts in American society and allow individuals to improve themselves. Hayes was appointed to the Board of Trustees of The Ohio State University, the school he helped found when he was governor of Ohio, in 1887. He emphasized the need for vocational, as well as academic, education. He wrote, "I preach the gospel of work. I believe in skilled labor as a part of education." He lobbied Congress, unsuccessfully as it turned out, to pass a bill written by Senator Henry W. Blair that would have allowed federal aid for education for the first time.
Hayes's views on education did not only apply to white children. He gave a speech in 1889 encouraging African-American students to apply for scholarships from the Slater Fund, one of the charities with which he was affiliated. One student who later achieved fame, was W. E. B. Du Bois, who received a scholarship from the fund in 1892. Hayes was also an advocate for better prison conditions and better and more humane treatment of prisoners.
Another issue that Hayes addressed in his retirement was the economic disparity between the rich and the poor. He gave a speech in 1886 in which he said that "free government cannot long endure if property is largely in a few hands and large masses of people are unable to earn homes, education, and a support in old age." In 1887, Hayes recorded these thoughts on that subject in his diary:
"In church it occurred to me that it is time for the public to hear that the giant evil and danger in this country, the danger which transcends all others, is the vast wealth owned or controlled by a few persons. Money is power. In Congress, in state legislatures, in city councils, in the courts, in the political conventions, in the press, in the pulpit, in the circles of the educated and the talented, its influence is growing greater and greater. Excessive wealth in the hands of the few means extreme poverty, ignorance, vice, and wretchedness as the lot of the many. It is not yet time to debate about the remedy. The previous question is as to the danger—the evil. Let the people be fully informed and convinced as to the evil. Let them earnestly seek the remedy and it will be found. Fully to know the evil is the first step towards reaching its eradication. Henry George is strong when he portrays the rottenness of the present system. We are, to say the least, not yet ready for his remedy. We may reach and remove the difficulty by changes in the laws regulating corporations, descents of property, wills, trusts, taxation, and a host of other important interests, not omitting lands and other property."
Hayes had a very strong marriage and loved his wife Lucy very much. He was greatly saddened by Lucy's death on June 25, 1889, from a stroke at the age of 57. Hayes wrote in his diary that "the soul had left" Spiegel Grove when Lucy died. After Lucy's death, Hayes's daughter Fanny became his traveling companion, and he enjoyed visits from his grandchildren. In what was the only time that Hayes left the country, he and Fanny traveled to Bermuda.
In 1890, Hayes chaired the "Lake Mohonk Conference on the Negro Question". This was a think tank of reformers who met in upstate New York to discuss racial issues. Hayes had been criticized as President for removing federal troops from the south, part of the compromise that settled the 1876 election, but one which ended Reconstruction. In his retirement, he showed great concern about the plight of African-Americans, and perhaps this was his way of making amends for a decision that he regretted and one for which history had been critical of him.
Rutherford Hayes died of complications of a heart attack at his home of Spiegel Grove on January 17, 1893. He was 70 years of age. His last words were a reminder of the love he had for his late wife. He said, "I know that I'm going where Lucy is." President-elect Grover Cleveland and Ohio Governor William McKinley led the funeral procession that followed Hayes's body until he was interred in Oakwood Cemetery. Later, following the donation of his home to the state of Ohio for the Spiegel Grove State Park, he was re-interred there in 1915. The following year the Hayes Commemorative Library and Museum, the first presidential library in the United States, was opened on the site, funded by contributions from the state of Ohio and Hayes' family.