Rutherford B. Hayes is often dismissed — even by the historians — as just another of the “Powerless Presidents” of the final quarter of the 19th century. And perhaps that nod to the power of Congress is warranted, but it often dismisses the positive actions of presidents including Hayes.
So, before James Garfield is inaugurated as president in 1881, let’s recount a few positive legacies of the one-term president.
Hayes was one of the first presidents to truly understand the importance of educating the public regarding key policy issues — not by preaching to them, but by using persuasive arguments and modeling actions. For example, while Hayes and his wife, “Lemonade” Lucy, were believers in the Temperance Movement, he did not support a prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages. He believed that “temperance” was the key word, and while alcohol was banned from White House gatherings, he understood that taking a strong stand against alcohol might actually drive voters to a new third-party movement, the Prohibitionists, and cause Republican losses. The much better course of action might be to incorporate the opponents’ key issue in his own party in a subtle way that implied Republicans had always been moderate or supportive of the issue.
Because Hayes believed that the true power rested with the people, he began a tradition of explaining any veto by identifying the key constitutional issues at stake and how the passage of the bill might have impacted citizens and the course of government. He chose to tackle several reform issues — sometimes hampered by his colleagues in the House and Senate — but he did push only those reforms that had a chance of success. Always the pragmatist, Hayes later admitted that “I am a radical in thought and a conservative in method.”
Final evaluation from this historian: Hayes, a respectable man who advocated for policies that would acknowledge constitutional changes guaranteeing equality, was not adequately equipped to prevent the era of Jim Crow or the economic and social changes that produced a Gilded Age, lots of glitter disguising lots of rotten underpinnings. But then, who was?
Unfortunately, the short presidency of James Abram Garfield would not allow the citizens to known him well. However, if his past can offer us a glimpse into his potential, then we may mourn what might have been.
Garfield was born on a small Ohio farm and his character was formed as he, the youngest of three children, worked diligently to assist his widowed mother. After a stint working on the canal boats between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, young James focused on education as his ticket to the future. He worked as a carpenter while attending Geauga Academy and supported himself by teaching and working as a janitor while studying at Eclectic Institute in Hiram, Ohio. At age 23, Garfield entered Williams College in western Massachusetts and his life changed exponentially as he thrived intellectually. His studies, his debate skills, and his deep religious convictions led him to the reform movement and a lifelong love for Lucretia Rudolph, his intellectual equal.
Garfield graduated with honors from Williams in 1856, became an instructor in classical languages and a Disciples of Christ minister, became the youngest member of the Ohio legislature in 1859, and studied for and then passed the bar in 1861. He seemed unstoppable.
While Garfield was a strong abolitionist, he did not advocate violence as an acceptable method for social and legal change; instead, he favored constitutional changes. He campaigned for Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election and, only months later when the Southern states began to secede, he found himself struggling with the conflict between his faith and his beliefs regarding humanity. He did not believe that secession was possible given the nature of the U.S. Constitution, and he believed that the federal government had to draw a line in the sand. “I am inclined to believe that the sin of slavery is one of which it may be said that without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”
How strongly did Garfield believe in the Union? In August 1861, he organized the 42nd Ohio Infantry, ultimately becoming a colonel within weeks after his valor on the battlefield brought him to the attention of superiors. At Chickamauga, he made a historic ride through enemy fire that became the “stuff of legends,” confirming his fame as the then-youngest major general in the U.S. Army. After serving as Rosecrans’ chief of staff — and offering honest criticism of the commander’s decision — Garfield resigned his commission in December 1863 to take a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, a seat for which he did not campaign.
While the nation remained engaged in a struggle for its own existence, Garfield emerged as a moderate Republican voice in Congress. He deplored the harsh requirements imposed by the Radical Republicans on the Southern states following the war, and yet he voted for President Johnson’s impeachment. He campaigned for General Grant in both presidential bids, although he was critical of the president’s inability to govern effectively. He did, however, make a mark in Congress with his deep understanding of economic issues and his awareness of other issues emerging as the nation readjusted and expanded rapidly in the late 1860s and 1870s. Serving as Republican minority leader during the Hayes administration, he gained a reputation as a “political strategist able to achieve compromise.”
He was poised for national leadership and leadership would be granted — for a short time.
