Political convention
The 1876 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Exposition Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 14–16, 1876. President Ulysses S. Grant had considered seeking a third term, but with various scandals, a poor economy and heavy Democratic gains in the House of Representatives that led many Republicans to repudiate him, he declined to run.[1] [2] The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio for president and Representative William A. Wheeler of New York for vice president .
The Republican ticket of Hayes and Wheeler went on to lose the popular vote to Democrats Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks in the election of 1876 , but won the electoral vote after a controversy which was resolved by the Compromise of 1877 .
Overview
The convention was called to order by Republican National Committee chairman Edwin D. Morgan . Theodore M. Pomeroy served as the convention's temporary chairman and Edward McPherson served as permanent president.
The principal candidates at the convention included Senator James G. Blaine of Maine , the former Speaker of the House ; Senator Oliver P. Morton of Indiana ; Secretary of the Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow of Kentucky ; Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York ; Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio ; and Governor John F. Hartranft of Pennsylvania. James Russell Lowell , well-known poet and a professor at Harvard College , spoke on behalf of Hayes.[3]
Two candidates, Benjamin Bristow and Marshall Jewell of Connecticut , were serving as Cabinet members in the Grant administration .
Presidential nomination
Presidential candidates
Interior of the Exposition Hall of Cincinnati during the announcement of Rutherford B. Hayes as the party's nominee for president
Blaine led after the first ballot, but had only 285 of the 378 delegates required to secure the nomination. Morton, Bristow, and Conkling each had around 100 delegates, while Hayes and Hartranft each had around 60. The second, third, and fourth ballots saw similar results, but Hayes began to surge on the fifth ballot, passing Morton and Conkling to secure third place after Blaine and Bristow. The sixth ballot saw Blaine rise to 308, but, with the other candidates fading, Hayes continued his surge, moving into second place. After the sixth ballot, the Bristow, Conkling, Morton, and Hartranft supporters withdrew their candidates' names from consideration, leaving Hayes as the sole focus of opposition to Blaine. With the other candidates gone, Hayes won a narrow majority on the seventh ballot and secured the nomination.
Presidential Ballot
Ballot
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
Hayes
61
64
67
68
104
113
384
Blaine
285
296
293
292
286
308
351
Bristow
113
114
121
126
114
111
21
Morton
124
120
113
108
95
85
0
Conkling
99
93
90
84
82
81
0
Hartranft
58
63
68
71
69
50
0
Jewell
11
0
0
0
0
0
0
Washburne
0
1
1
3
3
4
0
Wheeler
3
3
2
2
2
2
0
Not Voting
2
2
1
2
1
2
0
Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention (June 16, 1876)
1st Presidential Ballot
2nd Presidential Ballot
3rd Presidential Ballot
4th Presidential Ballot
5th Presidential Ballot
6th Presidential Ballot
7th Presidential Ballot
Vice Presidential nomination
Vice Presidential candidates
Five names were presented to the convention for the vice presidential nomination. Stewart L. Woodford of New York withdrew his own name from consideration as it was not done at his suggestion.
Representative William A. Wheeler of New York was thirteen votes shy of a majority on a partial first ballot when the rules were suspended so that he could be nominated by acclamation. Wheeler defeated Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey , Marshall Jewell and Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut for the nomination.
Vice Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention (June 16, 1876)
See also
References
^ McFeely, William S. (1981). Grant: A Biography . Norton. pp. 440–441. ISBN 0-393-01372-3 .
^ Patrick, Rembert W. (1968). The Reconstruction of the Nation . New York : Oxford University Press. p. 255. ISBN 0-195-01016-7 .
^ Heymann, C. David (1980). American Aristocracy: The Lives and Times of James Russell, Amy, and Robert Lowell . New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 136 . ISBN 0-396-07608-4 .
^ Republican party. National convention. 6th, Cincinnati; Clancy, A. M.; Nelson, William (10 April 1876). "Proceedings of the Republican national convention, held at Cincinnati, Ohio ... June 14, 15, and 16, 1876 ." Concord, N.H., Republic press association. Retrieved 10 April 2018 – via Internet Archive. {{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )
External links
Participants
Federal government
State governments
Others
Elections
Presidential
U.S. Senate U.S. House Gubernatorial U.S. elections
Key events
Prelude 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 Aftermath
Aspects
Historiography Memory Legacy Other topics