I.

Introduction

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893), 19th president of the United States (1877-1881). He achieved the presidency in the closest electoral contest in U.S. history, winning over Samuel J. Tilden by one electoral vote. During his term of office, Hayes supported measures he felt right and just, without fear of making political enemies. While his achievements as president were not as dramatic as his election, he helped heal the wounds of the Civil War (1861-1865) by taking the last federal troops out of the South and thus ending the post-war period known as Reconstruction.