Some American presidents have their boldness on up-to-dateness , some get record in films and miniseries and sketches . Then there are the others , whose all - but - blank out name calling are unceremoniously sequester to middle schools and parks across the country . The 19th president , Rutherford B. Hayes , is a member of the latter camp , but it ’s still worth learning a bit about him .
1. HE WAS WOUNDED MULTIPLE TIMES DURING THE CIVIL WAR.
Seven U.S. presidentsserved in the Civil War , and Hayes was the only one who was wounded in action . Hayes was well-nigh 40 eld sure-enough and had no military experience at the start of the dispute — he had spent his life up to that point as a attorney . After five years of pattern at a Lower Sandusky , Ohio law firm , he moved to Cincinnati in 1849 , where his opponent to slavery force him to the Republican Party . Outraged by the attack on Fort Sumter in 1861 , Hayes joined the Burnet Rifles , a “ Tennessean home company , ” and was discover a major in the twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry . The unit also included fellow next Chief Executive William McKinley , who remark that Hayes ’s demeanor would deepen markedly in conflict , “ from the cheery , agreeable , the kind , the generous , the blue man … he was , once the battle was on … intense and ferocious . ”
Hayes may have had the centre of the Panthera tigris , but hislist of wounds and ailmentswas lengthy : A hurt articulatio genus at Pearisburg in 1862 ; a gunshot lesion in the left arm during the Battle of South Mountain in 1862 ; a hit from a spent musket ball and having his horse shot out from under him at the Second Battle of Kernstown in 1864 ; a severe ankle accidental injury when another of his horse was shot at the Battle of Cedar Creek in 1864 . In this final incident , Hayes then weather a shot from a spent musket ball upon mount a 2d horse , leading his men to assume he ’d been pour down . His death was erroneously reported in the crush , and Cedar Creek was his final battle .
2. HAYES AND THE FIRST LADY WERE UNUSUALLY WELL EDUCATED.
Although a identification number of previous President were lawyers , Hayes was the first to actually graduate law school . Heattended Kenyon Collegein Gambier , Ohio and was valedictorian of the course of 1842 . Hayes then put in a “ teasing and boring ” 10 months at a Columbus , Ohio firm , after which he earned a degree from Harvard Law School in 1845 . His wife , Lucy Webb Hayes , was the first first lady to be a college alumna ; she received a degree in big arts from Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College in 1850 at the age of 18 .
3. HIS ELECTION WAS ONE OF THE TIGHTEST AND MOST HOSTILE IN HISTORY.
Hayes became the 19th president of the United States in 1877 , but that ’s the easy part . After the Civil War , Hayesserved in Congress for two yearsbefore give home to become a three - terminus Governor of Ohio from 1867 to 1876 . In 1876 he ran for chairperson against New York Governor Samuel J. Tilden , and the Democrat Tilden come along to have shut away up the White House as the former returns turn over in . Hayes went to seam on election Nox convinced he would shortly be making a grant speech , though he had anticipate if he lost it would be “ by crime — by bribery and repeating ” in the North and by “ fierceness and intimidation ” in the South . But Hayes awake the next mean solar day to learn that he had won the Pacific Slope and would require to claim the southern state of South Carolina , Florida , and Louisiana to ensure the 185 electoral votes need at that sentence to win .
The election table in those three states , citing deterrence of black voters , voided popular votes and declared Hayes the winner , which appeared to swing the election to Hayes . However , Hayes then lose Oregon when it emerged that one of the state ’s Republican electorsheld a government joband could not cast his suffrage for Hayes , and the popular governor certified a novel Democratic voter .
The quarrel states cast run afoul votes , and that ’s when thing gravel mussy . Senate leaders was inundated with petition from Republicans to settle which vote to weigh , while Democrats want a joint session of Congress to determine the winner . The two sides forged a via media when the Electoral Commission Act was croak in January 1877 . The deed found a commission of five senators , five congressman , and five Supreme Court justice who would decide what right to vote to count , a decision that would , in crook , ultimately decide the election .
The commission was meant to dwell of seven Republicans , seven Democrats , and one Independent , Justice David Davis . But before the commission could make their decision , the Illinois general assembly attempt to grease one’s palms Davis ’s keep by appointing him Senator . Davis rather resigned from the commission and a new Department of Justice , Republican Joseph Bradley , was appointed instead . So this new commission comprise of eight Republicans and seven Democrats , who voted along party lines in a serial of votes in February to present Hayes the dispute land . But the Democrat - controlled House filibuster the results until March 2 , when Hayes was finally award the disputed states , just years before the inauguration . These vote gave Hayes a 185 - 184 advantage in the Electoral College and the presidency . Hayes was elected with about 250,000 fewer popular balloting than Tilden and was sneeringly referred to as “ Rutherfraud ” and “ His Fraudulency ” by angry Democrats .
4. HE ELIMINATED BOOZE AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
Although the first lady was a womb-to-tomb teetotaller who became be intimate as “ Lemonade Lucy ” after her death , it was Hayes himselfwho initiated a ban on beer , wine , and liquor at the presidential residence . Hayeswould have the occasional drinkbefore he moved into the White House , but the ban was an attempt to groom political favor with anti - alcohol Prohibitionists and maintain the dignity of the office . Even then , there were certain exceptions to the rule . The White Houseserved winewhen the adult sons of Czar Alexander II of Russia visited , but the first couple did n’t drink any .
5. HE SIGNED LEGISLATION ALLOWING WOMEN TO ARGUE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT.
In 1879 , Washington , D.C. attorneyBelva Lockwoodlobbied Congress to be admit to the Supreme Court ’s bar and fence cases . At the sentence , the soundbox say that “ none but men are tolerate to practice before [ us ] as attorneys and counsellor , ” but Lockwood enlist legislation that would “ relieve certain legal disablement of women . ” The human activity was buy the farm by Congress and signed by Hayes , and Lockwood was finally admit to the Supreme Court Bar on March 3 , 1879 . She arguedKaiser v. Stickneybefore the court a year after .
6. THE HAYES WHITE HOUSE MADE SIAMESE CAT HISTORY.
The American consul in Bangkok recognize Lucy Hayes loved cats and arranged in 1878 for the obstetrical delivery of the first Tai cat in America . David B. Sickels wrote to Lucy to recite her that he had read about how much she jazz felines and then present a unexampled pet , penning , “ This snatch give out to Hong Kong whence she will be transship by the Occidental & Oriental stock , in charge of the purser , to San Francisco and then send out by express to Washington . ” The Hayeses named the cat , which arrived in 1879 , Siam .
7.HE WAS A PRESIDENT OF FIRSTS.
As commander in boss at a vital flow in U.S. chronicle , Hayes saw a bit of innovations issue forth to Washington , and participated in several starting time . Hayes was the first ( and only ) President elected by a congressional delegacy , and because of the dispute election results and the fact that Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday , Hayes became the first president to take the Oath of Office at the White House , which he did privately in the Red Room , on Saturday , March 3 , 1877 before take a public oath two day later .
In 1880 he became the first president to bring down the West Coast , indite in his diaryafter the 71 - solar day stumble that took him past the Rocky Mountains , “ A most gratifying reception greeted us everywhere from the hoi polloi and from noted and interesting individuals . ” Hayes also started the custom of theEaster Egg rollon the White House lawn , which has been run on the Monday after Easter since 1878 . And Hayes was the first chairman to have botha telephoneanda typewriterin the White House .
