September 22

"The President of the United States of necessity owes his election... to the zealous labor of a political party...but he should .... be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best who serves the country best."

Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President, 1877-1881 Inaugural Address of Rutherford B. Hayes, MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1877, Twelve years after the Civil War, the nation was still in a state of upheaval after the controversial administrations of Andrew Johnson followed by Ulysses S. Grant. To make matters worse, Hayes was declared the next President after a highly disputed election whose outcome was decided by a tribunal. It was believed that the nation was not ready for a southern democrat to lead the nation and such sentiment swung the election to Hayes. Along with his very authority being questioned, Hayes and the country still faced burning issues of a poor economy, voting rights, education, and assimilation of former slaves, state's rights, civil service reform, and foreign relations with the now "re-united" states. "...Many of the calamitous efforts of the tremendous revolution which has passed over the Southern States still remain. The immeasurable benefits which will surely follow, sooner or later, the hearty and generous acceptance of the legitimate results of that revolution have not yet been realized. Difficult and embarrassing questions meet us at the threshold of this subject. The people of those States are still impoverished, and the inestimable blessing of wise, honest, and peaceful local self-government is not fully enjoyed. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the cause of this condition of things, the fact is clear that in the progress of events the time has come when such government is the imperative necessity required by all the varied interests, public and private, of those States. But it must not be forgotten that only a local government which recognizes and maintains inviolate the rights of all is a true self-government... The President of the United States of necessity owes his election to office to the suffrage and zealous labors of a political party, the members of which cherish with ardor and regard as of essential importance the principles of their party organization; but he should strive to be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best who serves the country best.