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Timeline of Hayes-Tilden Election
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Republican National Convention - Cincinnati, Ohio
The Republican National Convention in Cincinnati nominates Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio for president and Congressman William Wheeler of New York as vice president. -
Democratic National Convention - St. Louis, Missouri
The Democratic National Convention in St. Louis nominates Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York for president and Governor Thomas Hendricks of Indiana as vice president. -
Election Day
Democrat Samuel Tilden wins a narrow majority of the popular vote against Republican Rutherford Hayes, but both sides claim to have won the presidency in the Electoral College vote. The 19 electoral votes in three states—South Carolina (7), Florida (4), and Louisiana (8)—are disputed. They are the only remaining Southern states with federal troops stationed under Reconstruction policy. One elector in Oregon is also disputed. -
Conflicted Returns
The Electoral College meets in all the states and cast ballots for president and vice president. The results are certified and sent to Congress. Two sets of results are returned for Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, and South Carolina. -
Final Session for outgoing Congress
The Congressional session opens. This is the final session for the lame-duck Congress which leaves office on March 5, 1877 (the day for inaugurating the new president and swearing in the new Congress). Republicans control the Senate and Democrats control the House in both the outgoing and incoming Congresses. -
The Electoral Commission is formed
The Senate passes the Electoral Commission bill, which establishes a 15-member commission—of five senators, five representatives, and five Supreme Court justices—to decide the disputed election. Its decisions will be considered final unless overridden by both houses of Congress. -
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The Contested Votes from all States in question are brought before the Committee and Reviewed
The returns from the States of Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, South Carolina, and also from Vermont and Wisconsin are decided on. On March 2, Wisconsin is officially given to Hayes, and he is declared President. -
Committee discusses conflicted returns from Florida
The case of Florida is argued by lawyers for both the Republicans and the Democrats before the Electoral Commission. -
Hayes meets in secret with Southern Democrats
Negotiations begin at the Wormley House hotel in Washington D.C. between a group of Southern Democrats and Ohio Republican supporters of Hayes. -
Electoral Commission Decides Winner
After a long, boisterous session, the House finally overrules the objection at 3:38 a.m. and approves Wisconsin’s votes for Hayes/Wheeler. At 4:10 a.m., a joint session of Congress then awards Wisconsin’s electoral votes to the Republicans. Rutherford Hayes is declared president of the United States and William Wheeler is declared vice president; winning 185-184 in the Electoral College. -
Hayes sworn in as the 19th president
Rutherford B. Hayes is sworn in publicly as president of the United States. -
Reconstruction Ends
President Hayes removes the remaining federal troops in the South from political duty (guarding the statehouses) and the era of Reconstruction formally ends.
