Almost President: Samuel Tilden
One man came so close to winning the Presidency that his supporters insisted that he was robbed, and perhaps his was. Then again, if Samuel Tilden had won the election of 1876, it would probably have been because African-Americans in southern states, who were legitimately entitled to vote, were denied that opportunity because of violence and intimidation, so when one takes that into account, it's hard to have any sympathy for Tilden.
If I asked you who came the closest in an election to becoming President without winning the job, many of you would probably guess Al Gore. But there were actually two persons who came even closer than Gore. One was a man who won the popular vote, and whose election was decided not by the Supreme Court, but by Congress (although the Supreme Court had its fingerprints on the result). That man was Samuel Jones Tilden who was the Democratic candidate for president in the disputed election of 1876, probably the most controversial presidential election ever.
Tilden was the 25th Governor of New York. He was a member of the faction known as the Bourbon Democrats, a group that worked closely with the New York City business community. Tilden led the fight against the corruption of Tammany Hall, and fought to keep taxes low.
Tilden was born in New Lebanon, New York on February 9,1814. His father and other family members were the makers of Tilden's Extract, a popular patent medicine of the 1800s and early 1900s. Tilden studied law at Yale, and transferred to New York University where he graduated in 1837. He was admitted to the bar in 1841, becoming a corporate lawyer. Many of his clients were railroad companies. His law practice and some smart investments, made him a wealthy man.
Tilden served as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1846, and in 1848 he participated in the revolt of the “Barnburners” or Free-Soil faction of the New York Democrats. Tilden became chairman of the Democratic State Committee after the Civil War. He came into conflict with the Tweed Ring of New York City and led the reform movement in the Democratic Party when the ring was breaking up. He was again a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 18th D.) in 1872, and became Governor of New York in 1875. As Governor he earned a reputation as a reformer and as an enemy of the corrupt. The “Canal Ring” was a group made up of members of both parties who had been systematically robbing New York State by overcharging of the canal works. Tilden succeeded in breaking up the ring. His successful service as governor gained him the Democratic presidential nomination in 1876.
During the 1876 presidential election, Tilden won the popular vote over his Republican opponent, Rutherford B. Hayes, but the result in the Electoral College was in question because the states of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina each sent two sets of Electoral Votes to Congress. Republicans had taken over the state governments in the South during Reconstruction, but were unpopular with the overwhelmingly Democratic white southerners. Republicans were almost universally preferred by the South's newly enfranchised African-Americans. Southern Democrats used violence and intimidation to keep African-Americans from voting at the polls. Southern Democrats claimed that Republicans were fraudulently disallowing legitimate returns that favored the Democratic Party. Both sides claimed victory and as a result, one set of Electoral Votes from each of these three states had cast their ballots for the Republican Hayes, and another set had cast their ballot for the Democrat Tilden. Without these three states, Tilden had won 184 Electoral Votes, but needed 185 to win the Presidency. If he had taken even one state, he would have become President. However, if Hayes were to win all the contested votes, he would receive 185 Electoral Votes and win the election.
Tilden mystified and disappointed his supporters by not fighting harder for the prize or giving any leadership to his advocates. Congressional leaders tried to resolve the crisis by creating a 15-member Electoral Commission that would determine which set of votes were valid. The Commission consisted of five members from the Republican-controlled Senate (three Republicans and two Democrats), and five from the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives (three Democrats, two Republicans). The remaining five members were chosen from the Supreme Court- originally two Republicans, two Democrats, and independent Justice David Davis. Davis, however, was appointed to the US Senate from Illinois by Democrats who hoped this would sway him to support Tilden on the commission. Instead, Davis resigned from the Court and turned down the commission appointment. Justice Joseph P. Bradley, a Republican, was named to replace him. The Commission voted 8-7 along party lines to award all the votes to Hayes.
Many historians believe that a political deal was struck, known as the Compromise of 1877 whereby the Democrats agreed to Hayes's election and he agreed to withdraw all federal troops in the South, bringing an end to Republican Reconstruction in the South. It was a disaster for former enslaved people who had enjoyed some measure of protection by Federal troops, courtesy of President Ulysses Grant. When Hayes agreed to remove the troops, it opened the door for all manner of racist and violent conduct by white southerners against African-Americans in southern states and ultimately enabled the creation of Jim Crow laws and the shameful blight of rampant racism in the former Confederate states.
Upon his defeat, Tilden said, "I can retire to public life with the consciousness that I shall receive from posterity the credit of having been elected to the highest position in the gift of the people, without any of the cares and responsibilities of the office." Tilden was the first candidate for President to garner an absolute majority of all votes cast for President in an election (that is, greater than 50 percent; Tilden garnered 51.0 percent) who was not ultimately elected President in that election.
Tilden's chances for another run at the presidency suffered a blow in October 1878 when the Republican New York Tribune claimed to have unearthed and decoded secret telegrams sent by Tilden's agents at the height of the 1876 electoral dispute, apparently offering bribes to vote-counters in the contested states: $50,000 for Florida, $80,000 for South Carolina, and $5,000 for the single vote from Oregon. Tilden denied emphatically all knowledge of such dispatches, and appeared voluntarily before a Congressional sub-committee in New York City to clear himself of the charge. The attempts to implicate him in corrupt transactions were not successful and he was cleared of any personal wrongdoing. However, even though the charges were false, the scandal damaged Tilden politically.
Tilden’s health failed after 1876 and he retired from politics, living as a recluse at his estate, Graystone near Yonkers, New York. He died a bachelor at Graystone on August 4, 1886. In reference to the 1876 election, Tilden's gravestone bears the words, "I Still Trust in The People".
Of his fortune (estimated at $7,000,000) approximately $4,000,000 was bequeathed for the establishment and maintenance of a free public library and reading-room in the City of New York; but, as the will was successfully contested by relatives, only about $3,000,000 of the bequest was applied for that purpose. In 1895, the Tilden Trust was combined with the Astor and Lenox libraries to found the New York Public Library, whose building bears his name on its front.
If I asked you who came the closest in an election to becoming President without winning the job, many of you would probably guess Al Gore. But there were actually two persons who came even closer than Gore. One was a man who won the popular vote, and whose election was decided not by the Supreme Court, but by Congress (although the Supreme Court had its fingerprints on the result). That man was Samuel Jones Tilden who was the Democratic candidate for president in the disputed election of 1876, probably the most controversial presidential election ever.
Tilden was the 25th Governor of New York. He was a member of the faction known as the Bourbon Democrats, a group that worked closely with the New York City business community. Tilden led the fight against the corruption of Tammany Hall, and fought to keep taxes low.
Tilden was born in New Lebanon, New York on February 9,1814. His father and other family members were the makers of Tilden's Extract, a popular patent medicine of the 1800s and early 1900s. Tilden studied law at Yale, and transferred to New York University where he graduated in 1837. He was admitted to the bar in 1841, becoming a corporate lawyer. Many of his clients were railroad companies. His law practice and some smart investments, made him a wealthy man.
Tilden served as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1846, and in 1848 he participated in the revolt of the “Barnburners” or Free-Soil faction of the New York Democrats. Tilden became chairman of the Democratic State Committee after the Civil War. He came into conflict with the Tweed Ring of New York City and led the reform movement in the Democratic Party when the ring was breaking up. He was again a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 18th D.) in 1872, and became Governor of New York in 1875. As Governor he earned a reputation as a reformer and as an enemy of the corrupt. The “Canal Ring” was a group made up of members of both parties who had been systematically robbing New York State by overcharging of the canal works. Tilden succeeded in breaking up the ring. His successful service as governor gained him the Democratic presidential nomination in 1876.
During the 1876 presidential election, Tilden won the popular vote over his Republican opponent, Rutherford B. Hayes, but the result in the Electoral College was in question because the states of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina each sent two sets of Electoral Votes to Congress. Republicans had taken over the state governments in the South during Reconstruction, but were unpopular with the overwhelmingly Democratic white southerners. Republicans were almost universally preferred by the South's newly enfranchised African-Americans. Southern Democrats used violence and intimidation to keep African-Americans from voting at the polls. Southern Democrats claimed that Republicans were fraudulently disallowing legitimate returns that favored the Democratic Party. Both sides claimed victory and as a result, one set of Electoral Votes from each of these three states had cast their ballots for the Republican Hayes, and another set had cast their ballot for the Democrat Tilden. Without these three states, Tilden had won 184 Electoral Votes, but needed 185 to win the Presidency. If he had taken even one state, he would have become President. However, if Hayes were to win all the contested votes, he would receive 185 Electoral Votes and win the election.
Tilden mystified and disappointed his supporters by not fighting harder for the prize or giving any leadership to his advocates. Congressional leaders tried to resolve the crisis by creating a 15-member Electoral Commission that would determine which set of votes were valid. The Commission consisted of five members from the Republican-controlled Senate (three Republicans and two Democrats), and five from the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives (three Democrats, two Republicans). The remaining five members were chosen from the Supreme Court- originally two Republicans, two Democrats, and independent Justice David Davis. Davis, however, was appointed to the US Senate from Illinois by Democrats who hoped this would sway him to support Tilden on the commission. Instead, Davis resigned from the Court and turned down the commission appointment. Justice Joseph P. Bradley, a Republican, was named to replace him. The Commission voted 8-7 along party lines to award all the votes to Hayes.
Many historians believe that a political deal was struck, known as the Compromise of 1877 whereby the Democrats agreed to Hayes's election and he agreed to withdraw all federal troops in the South, bringing an end to Republican Reconstruction in the South. It was a disaster for former enslaved people who had enjoyed some measure of protection by Federal troops, courtesy of President Ulysses Grant. When Hayes agreed to remove the troops, it opened the door for all manner of racist and violent conduct by white southerners against African-Americans in southern states and ultimately enabled the creation of Jim Crow laws and the shameful blight of rampant racism in the former Confederate states.
Upon his defeat, Tilden said, "I can retire to public life with the consciousness that I shall receive from posterity the credit of having been elected to the highest position in the gift of the people, without any of the cares and responsibilities of the office." Tilden was the first candidate for President to garner an absolute majority of all votes cast for President in an election (that is, greater than 50 percent; Tilden garnered 51.0 percent) who was not ultimately elected President in that election.
Tilden's chances for another run at the presidency suffered a blow in October 1878 when the Republican New York Tribune claimed to have unearthed and decoded secret telegrams sent by Tilden's agents at the height of the 1876 electoral dispute, apparently offering bribes to vote-counters in the contested states: $50,000 for Florida, $80,000 for South Carolina, and $5,000 for the single vote from Oregon. Tilden denied emphatically all knowledge of such dispatches, and appeared voluntarily before a Congressional sub-committee in New York City to clear himself of the charge. The attempts to implicate him in corrupt transactions were not successful and he was cleared of any personal wrongdoing. However, even though the charges were false, the scandal damaged Tilden politically.
Tilden’s health failed after 1876 and he retired from politics, living as a recluse at his estate, Graystone near Yonkers, New York. He died a bachelor at Graystone on August 4, 1886. In reference to the 1876 election, Tilden's gravestone bears the words, "I Still Trust in The People".
Of his fortune (estimated at $7,000,000) approximately $4,000,000 was bequeathed for the establishment and maintenance of a free public library and reading-room in the City of New York; but, as the will was successfully contested by relatives, only about $3,000,000 of the bequest was applied for that purpose. In 1895, the Tilden Trust was combined with the Astor and Lenox libraries to found the New York Public Library, whose building bears his name on its front.