Before George W. Bush and Al Gore battled over the presidency, Rutherford B. Hayes was thought to have "stolen" the office of president. The election of 1876 was plagued by corruption, back room deals, and bitterly contested election results. When it was over, Samuel Tilden of New York had 51% of the vote and 184 electoral votes. Hayes had 185 electoral votes but only 47% of the popular vote. Elections were contested and electoral votes up for grabs in Florida (have we heard this before, Louisiana, and South Carolina. One of the electoral votes of Oregon was declared illegal and not counted. Hayes, the Republican candidate, was awarded the contested states giving him the victory and forever marking his presidency as the "stolen election."
When the spring of 1879 rolled around, the Republicans were starting to panic about the upcoming 1880 election. The suddenly remembered that Samuel Tilden had carried the entire Midwest and all of the South except those three contested states. It also occurred to them that the deal that gave President Hayes Florida, Lousiana, and South Carolina wasn't very popular in those states. They were pretty certain that they were going to lose the whole south. To win in 1880 they needed the Midwest and West to vote decisively republican. The President was persuaded to take his message on the road.
Kentucky wasn't very receptive to the idea of hosting the president. Washington politics were not kind to Kentucky. In fact there was a great deal of fear that any stop in the state of Kentucky would be dangerous. Politically, touring the Midwest and skipping Kentucky was also filled with danger. The Republicans decided to limit the tour to one visit to hostile Kentucky. Louisville was the President's preferred stop, but the city was too connected to Northern businessmen to be considered. Frankfort, the State Capitol, had just assassinated Judge Elliott, and therefore ruled out as a possible stop. After much consideration, Lexington was deemed safe enough for the President to visit.
In April the tour was announced:
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Greenfield, Ohio, September 9, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, Cincinnati, Ohio, September 10, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Cincinnati, Ohio, September 11, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, Cincinnati, Ohio, September 11, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Lexington, Kentucky, September 12, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Youngstown, Ohio, September 17, 1879
Reunion of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Youngstown, Ohio,
September 17, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Merchants and Manufacturers Exchange, Detroit, Michigan, September 18, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Fremont, Ohio, September 20, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Aurora, Illinois, September 23, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Mendota, Illinois, September 23, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Galesburg, Illinois, September 23, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Fort Scott, Kansas, September 24, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Parsons, Kansas, September 24, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Appleton, Kansas, September 25, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Neosho Falls, Kansas, September 25, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Dodge City, Kansas. September 26, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Tootle's Opera House, St. Joseph, Missouri, September 29, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Springfield, Illinois, September 30, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Springfield, Illinois, September 30, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Cleveland, Ohio, October, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Indianapolis, Indiana, October 2, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Sandusky, Ohio, October 2/3, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Clyde, Ohio, October 9, 1879
Presidential Midwestern Tour, Delaware, Ohio, October 18, 1879
The President never left his train. He delivered a brief speech from the platform of his private rail car, gaining some approval from his audience when he shared memories of voting in his first presidential election for Lexington's Henry Clay. For the most part, Lexington's citizens were polite but not enthusiastic about the speech. Hayes spoke for less than five minutes before introducing one of the generals he was traveling with, there is dispute over whether it was General Sherman or General Sheridan who spoke. The public event ended. The train remained at the station for about an hour to fulfill the party's obligation of inviting some of Kentucky's top leaders to a private reception with the President).
Hayes didn't change many opinions in Kentucky. He didn't expect to accomplish much, and Kentucky wasn't expecting much from him. Not a lot has change since then. At least we haven't shot a judge lately.
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