1880 Republican National Convention
Encyclopedia
The 1880 Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...

convened from June 2 to June 8, 1880 at the Interstate Exposition Building in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and nominated James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...

 as the official candidates of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 for President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 and Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

, respectively, in the 1880 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1880
The United States presidential election of 1880 was largely seen as a referendum on the end of Reconstruction in Southern states carried out by the Republicans. There were no pressing issues of the day save tariffs, with the Republicans supporting higher tariffs and the Democrats supporting lower...

.

Of the 14 people nominated for the Republican nomination, the three strongest candidates leading up to the convention were Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

, James G. Blaine
James G. Blaine
James Gillespie Blaine was a U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time Secretary of State...

 and John Sherman
John Sherman (politician)
John Sherman, nicknamed "The Ohio Icicle" , was a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Ohio during the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. He served as both Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State and was the principal author of the Sherman Antitrust Act...

. Grant had served two terms as President from 1869 to 1877, and was seeking an unprecedented third term in office. He was backed by the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party, which supported political machine
Political machine
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses , who receive rewards for their efforts...

s and patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...

. Blaine was a senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 and former representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 who was backed by the Half-Breed
Half-Breed (politics)
The "Half-Breeds" were a political faction of the United States Republican Party that existed in the late 19th century. The Half-Breeds were a moderate-wing group, and they were the opponents of the Stalwarts, the other main faction of the Republican Party. The main issue that separated the...

 faction of the Republican Party. Sherman, the brother of Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 General
General of the Army (United States)
General of the Army is a five-star general officer and is the second highest possible rank in the United States Army. A special rank of General of the Armies, which ranks above General of the Army, does exist but has only been conferred twice in the history of the Army...

 William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...

, was the then Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...

 under President Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...

. A former senator from Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, he was backed by a delegation that did not support the Stalwarts or Half-Breeds.

On the first ballot, Sherman received 93 votes, while Grant and Blaine had 304 and 285, respectively. None of the candidates were close to victory, and the balloting continued in order to determine a winner. Many more ballots were taken, but no candidate prevailed. After the thirty-fifth ballot, Blaine and Sherman switched their support to the new "dark horse
Dark horse
Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance...

" candidate, James Garfield. On the next ballot, Garfield won the nomination by receiving 399 votes, 93 higher than Grant's total. Garfield's Ohio delegation chose Chester A. Arthur, a Stalwart, as Garfield's vice-presidential running mate. Arthur won the nomination by capturing 468 votes, and the longest-ever Republican National Convention was subsequently adjourned. The Garfield-Arthur Republican ticket later defeated Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Winfield Scott Hancock
Winfield Scott Hancock
Winfield Scott Hancock was a career U.S. Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican-American War and as a Union general in the American Civil War...

 and William Hayden English
William Hayden English
William Hayden English was an American politician from Indiana.William English was most famous for his role in the passage of the infamous, pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution of Kansas in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1858...

 in the close 1880 presidential election.

Background

As President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes had caused heated tensions within the Republican Party. Hayes had moved away from party patronage by offering government jobs to Southern Democrats
Southern Democrats
Southern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the American South. In the 19th century, they were the definitive pro-slavery wing of the party, opposed to both the anti-slavery Republicans and the more liberal Northern Democrats.Eventually "Redemption" was finalized in...

 instead of Northern Republicans. His actions drew heavy criticism from those inside his party, such as Roscoe Conkling
Roscoe Conkling
Roscoe Conkling was a politician from New York who served both as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party and the last person to refuse a U.S. Supreme Court appointment after he had...

 of New York and James G. Blaine of Maine. Hayes knew that he was not likely to win in the 1880 election, so he chose not to seek re-election. The rival factions within the Republican Party, the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds, eagerly anticipated the 1880 presidential election.

Ulysses S. Grant

At the close of Grant's two terms as president in 1877, the Republican-controlled Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 suggested that Grant not return to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 for a third term. Grant did not seem to mind and even told his wife Julia
Julia Grant
Julia Boggs Dent-Grant , was the wife of the 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, and was First Lady of the United States from 1869 to 1877.-Background:...

, “I do not want to be here [in the White House] another four years. I do not think I could stand it.” After Grant left the White House, he and his wife decided to use their US$85,000 of savings to travel around the world. A biographer from the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...

, John Russell Young
John Russell Young
John Russell Young was an American journalist, author, diplomat, and the seventh Librarian of the United States Congress from 1897 to 1899.-Biography:...

, traveled with the Grants and documented their journey to exotic places around the world in a book later published called Around the World with General Grant. Young saw that Grant's popularity was soaring, as he was treated with splendid receptions at his arrival in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 and Peking, China
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 (later known as Beijing).

After Hayes' falling out with the Republican Party and a perceived desire on the part of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

' electorate for a strong man in the White House, Grant returned to the United States ahead of schedule, in hopes of seeking a third term in office. With the backing of the Stalwarts and calls for a “man of iron” to replace the “man of straw” in the White House, Grant was confident that he would receive the Republican nomination for the presidency. Roscoe Conkling, the leader of the Stalwart faction, formed a “triumvirate” with J. Donald Cameron
J. Donald Cameron
James Donald Cameron was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as Secretary of War under Ulysses S. Grant and in the United States Senate for twenty years....

 of Pennsylvania and John A. Logan
John A. Logan
John Alexander Logan was an American soldier and political leader. He served in the Mexican-American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a state senator, congressman and senator and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President...

 of Illinois to lead the campaign for Grant's return to the White House. With a Grant victory, Conkling and other Stalwarts would have great influence in the White House. Grant knew he could count on the Stalwart leaders to solidify their respective states in order to guarantee a Grant victory. Conkling was so confident in Grant's nomination that he said, “Nothing but an act of God could prevent Grant's nomination.” An aide to the ex-president, Adam Badeau, commented that Grant had become “extremely anxious to receive the nomination” and did not think that there was any chance of failure for his nomination.

However, close friends of Grant saw that his public support was slipping. John Russell Young took Grant aside and told him that he would lose the election, and should withdraw to avoid embarrassment. Young argued that Grant was being heavily attacked by opponents, who were against the concept of a presidential third term
Term limits in the United States
Term limits in the United States apply to many offices at both the federal and state level, and date back to the American Revolution.-Pre-constitution:...

. Young also criticized the handling of the campaign and told Grant that if he won the election, he would be indebted to the “triumvirate”. Grant felt that his Stalwart friends had been of great assistance in his election bid, and they deserved political patronage
Spoils system
In the politics of the United States, a spoil system is a practice where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party—as opposed to a system of awarding offices on the...

 in his administration. Grant, nonetheless, listened to Young's advice and wrote a letter to J. Donald Cameron, authorizing his name to be withdrawn from the nomination contest after consultation with his other Stalwart backers. Upon hearing of his letter, Julia Grant was insistent that her husband should not withdraw his name from the contest. She said, “If General Grant were not nominated, then let it be so, but he must not withdraw his name – no, never.” Young delivered the letter to the “triumvirate” in Chicago on May 31, but no action was taken to remove Grant's name.

James G. Blaine

The other main contender for the Republican nomination was James G. Blaine. Blaine, a senator from Maine who had also served the state in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, was in the competition to prevent Grant's nomination. Just four years earlier, in 1876, Blaine had campaigned for the party's nomination. In the weeks prior to the 1876 convention, Blaine was accused of committing fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...

ulent activities involving railroad stocks. The specifics of Blaine's involvement were detailed in the Mulligan letters. Blaine pleaded his own defense on the floor of the House of Representatives, and he read aloud selected, edited portions of the letter that were not incriminatory. Despite his attempt to clear his name, Blaine was tarnished by the scandal throughout the rest of his political career. On the Sunday before balloting was to begin in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, Blaine collapsed at the steps of Washington Congregational Church. He was unconscious for two days, and as a result, he lost supporters who were doubtful over his health and whether he was capable of handling the presidency. Blaine was also ridiculed by opponents, such as the New York Sun
New York Sun
The New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...

, which headlined “Blaine Feigns a Faint”. On the first ballot of the 1876 convention, Blaine received 285 votes, while his political enemy, Roscoe Conkling, was in second place with only 99 votes. Blaine and Conkling had a long-standing political feud that started at a debate on the floor of the House of Representatives in 1866. After six more ballots resulted in no consensus, Conkling switched his support to Rutherford B. Hayes, who ultimately beat Blaine for the nomination.

After Blaine's failure in 1876, his supporters knew that he needed to be nominated at the 1880 convention in Chicago. As his campaign manager, William E. Chandler
William E. Chandler
William Eaton Chandler was a lawyer who served as United States Secretary of the Navy and as a U.S. Senator from New Hampshire.-Early life:...

, put it:
Despite the Mulligan letters scandal, Blaine had succeeded remarkably in 1880. He attracted nationwide support for his goals for the presidency. Blaine argued for the gold standard
Gold standard
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...

, big business, a tariff
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....

 to protect American jobholders, civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 for freed blacks and Irish independence
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...

.

John Sherman

John Sherman was a longtime senator from Ohio who also served the state in the House of Representatives in the late 1850s and early 1860s. As a senator, Sherman led the planning of the national banking system. He also oversaw the national policy for the post-Civil War banking system, and helped restore the nation's finances after the Panic of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...

. Under President Hayes, Sherman served as the Secretary of the Treasury, advocating for the gold standard and building up the country's gold reserves
Official gold reserves
A gold reserve is the gold held by a central bank or nation intended as a store of value and as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors, note holders , or trading peers, or to secure a currency....

. In 1880, Sherman also made a recommendation for government jobholders to be re-evaluated under a merit system. His recommendation ultimately resulted in the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of United States is a federal law established in 1883 that stipulated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit. The act provided selection of government employees competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation...

 of 1883, which was drawn up by Half-Breeds and signed into law by the Stalwart president Chester A. Arthur.

Sherman's colleagues did not have much confidence in their presidential bid. Sherman was known as the “Ohio Icicle” for his uncharismatic personality, which made him unappealing to voters. His colleagues commented that in public, Sherman “was not eloquent, though a graceful speaker, confining himself almost entirely to statements of fact.” In private, he was “reserved, self-contained,” a personality that many Americans were not comfortable with. As President, Sherman wished to exercise his control of backing the gold standard, as he had done as the Secretary of the Treasury. Prior to the start of the convention, papers had predicted Sherman to receive 110 votes in the balloting. Sherman felt that he still had a chance at the nomination once the Grant vote broke apart after five or six ballots.

James Garfield

James Garfield came into Chicago as a Senator-elect from Ohio, who had previously represented the state in the United States House since 1863. In 1859, as a Republican, Garfield was elected to the Ohio Senate
Ohio Senate
The Ohio State Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly, the legislative body for the U.S. state of Ohio. There are 33 State Senators. The state legislature meets in the state capital, Columbus. The President of the Senate presides over the body when in session, and is currently Tom...

. The following year, he was admitted to the Ohio bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...

. He served as state senator until 1861, when he enlisted in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 at the start of the Civil War. Garfield was assigned to command the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry
42nd Ohio Infantry
The 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 42nd Ohio Infantry was organized at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio September through November 1861 and mustered in for three years service on December 7, 1861 under the command of...

, and had the task of driving Confederate forces out of eastern Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

. Garfield later led an attack with a number of infantry regiments against a Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 cavalry at Jenny's Creek on January 6, 1862. The Confederates retreated, and for leading his men to victory, Garfield was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in March 1862.

Garfield later served under Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 Don Carlos Buell
Don Carlos Buell
Don Carlos Buell was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War. Buell led Union armies in two great Civil War battles—Shiloh and Perryville. The nation was angry at his failure to defeat the outnumbered...

 at the Battle of Shiloh
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...

 and under Thomas J. Wood
Thomas J. Wood
Thomas John Wood was a career United States Army officer and a Union general during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...

 at the Siege of Corinth
Siege of Corinth
The Siege of Corinth was an American Civil War battle fought from April 29 to May 30, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi.-Background:...

. Garfield's health deteriorated and he was sent to serve on a commission to investigate the conduct of Union general Fitz John Porter
Fitz John Porter
Fitz John Porter was a career United States Army officer and a Union General during the American Civil War...

. In the spring of 1863, Garfield returned to the field as Chief of Staff for William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland
Army of the Cumberland
The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.-History:...

. After the disastrous Chickamauga campaign
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...

 in September 1863, Rosecrans was relieved of his command. Garfield saved his own reputation by fighting bravely during the battles, and he was subsequently promoted to the rank of Major General. Garfield's fame spread, and William Dennison
William Dennison (Ohio governor)
William Dennison, Jr. was a Whig and Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the 24th Governor of Ohio and as U.S...

 engineered Garfield's 1863 election to Congress. As Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.-Early life:...

 commented, Garfield was "the most able and prominent of the young politicians who entered the army at the outbreak of the war." Garfield did not want to leave the army, so he personally visited President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 for advice on the matter. Lincoln told Garfield that he had more generals than he could handle, and what he needed was political support.

Garfield succeeded in gaining re-election for his House seat every two years. In 1872, Garfield faced charges for receiving $329 in tainted money from the Crédit Mobilier of America corruption scandal
Crédit Mobilier of America scandal
The Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872 involved the Union Pacific Railroad and the Crédit Mobilier of America construction company in the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad. The distribution of Crédit Mobilier shares of stock by Congressman Oakes Ames along with cash bribes to...

. Garfield repeatedly denied the charges and even hired William E. Chandler to defend him in front of the congressional investigators. There was not much evidence in the scandal, so Garfield's political career was not significantly affected. Four years later, when James G. Blaine moved from the House to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, Garfield became the Republican floor leader
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot and are also known as floor leaders. The U.S. House of Representatives does not officially use the term "Minority Leader", although the media frequently does...

 of the House. That year, Garfield served as a member of the Electoral Commission
Electoral Commission (United States)
The Electoral Commission was a temporary body created by Congress to resolve the disputed United States presidential election of 1876. It consisted of 15 members. The election was contested by the Democratic ticket, Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks, and the Republican ticket, Rutherford B....

 that awarded 20 hotly contested electoral votes to Rutherford B. Hayes in his contest
United States presidential election, 1876
The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed and controversial presidential elections in American history. Samuel J. Tilden of New York outpolled Ohio's Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes's 165, with 20 votes uncounted...

 for the Presidency against Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel Jones Tilden was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in the disputed election of 1876, one of the most controversial American elections of the 19th century. He was the 25th Governor of New York...

. Prior to the 1880 Republican National Convention, Garfield had expressed that he was a Blaine supporter. It was not until John Sherman entered the candidacy race that Garfield switched sides, and offered his support for the "Ohio Icicle".

Pre-convention politics

In January, caucuses were held in local districts to pick delegates. The state conventions would then select a number of these delegates to represent the state at the national convention. Prior to the convention, there was a great deal of machine politics conducted by the candidates. John Sherman utilized his self-appointed Treasury Department employees to meet up at local caucuses across the South to guarantee a loyal state delegation. State-level bosses, like Roscoe Conkling, used the state conventions to pick delegates that were politically allied to a particular candidate. In the state delegate-selection convention at Utica, New York
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

, Grant's supporters carried only a 217-180 majority over Blaine supporters, but Conkling passed a resolution declaring that,

Conkling commanded delegates to follow the resolution, and if they were to violate it, he guaranteed they would be victims of political revenge and personal dishonor. However, in Chicago, there were a number of New York delegates who went against the resolution and publicly expressed their support for Blaine. J. Donald Cameron used similar tactics to intimidate dissenters in the Pennsylvania state convention. The third member of the "triumvirate", John A. Logan, literally locked out Blaine supporters from the Illinois state convention, and replaced them with personally chosen Grant supporters.

By May 29, four days before the opening of the convention, trainloads upon trainloads of delegates, lobbyists, reporters, and campaign followers had arrived at the Union
Union Station (Chicago)
Union Station is a major train station that opened in 1925 in Chicago, replacing an earlier 1881 station. It is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago, as well as being the city's primary terminal for commuter trains. The station stands on the west side of the Chicago River between Adams...

 and Dearborn
Dearborn Station (Chicago)
Dearborn Station was the oldest of the six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago during the heyday of rail in the twentieth century. Additionally, the station was used as a terminal for commuter traffic. Located at Dearborn and Polk Streets, it was also referred to as Polk Street Station...

 railway stations in Chicago. Candidate supporters channeled through the Chicago streets with daily parades and rallies. Pre-convention possible outcomes of the voting were published by a number of sources. One, from the Albany Evening Journal, predicted Blaine with 277 votes, Grant with 317, Sherman with 106, and 49 for the other candidates. All of these predicted candidate vote totals were short of the 379 needed to win. Many in Chicago knew that a victor, most probably Grant, would only be determined if the unit rule, which postulated that all delegates from a particular state must vote for the candidate preferred by that state's delegation, was to be in effect. If that was not the case, then a long deadlock would result until one side succumbed to the other.

Before any voting began, the delegates had to vote on the important matter of the unit rule. Prior to the start of the convention, James Garfield noted, "I regard it [the unit rule] as being more important than even the choice of a candidate." If the rule was supported by a majority of the delegates, then state party bosses, like the members of the "triumvirate", would be able to solidify Grant's nomination bid. If Conkling and the other Stalwart bosses
Political boss
A boss, in politics, is a person who wields the power over a particular political region or constituency. Bosses may dictate voting patterns, control appointments, and wield considerable influence in other political processes. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves...

 had their way, the nearly sixty dissenters from the states represented by the "triumvirate" would be silenced. Unfortunately for Half-Breeds, J. Donald Cameron was chairman of the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...

. Cameron planned to exercise his power to adopt new rules for the convention, and also suppress any dissenters of the unit rule. His plan was leaked, and within days, almost all the delegates in Chicago knew about it. Supporters of the Sherman and Blaine campaigns knew that they had to prevent Cameron from exercising his power. Blaine's forces agreed that they could only prevent Cameron from imposing the unit rule by removing him as the chair of the Republican National Committee.

At 7:00 P.M. on May 31, J. Donald Cameron convened the Republican National Committee's last meeting before the opening of the convention. Of the forty-six men at the meeting, Cameron counted only sixteen allies. The rest of the men were anti-Grant delegates who had decided to gang up on Cameron. Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 senator Jerome B. Chaffee
Jerome B. Chaffee
Jerome Bonaparte Chaffee was an entrepreneur and United States Senator from Colorado. Chaffee County, Colorado is named after him.-Biography:...

 was the first to bring up the unit rule at the meeting. Chaffee handed Cameron a handwritten motion that was orchestrated by William E. Chandler. Cameron expected this, and knew he had to find some fault in Chaffee's motion. Cameron called Chaffee's motion out of order. Upon being questioned by Chaffee, Cameron explained that the committee could only appoint a temporary chairman to the convention, and could not vote on the unit rule issue (which he said belonged to the Rules Committee). Cameron then used George Cornelius Gorham
George Cornelius Gorham
George Cornelius Gorham born in St Neots, Cambridgeshire was a priest in the Church of England. His legal recourse to being denied a certain post, subsequently taken to a secular court, caused great controversy....

, a California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 Stalwart delegate who as secretary of the United States Senate had become an expert on parliamentary procedure, to justify his ruling. One by one, anti-Grant delegates unsuccessfully tried to appeal Cameron's motion. Gorham proclaimed that as committee chairman, Cameron could do "as he saw fit." Marshall Jewell
Marshall Jewell
Marshall Jewell was a U.S. political figure. He served as the 44th and 46th Governor of Connecticut between 1869 and 1870, and again from 1871 until 1873. Born in 1825 in Winchester, New Hampshire, he was first appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as Minister to Russia from 1873 to 1874, but...

, a Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 delegate member who had served in Grant's administration as Postmaster General
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...

, spoke up against Cameron's rulings. Cameron did not comment, and then called for a brief recess. After the recess, he acknowledged a motion from William E. Chandler to elect George Frisbie Hoar
George Frisbie Hoar
George Frisbie Hoar was a prominent United States politician and United States Senator from Massachusetts. Hoar was born in Concord, Massachusetts...

, a neutral senator and delegate from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, as the convention's temporary chairman.

The committee voted 29-17 in favor of electing Hoar as temporary chairman of the convention. At midnight, the committee was adjourned, and the members scheduled to continue the meeting the following morning. News of Cameron's behavior had spread overnight, throughout town. His hardliner strategy had failed, and Conkling and other Grant managers sought to control the situation before it became any worse. The next morning, Conkling asked his trusted colleague, Chester A. Arthur, to solve the problem. Arthur assessed the situation and drew up a compromise. He met Chandler and the rest of the anti-Grant cabal at the entrance of the committee's suite. Arthur acknowledged that the Grant men had rejected Senator Hoar as the temporary convention chairman the day before, but said that the Grant men might perhaps reconsider. He proposed that the delegates decide on the unit rule in a free vote, and in return, Don Cameron would be restored as the chairman of the national committee. After discussing for a number of minutes, the two men came to an agreement. Arthur was confident that since Chandler, the leader of Blaine's campaign, had accepted the deal, then "it would be agreed by the Grant men." Chandler then discussed the compromise deal with the thirty anti-Grant committee members, and also James Garfield, who had previously expressed his opposition to the unit rule. 23 out of 30 anti-Grant men agreed to the terms, and Garfield commented that the proposition "must be accepted" in "spirit of reconciliation."

The committee reconvened again on the afternoon of June 1, with J. Donald Cameron sitting as the committee chairman. Arthur made a number of motions, indicating that the Grant men from New York and Pennsylvania would support Senator Hoar's appointment as the temporary chairman of the convention. No one objected and the motions were accepted. The meeting was then adjourned. A reporter from the New York Tribune
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...

later remarked that the Grant followers had been "saved from utter ruin by the excellent management of General Arthur...."

The convention

At noon on Wednesday, June 2, J. Donald Cameron banged his gavel to commence the beginning of the seventh Republican National Convention. As instructed, Cameron placed the nomination for Senator Hoar as the temporary convention chairman. The nomination was passed unanimously. Later, delegates John H. Roberts of Illinois and Christopher L. Magee of Pennsylvania were made temporary convention secretaries. Senator Eugene Hale
Eugene Hale
Eugene Hale was a Republican United States Senator from Maine.Born at Turner, Maine, he was educated in local schools and at Maine's Hebron Academy. He was admitted to the bar in 1857 and served for nine years as prosecuting attorney for Hancock County, Maine. He was elected to the Maine...

 of Maine submitted a resolution for a roll call, in which the chairman of each delegation would announce the people from their delegation serving on the convention's three committees. The committees were formed, and the convention was adjourned at five minutes past three in the afternoon.

The convention reconvened at 11:00 A.M. on June 3. Roscoe Conkling submitted a motion for a recess, but the motion was rejected. Another New York delegate, Henry R. Pierson from the Committee on Permanent Organization, submitted a proposal to make the temporary convention assignments permanent. The motion was adopted, and the convention took a four-hour recess until 5:00 P.M. After the recess, a motion was made for the Committee on Rules to be directed to report, but a substitute motion from George H. Sharpe of New York called for the Committee on Credentials to report. The substitute motion was rejected by a vote of 406 to 318, and the original resolution was laid on the table. At 7:30 P.M., the convention was adjourned until 10:00 A.M. the following morning.

The next morning, Conkling then submitted a resolution that bound every delegate in the hall to support the party's nominee. Conkling said that "no man should hold his seat here who is not ready so to agree." A voice vote was called, and the resolution received nearly unanimous delegate support. However, about a dozen or so delegates answered "no". Conkling was shocked. He asked, "[who] at a Republican convention would vote 'no' on such a resolution?" He then demanded a roll call to identify the dissenters. Most of the dissenters chose not to declare their disagreement in front of the thousands of spectators at the "Glass Palace". Only three delegates, all from West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, voted "no" to the resolution, and were showered with a "storm of hisses." Conkling then issued another resolution to strip the three West Virginians of their votes and squash their voices at the convention. The West Virginians revolted against Conkling's resolution, and heavily criticized him for his motion. James Garfield, who was sitting at the Ohio delegation, stood up and tried to settle the matter. He stated that the convention would be making a big mistake if they approved Conkling's motion, and he asked the delegates for their time in order to state his case. Garfield argued that the three West Virginians should not "be disenfranchised because they thought it was not the time to make such an expression [about a candidate]." He stated that "there never can be a convention...that shall bind my vote against my will on any question whatever." Garfield had won the crowd over with his speech. Conkling did not particularly enjoy the situation. He scribbled a note to Garfield which read, "New York requests that Ohio's real candidate and dark horse come forward...R.C." Conkling subsequently withdrew the resolution.

Afterwards, the fight over credentials erupted into a free-for-all. After John A. Logan had barred anti-Grant delegates from the state convention earlier in the year, they had decided to file credential reports. At the meeting between Arthur and Chandler, both men had agreed that the credentials issue could be discussed at the convention. A Chicago lawyer who supported Grant, Emery Storrs interrupted the legal argument over credentials by mocking the Blaine campaigners. His remarks set off a barrage of comments from both the Blaine and Grant sides. The convention went out of control, as people started shouting and jumping throughout the convention hall. As Garfield commented, the convention "seemed [as if] it could not be in America, but in the Sections of Paris in the ecstasy of the Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

." The fracas continued until 2:00 A.M. when acting chairman Green B. Raum, the United States Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service , a bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury.The office of Commissioner was created by Congress by the Revenue Act of 1862...

, banged the gavel to end the demonstration.

Presenting the nominees

On Saturday night, the alphabetical roll call of the states to present nominees was conducted. The first candidate for the Republican nomination emerged when the Michigan delegation was in roll call. James F. Joy, the seventy-year old president of the Michigan Central Railroad
Michigan Central Railroad
The Michigan Central Railroad was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada...

, placed the nomination for James G. Blaine. Joy was not a practiced public speaker, and he stumbled and rushed through his nomination speech, "because we are all now impatient for the voting." Joy ended his speech by nominating "James S. Blaine" for the Republican ticket. Promptly, a number of delegates yelled back, "G! G. Blaine, you fool!" The delegates from the next state in the roll call, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, nominated Senator William Windom
William Windom
This page is about the former United States politician. William Windom was an American politician from Minnesota. He served as U.S. Representative from 1859 to 1869, and as U.S. Senator from 1870 to January 1871, from March 1871 to March 1881, and from November 1881 to 1883...

 as their "favorite son" candidate. Nine states later, Roscoe Conkling of New York stepped up to the podium to present his nomination for Ulysses S. Grant.
And when asked what State he hail from,

Our sole reply shall be,

He hails from Appomattox,

And its famous apple tree.

The crowd of 15,000 responded by erupting in cheers. Conkling built up the crowd's energy with his speech, and then introduced his candidate by proclaiming, "New York is for Ulysses S. Grant. Never defeated–never defeated in peace or in war, his name is the most illustrious borne by living men." He later spoke of Grant's loyalty to the American people, and then scolded Grant's enemies who had brought up the third term issue. Conkling tried to show that Grant was an honest person who had won the delegates "without patronage and without emissaries, without committees, [and ] without bureaus...." After Conkling finished his speech, boos and hisses came from Blaine and Sherman backers, while applause was heard from Stalwart supporters of Grant. After North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

's roll call, the Ohio delegation brought out James Garfield to give the nomination speech for John Sherman.

Garfield had not actually written a speech, and he was quite nervous about speaking in front of such a large crowd. Before heading to Chicago, Sherman told him to stress his "courageous persistence in any course he had adopted." He started his speech by emphasizing his overwhelming pride for his role in the convention. Garfield stated the qualities that the president needed, and it wasn't until the end that he made his mention of John Sherman. Some members in the Sherman campaign were utterly disgusted by his speech. One telegram from a Sherman backer sent to Sherman himself claimed that, "[Garfield] has been of no service to you...he was extremely lukewarm in his support." Rumors began to spread that Ohio Governor Charles Foster and Garfield, who were in adjoining suites at the Grand Pacific Hotel
Grand Pacific Hotel (Chicago)
The Grand Pacific Hotel was one of the first two prominent hotels built in Chicago, Illinois after the Great Chicago Fire. The hotel, designed by William W...

, were "conspiring to bring Garfield out as [a] candidate...." News of the finger-pointing within the Sherman camp had carried into newspapers across the country. The Albany Evening Journal reported that "[t]here is a general belief that the Ohio delegation is ready to desert Sherman and go over to Blaine in a body."

Although he had become popular with the delegates after his speech, Garfield was upset over the accusations purported by those inside the Sherman group, and he worried how they would affect him in the future. His close colleagues felt he was becoming too popular, too quickly. Friends, like Lorenzo Coffin, felt that his "time is not yet." Garfield heeded the advice of his friends, but had already made such a deep impression on the delegates. Late Sunday night on June 6, Indiana senator Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...

, grandson of former President William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...

, came to Garfield's hotel suite and asked him under what conditions would he accept the Republican nomination. He had come to the convention for the sole purpose of supporting John Sherman, and he immediately told Harrison that his "name must not be used [in the nomination]."

Balloting

At ten o'clock on Monday morning, convention chairman Hoar banged his gavel to open the convention. Eugene Hale motioned to immediately proceed to the presidential nominee balloting, and Roscoe Conkling seconded the motion. Newspapers had predicted the results of the balloting, and the delegates knew that it would take a number of ballots before a victor could be found. The first surprise during the balloting roll call came when John A. Logan of Illinois announced that of his state's forty-two delegates, only twenty-four were in support of Grant. This was not as "solid" as Logan had previously advertised to the rest of the Grant backers. New York faced a similar situation. Of its seventy delegates, fifty-one supported Grant, seventeen were for Blaine, and the remaining two supported Sherman. Pennsylvania fared even worse, as only thirty-two of the state's fifty-eight delegates put in their support for Grant.

After all the states were polled, the results were tabulated. Grant received 304 votes, Blaine had 284, Sherman had 93, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

 senator George F. Edmunds
George F. Edmunds
George Franklin Edmunds was a Republican U.S. Senator from Vermont from 1866 to 1891.Born in Richmond, Vermont, Edmunds attended common schools and was privately tutored as a child. After being admitted to the bar in 1849, he started a law practice in Burlington, Vermont...

 received 34, Elihu B. Washburne
Elihu B. Washburne
Elihu Benjamin Washburne was one of seven brothers who played a prominent role in the early formation of the United States Republican Party...

, who had served as the United States Ambassador to France
United States Ambassador to France
This article is about the United States Ambassador to France. There has been a United States Ambassador to France since the American Revolution. The United States sent its first envoys to France in 1776, towards the end of the four-centuries-old Bourbon dynasty...

 under President Grant, had 30, and Minnesota senator William Windom received 10. Of the states represented by the "triumvirate", sixty delegates did not support Grant. None of the candidates were close to the 379 needed to secure the nomination, so the balloting continued throughout the day.

In Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, both Blaine and Sherman were disappointed by their first-ballot vote totals. Blaine had been told that he should expect around 300 first-ballot votes, but his actual total fell sixteen short, and it was also one vote less than the total he received on the first ballot at the 1876 Convention. Sherman was told to expect 110 votes, which was significantly lower than the expected totals for Blaine and Grant. However, Sherman felt his chance would be coming at a later time, when the Grant vote split apart. After Sherman heard his first-ballot vote totals, he grew visibly angry that "some of them [the votes] were taken away from him before the ballot began." He was upset that nine Ohio delegates bolted from Sherman and voted instead for his opponent, James G. Blaine. Sherman blamed Blaine for causing the delegates to bolt from Ohio "by [methods of] falsehood, ridicule and treachery." In Galena
Galena, Illinois
Galena is the county seat of, and largest city in, Jo Daviess County, Illinois in the United States, with a population of 3,429 in 2010. The city is a popular tourist destination known for its history, historical architecture, and ski and golf resorts. Galena was the residence of Ulysses S...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, Grant did not express any emotions after being told about the first-ballot vote totals. As one newsman reported, "[t]he silent soldier was smoking his cigar with all his usual serenity." Grant's wife, Julia, expected a deadlock, and suggested to her husband that he surprise the delegates in Chicago with a visit. Grant thought this was unwise because it gave an appearance of bad luck and bad manners. Despite his wife's attempts to convince his mind, Grant remained adamant over his decision.

Meanwhile, the delegates at the convention continued to cast ballots until a victor could be determined. On the second ballot of the day, a Pennsylvania delegate named W. A. Grier cast a vote for James Garfield. However, the Garfield support remained with that one delegate's vote for most of the day. The delegates cast eighteen ballots before taking a recess for dinner. After dinner, they came back and cast ten more ballots. Still, no candidate was close to the 379 votes needed to win. After twelve hours of balloting, Massachusetts delegate William Lovering moved to adjourn for the night. A few Grant delegates objected, but the motion to adjourn was passed by a vote of 446 to 308. After twenty-eight ballots, Grant had 307 votes, Blaine had 279 and Sherman had 91, and the rest of the votes were split between favorite son candidates like William Windom and George F. Edmunds.

Suggestions for introducing a "dark horse" candidate began to take place. Members backing each candidate were equally determined to win the nomination, but some felt that the deadlock could not be broken if new delegates were not introduced into the balloting. Backers for Sherman and Blaine met after the convention was adjourned. Chandler laid down his terms. Blaine had nearly 300 votes, and could not simply withdraw the nomination. As Chandler explained, even "[i]f Mr. Blaine permits his column to be broken, [then] Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 & twelve votes in the Territories will go to Grant...[as would] Mr. Blaine's Southern votes." Both sides argued until two or three in the morning, but no decision had been reached. Grant leaders had also met that night in Roscoe Conkling's suite in the Grand Pacific Hotel. They discussed the imposing dangers of Grant's nomination bid, such as the third-term resistors. Many speculated that Grant was not going to receive the nomination. The Grant backers discussed the other two chief candidates, and found them both to be unacceptable. Some of the men called for Conkling himself as a substitute for Grant. They argued that with Grant out of the race, Conkling would face little resistance for the Republican nomination. However, Conkling refused to accept the idea of being nominated for president. He said:

The first ballot on Tuesday morning, June 8, saw two major breaks in the voting. Massachusetts switched their twenty-one votes from Senator George Edmunds to John Sherman, spiking his total to 116, the highest thus far. William Chandler also convinced three Minnesota delegates to switch their support from their "favorite son" candidate, William Windom, to James G. Blaine. By the thirty-second ballot, Blaine had dropped six votes from the night before, and Grant had increased his total to 309. Despite the relatively small exchanges in votes, Roscoe Conkling confidently claimed that the "[m]embers of the N.Y. Delegation assert that Grant will be nominated before one o'clock." On the thirty-third ballot, nine Wisconsin delegates shifted their support from Grant to Elihu Washburne. On the next ballot, sixteen of twenty Wisconsin delegates changed their vote to James Garfield. Garfield immediately called to chairman Hoar to raise a question of order. Garfield "challenge[d] the correctness of the announcement", claiming that without his consent, he should not be receiving votes. Hoar dismissed Garfield's question. The chairman later claimed that he denied Garfield because he did not want to see a presidency be undone by a simple point of order. After the ballot, the vote totals for the major candidates stood at 312 for Grant, 275 for Blaine, 107 for Sherman, and 17 for Garfield. In the thirty-fifth ballot, Benjamin Harrison of Indiana announced that his state would shift all twenty-seven of its votes (mostly coming from the Blaine column) to Garfield. Four Maryland delegates and one delegate from both Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 and North Carolina also switched their vote to Garfield, bringing his total to 50 votes.

Blaine saw that his chances for winning the nomination were slipping. In reference to his own chances, Blaine commented that it was not necessary to have "wasted a card upon a falling market." Blaine felt that the most suitable candidate was James Garfield. Garfield was a close friend, and he felt that by supporting Garfield, he may be given a position in his administration. Likewise, Sherman listened to advice from his colleagues and decided to shift all his support to Garfield, to "save the Republican Party." Both candidates told their supporters to support Garfield's nomination. On the thirty-sixth ballot, Garfield won the Republican nomination after receiving 399 votes, 93 higher than Grant's total. Blaine finished with 42, Washburne had 5, John Sherman had 3, and the remaining were split amongst other minor candidates. Garfield was so overwhelmed with emotion after winning the nomination that an Inter Ocean reporter noted that he looked "pale as death, and seemed to be half-unconsciously to receive the congratulations of his friends." The convention was in a mad frenzy as thousands of people chanted for Garfield, and later joined in the singing of the Battle Cry of Freedom
Battle Cry of Freedom
"Battle Cry of Freedom" is a song written in 1862 by American composer George F. Root during the American Civil War. A patriotic song advocating the cause of the Union, it became so popular that composer H. L. Schreiner and lyricist W. H. Barnes adapted it for the Confederate States of America...

. The Grant followers, like Roscoe Conkling, looked on with "glum faces" and made "no effort to conceal their disappointment." Conkling took great pride in the 306 delegates who had supported Grant throughout the entire balloting. With the Grant supporters, Conkling formed a "Three Hundred and Six Guard" society. The society held annual dinners, and even drew up a commemorative coin with the inscription, "The Old Guard".

Afterwards, chairman Hoar banged his gavel and announced, "James A. Garfield, of Ohio, is nominated for President of the United States." Garfield wrote a letter to his wife stating that "if the results meet your approval, I shall be content [with the nomination]." Garfield's wife, Lucretia
Lucretia Garfield
Lucretia Rudolph Garfield , wife of James A. Garfield, was First Lady of the United States in 1881.-Early life:...

, was thrilled with her husband's nomination and gave her approval. The Ohio delegation that backed Garfield chose Chester A. Arthur, a stalwart with close ties to Roscoe Conkling, as Garfield's Vice Presidential running mate. Arthur won the nomination after he received 468 votes, next to the 193 for Elihu Washburne, and 44 for the third major candidate, Marshall Jewell. After the convention chairman, senator George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts, banged his gavel at 7:25 P.M. on June 8, the longest ever Republican National Convention was adjourned.

Aftermath

Garfield led the first front porch campaign
Front porch campaign
A front porch campaign is a low-key electoral campaign used in American politics in which the candidate remains close to or at home to make speeches to supporters who come to visit. The candidate largely does not travel around or otherwise actively campaign. The successful presidential campaigns...

 for the Presidency. He did not travel that much, and he usually stayed at home to present his presidential agenda to visitors. Garfield enlisted the support of the other candidates from the convention to help with the campaign. The 1880 Democratic National Convention chose Winfield Scott Hancock as the presidential candidate and William Hayden English as his vice-presidential running mate. The election featured a very close popular vote, that put Garfield out with a majority of less than ten thousand votes, with some sources putting it as low as 2,000 votes. However, Garfield won the election with 214 of the 369 electoral votes in the country.
On July 2, 1881, Garfield was shot by a former Chicago lawyer named Charles J. Guiteau
Charles J. Guiteau
Charles Julius Guiteau was an American lawyer who assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield. He was executed by hanging.- Background :...

 at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. Guiteau was a staunch supporter of the Stalwarts, and he even gave speeches in New York to rally Grant supporters. After Garfield was elected president, Guiteau repeatedly tried to contact the president and his Secretary of State James G. Blaine in hopes of receiving the consulship
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...

 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. After finally being told by Blaine that he would not get the position, Guiteau decided to seek revenge on Garfield. He planned Garfield's assassination for weeks. After shooting Garfield, he proclaimed "I am a Stalwart and Arthur will be President." Garfield died on September 19, more than two and a half months after the shooting. After a lengthy trial, Guiteau was sentenced to death, and he was hanged on June 30, 1882.

See also

  • Half-Breeds
    Half-Breed (politics)
    The "Half-Breeds" were a political faction of the United States Republican Party that existed in the late 19th century. The Half-Breeds were a moderate-wing group, and they were the opponents of the Stalwarts, the other main faction of the Republican Party. The main issue that separated the...

  • Stalwarts
  • United States presidential election, 1880
    United States presidential election, 1880
    The United States presidential election of 1880 was largely seen as a referendum on the end of Reconstruction in Southern states carried out by the Republicans. There were no pressing issues of the day save tariffs, with the Republicans supporting higher tariffs and the Democrats supporting lower...

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