The story
In 1880 Republican James A. Garfield, an Ohio congressman and former Union general, defeated Democrat Winfield Scott Hancock, also a Union general and a hero of Gettysburg. The popular vote was the closest in American history: Garfield won by about 7,400 votes out of more than 9 million, about 48 percent each. The electoral vote was clearer, 214 to 155, because Garfield carried New York and most of the North while Hancock swept the now solidly Democratic South.
With Reconstruction over, the old war issues faded, and the parties fought mostly over tariffs, which Republicans favored to protect industry, and over patronage. Republicans were split between the Stalwarts, led by New York senator Roscoe Conkling, who wanted Grant for a third term, and reformers. Garfield was a compromise chosen on the 36th ballot, with Stalwart Chester A. Arthur as his running mate. On July 2, 1881, Charles Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker, shot Garfield in a Washington train station. Garfield died on September 19, and public anger at the spoils system helped pass the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883, which began hiring federal workers by merit exams.
Why it mattered
- Brought Garfield to office, whose assassination made Chester Arthur president.
- Led, through Garfield's death, to the Pendleton Act and a professional civil service.
- Confirmed the Solid South, as every former Confederate state voted Democratic.
Sources
- 1880 Electoral College Results National Archives
- James A. Garfield: Campaigns and Elections Miller Center, University of Virginia
Drafted by AI (Claude) from the sources above and checked against them by AI; no historian has reviewed this page. Spot a mistake? Suggest a correction. How pages are made
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