.jpg?w=1)
Details
HAYES, Rutherford B. Autograph letter signed ("R.B. Hayes") as President, to George Jones, Washington, 11 June 1880. 2½ pages, large 8vo (8¾ x 5 3/8 in.), on Executive Mansion stationery, marked "Private" at the top of page 1. In fine condition.
HAYES STATES HIS APPROVAL OF HIS SUCCESSOR: "GARFIELD IS BY ODDS THE BEST CANDIDATE BEFORE THE CONVENTION"
An very fine political letter in which the outgoing Hayes thoughtfully comments on the nomination of the man who would succeed him in the White House. When Hayes received the Republican nomination in 1876, it was with the stipulation that he would not run for a second term when his four years ended. As Republicans traveled to their convention in Chicago in 1880, there was no clear choice for a replacement. Former President Grant appeared to be a front-runner, but anti-Grant forces pushed for the nomination of John Sherman or James Blaine. When the convention was unable to choose a clear victor after 33 votes, a compromise candidate, James Garfield of Ohio, was nominated.
Here, Hayes writes to a delegate at the convention: "I have your letter on the Convention. It is not very hot for the nominee, but warm enough in view of your object in going to C. and the way you found things there. The truth is however that the result is a blessed one...The new rule, or rather the old rule reestablished, as to district representation, is very valuable. My own recognition was sufficiently decided." The President assures Jones that the nomination is a good one: "Garfield is by odds the best candidate before the Convention all things considered. Sherman has gone through the contest with honor--so far as I can see without anything to mortify him or his friends. To be beaten in such a contest is merely the fortune of war. Garfield could not have been nominated if he had gone in to a contest for the nomination. His freedom from the scars of conflict is one of his advantages. It is, a point in his availability--He has a wonderful history. From the tow path of the canal to the highest scholarship in either House of Congress is of itself an immense point. But he has many other Striking points of contrast"
Garfield went on to win the election of 1880 while Hayes, as he had planned, retired to his home in Ohio.
HAYES STATES HIS APPROVAL OF HIS SUCCESSOR: "GARFIELD IS BY ODDS THE BEST CANDIDATE BEFORE THE CONVENTION"
An very fine political letter in which the outgoing Hayes thoughtfully comments on the nomination of the man who would succeed him in the White House. When Hayes received the Republican nomination in 1876, it was with the stipulation that he would not run for a second term when his four years ended. As Republicans traveled to their convention in Chicago in 1880, there was no clear choice for a replacement. Former President Grant appeared to be a front-runner, but anti-Grant forces pushed for the nomination of John Sherman or James Blaine. When the convention was unable to choose a clear victor after 33 votes, a compromise candidate, James Garfield of Ohio, was nominated.
Here, Hayes writes to a delegate at the convention: "I have your letter on the Convention. It is not very hot for the nominee, but warm enough in view of your object in going to C. and the way you found things there. The truth is however that the result is a blessed one...The new rule, or rather the old rule reestablished, as to district representation, is very valuable. My own recognition was sufficiently decided." The President assures Jones that the nomination is a good one: "Garfield is by odds the best candidate before the Convention all things considered. Sherman has gone through the contest with honor--so far as I can see without anything to mortify him or his friends. To be beaten in such a contest is merely the fortune of war. Garfield could not have been nominated if he had gone in to a contest for the nomination. His freedom from the scars of conflict is one of his advantages. It is, a point in his availability--He has a wonderful history. From the tow path of the canal to the highest scholarship in either House of Congress is of itself an immense point. But he has many other Striking points of contrast"
Garfield went on to win the election of 1880 while Hayes, as he had planned, retired to his home in Ohio.
Special notice
This lot is exempt from Sales Tax.