WI - Samuel J. Tilden won the US Presidential election of 1876?

Analytical Engine

Hi all. I was looking up US presidential elections, as one does, and found that the one for 1876 was really close. Really, really close. Down to the wire, possible acts of (minor) corruption close.

Tilden won the popular vote, and lost the electoral vote to Hayes by 1. There were two seperate EC results for Florida, Louisana and South Florida, and Hayes was ready to throw in the towel, when it was pointed out to him that he could win if those results all went his way.

So, anyway, after a (somewhat partisan, possibly) electoral comission was held, and Hayes won.

So, WI - Tilden won instead? I don't know much about the man, so I'm hoping that the US politics experts we have on the board could enlighten me. (Particularly as I'm thinking of including President Tilden in a TL. ;))
 
Sanderford

Sanderford

One of the things which R. B. Hayes did to secure the Electoral College votes he needed to defeat Tilden was to promise a complete withdrawal of all U.S. troops in Southern lands.

My favorite college history professor, Dr. Danielson, put it this way.

"It's true the Union won the war, but the South won Reconstruction."

Now, under the circumstances I do not know precisely how Samuel J. Tilden felt regarding Reconstruction, however, it is possible he would have allowed it to continue if elected because of the Black Codes and other issues in large regions of the South which had not yet been resolved. Elections in Southern States may have turned out differently, and we may have seen a slightly greater equalization in terms of civil rights.

I'm not sure though, so do not take what I am saying here as Holy Writ or anything.
 

David T

Analytical Engine said:
Hi all. I was looking up US presidential elections, as one does, and found that the one for 1876 was really close. Really, really close. Down to the wire, possible acts of (minor) corruption close.

Tilden won the popular vote, and lost the electoral vote to Hayes by 1. There were two seperate EC results for Florida, Louisana and South Florida, and Hayes was ready to throw in the towel, when it was pointed out to him that he could win if those results all went his way.

So, anyway, after a (somewhat partisan, possibly) electoral comission was held, and Hayes won.

So, WI - Tilden won instead? I don't know much about the man, so I'm hoping that the US politics experts we have on the board could enlighten me. (Particularly as I'm thinking of including President Tilden in a TL. ;))
Click to expand...

Well, Reconstruction was on its last legs anyway, and of course a Democrat would have ended it even sooner than Hayes did. Tilden, like Hayes, was a "sound money" man, and a conservative who would be just as willing to use federal troops against strikers as Hayes was. So I don't really see his administration differing that much from Hayes'. (Both of them favored civil service reform, and probably neither of them could do much about it.)
 
Plumber

Plumber

Hopefully ending Reconstruction becomes a partisan issue, with the Republicans trying to reenact civil rights when they come back into power. More likely, Tilden goes down in history as the man who ended Reconstruction, and is ranked poorly by historians as a result.

The only significant thing I can think of is Paraguay is probably fucked, as the Democrats were less likely to intervene in Latin America at the time, so there's no arbitration in favor of Paraguay.
 
Sanderford

Sanderford

Plumber said:
The only significant thing I can think of is Paraguay is probably fucked, as the Democrats were less likely to intervene in Latin America at the time, so there's no arbitration in favor of Paraguay.
Click to expand...

How were they less likely to intervene?
 

Analytical Engine

Ok, guys, keep the ideas coming. Does anyone else have any reason to doubt Plumber's ideas of Paraguay doing worse in the war against Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay?

Mostly as this may involve a slight map retcon, on my part... :p
 

bm79

Wait, are you guys talking about the Paraguay Way, the one the ended in 1870? Six years before the PoD?
 

Japhy

Banned
It has been argued that due to partisan politics, and the threat it would leave him as the first Post-Lincoln Democrat, that Tilden could not "Go to China" in regards to the enforcement of the law in the South. While Hayes campaigned on the idea of handing the Southern Governments back to the "Right Sort" like Liberal Republicans had in 1872, Tilden talked big on the need for rule of law, both in regards to dealing with Reconstruction and Reaction. As a result what one could theoretically see under Tilden is a Federal Government that will not just pretend nothing is happening down South, as it did with Hayes. Of course he might also not be able to impact things at all and either choose or be forced to stand idly by, but at the very least the nature of Reconstruction's end and the road to Jim Crow will be changed by his roll in its start.
 

Analytical Engine

bm79 said:
Wait, are you guys talking about the Paraguay Way, the one the ended in 1870? Six years before the PoD?
Click to expand...

Actually, the peace negotiations dragged on for years. For example, Brazil didn't sign a treaty until 1872, Uruguay by 1873, whilst Argentina didn't until 1876 - IOTL, Hayes was invited to arbitrate this negotiation, as there was some dispute on how much territory it should get.





BTW, the POD of my TL is actually 1867, but I am trying to minimise early butterflies. At the moment, I just want to know what kind of policies a President Tilden would have. ;)
 

Wendell

Well, this might have been the best way to get John Sherman into the White House. I think that Tilden would be a one termer and, like the last Democrat to hold the White House, forego a reelection bid.
 

Comte de Geneve

And why would J Sherman get the 1880 GOP nomination? If running against an incumbent Dem (even if Tilden with his pervasive dyspepia steps down) I would bet on James Blaine getting that nomination, and the win.
 
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