INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT HAYES.
Governor Hayes, having been notified by friends at Washington that
the electoral count would declare his election as President, left
Columbus for the national capital on the afternoon of the first of
March. Very early the next morning he was informed by a telegraph
operator that the count had been peacefully completed, and that
Senator Ferry, the President _pro tem._ of the Senate, had announced
that Rutherford B. Hayes had been duly elected President, and
William A. Wheeler Vice-President. This announcement was Mr. Hayes'
only notification.
Arriving at Washington at ten o'clock on the morning of the second
of March, in a heavy rain-storm, Governor Hayes and his wife were
received by Senator Sherman and his brother, General Sherman, who
escorted them under umbrellas to a carriage, in which they were
driven to the residence of the Senator. After having breakfasted,
the President-elect, accompanied by General Sherman and ex-Governor
Dennison, went to pay their respects to the President at the
Executive Mansion. They were received by General Grant in his
private office, and the outgoing and incoming President held a
brief conversation on general topics, without, however, alluding
to anything of a political character. Subsequently, the members
of General Grant's Cabinet came into the room and were introduced
to the President-elect. The stay at the White House occupied less
than half an hour, and from there the party drove to the Capitol
and were ushered into the Vice-President's room, adjoining the
Senate Chamber. Here the President-elect held quite a levee,
lasting nearly two hours. All of the Republican and most of the
Democratic Senators paid their respects to him, those who had no
previous acquaintance being introduced by ex-Governor Dennison.
The presence of the new President in the Capitol soon became known
in the House of Representatives, and a stampede of members followed,
thronging the Senate reception room and all the surrounding lobbies.
The Georgia delegation paid their respects in a body, and among
the callers were many Democrats from other Southern States.
Between this time and the next afternoon there were several important
political consultations on the situation, the Cabinet, and the
inaugural, with much speculation as to whether Mr. Tilden would
take the oath of office as President of the United States upon the
following day, March 4th, which fell this year upon Sunday. It
was finally decided that the oath should be administered to Governor
Hayes on Saturday evening. He was one of a party which had been
invited to dine at the Executive Mansion, and while the guests were
assembling, Governor and Mrs. Hayes, with two or three friends,
stepped into the Red Parlor with General Grant, where the Governor
took the oath of office, by which he became _de jure_ and _de facto_
Chief Magistrate of the United States. The proceeding was temporarily
kept secret, even from the other guests at the dinner.
Monday, March 5th, was a rainy and cloudy day. Despite the prolonged
uncertainty as to the result of the Presidential election, and the
short time given for arrangements, the city was crowded. It was
estimated that thirty thousand persons left New York for Washington
on Saturday and Sunday. Pennsylvania Avenue was gayly attired in
waving bunting, the striking features being pyramids or arches
composed of flags and streamers of variegated colors, suspended
across the avenue by strong cords. The decorations were not so
extensive as would have been the case had longer time been afforded
for preparation.
The procession was under the direction of Major Whipple, of the
army, as Chief Marshal. It was escorted by the United States
troops, which had been concentrated at Washington, the Marines,
the District Volunteer Militia, the Philadelphia State Fencibles,
and the Columbus Cadets. Governor Hayes rode with General Grant
in the latter's carriage, and they were followed by the Grand Army
of the Republic, Veteran Associations from Philadelphia and Baltimore,
local political associations, and the steam fire engines.
In the Senate Chamber there was the usual assemblage of dignitaries,
with crowds of ladies in the galleries. Vice-President Wheeler
was sworn in and delivered a brief address, after which he administered
the oath to the new Senators. The customary procession was formed,
and moved to the platform erected over the eastern entrance to the
rotunda. Governor Hayes was greeted with loud cheers from the
assembled multitude, and when silence had been restored he read
his inaugural in a clear voice. When he had concluded the oath of
office was formally administered to him by Chief Justice Waite,
and the new President returned to the White House, amid cheers of
the multitude and salutes of artillery.
At the White House Mrs. Grant had provided a handsome collation,
which was enjoyed by the members of the retiring Administration
and a few personal friends of the incoming official. President
Hayes was warmly congratulated on having received, through the
agency of the Electoral Commission, a title to office that no one
would dare to dispute openly. Reckless friends of Mr. Tilden, who
had hoped to plunge the country into the turmoil and uncertainty
of another election, found that their chief had tamely accepted
the situation, and they quietly submitted.
The selection of a Cabinet was not fully determined upon until
after President Hayes had arrived in Washington. Before he came
General Burnside and other Republicans who had served in the Union
army urged the appointment of General Joseph E. Johnston as Secretary
of War, but after much discussion the intention was reluctantly
abandoned. When President Hayes had been inaugurated the names of
several Southerners were presented to him, including ex-Senator
Alcorn, Governor John C. Born, and General Walthall, a gallant
soldier and an able lawyer. President Hayes finally decided to
give the position of Postmaster-General to "Dave" Key.
Judge Key had just before served in the Senate for a year, by
appointment of the Governor of Tennessee, as the successor of Andrew
Johnson, and his known popularity in that body rendered it certain
that his nomination would be confirmed. At the close of the war
the Judge had found himself in North Carolina very poorly off for
clothes, surrounded by his wife and six children, also poor in
raiment, without a dollar of money that would buy a rasher of bacon
or a pint of cornmeal. He had a few dollars of Confederate money,
but that was not worth the paper it was printed upon. Nearly
everybody about him was as poor as himself, and the suffering
through the section in which he found himself was very great. He
owned nothing in the world but a half-starved mule that had been
his war-horse for many months. This was before the days of the
Commune, and he didn't know that mule meat was good; besides, he
did not want to kill his war-horse that had carried him through so
many deadly breaches. Before Judge Key and his family had reached
that point when prayers take the place of hunger, however, relief
came. An old resident of North Carolina heard of Key's necessities,
and helped him out. He gave him seed to sow, a shanty to live in,
and some land to till, also a small supply of bacon and cornmeal.
The Judge then went to work. He beat his sword into a plowshare
and his fiery charger into a plow-horse. He worked with his little
family and lived scantily the whole summer long. There was no
fancy farming about it. When the corn was sold the Judge had eighty
dollars in despised Yankee greenbacks. He then applied to President
Andrew Johnson, who was announcing that "treason is a crime and
must be punished," for leave to return to Tennessee, and he awaited
a reply with a good deal of apprehension. It came in due course
of mail, a very kind, brotherly letter, inclosing a pardon. Judge
Key had not asked for this, and was quite overwhelmed. It was
stated in the Senate in open session on the day of his confirmation
that he had voted for Tilden, but he loyally sustained the Hayes
Administration.
The other members of the Cabinet were well-known Republicans.
William M. Evarts, who had so successfully piloted Mr. Hayes through
the Electoral Commission, was very properly made Secretary of State.
Tall, without the slightest tendency toward rotundity, and with an
intellectual head set firmly on his shoulders, Mr. Evarts displayed
great energy of character, unswerving integrity, and devotion to
his clients. Great in positive intellect, he rendered it available,
as an able general manoeuvres for position and arranges strategic
movements, and was ready to meet his adversaries in a rhetorical
struggle with volleys of arguments framed in sentences of prodigious
length.
John Sherman, the Secretary of the Treasury, was a financial tower
of strength, whose honesty, patriotism, and ability had endeared
him to the people, while Carl Schurz, the Secretary of the Interior,
was a man of great tact, invariable good temper, and superior
education, whose personal appearance was very like that of
Mephistopheles, except that Schurz wore glasses.
"Uncle Dick Thompson," although he knew nothing about the navy
committed to his charge, was a silver-tongued Indiana stump speaker.
The gallant General Devens, of Massachusetts, was to have been
Secretary of War, and ex-Representative G. W. McCrary was to have
been Attorney-General. But this was not satisfactory to the agents
of the New Idria Company, as Mr. McCrary had on one occasion
expressed a favorable opinion on the claim of William McGarrahan
to the quicksilver mine of which the New Idria had obtained
possession. So a pressure was brought to bear upon the President,
the result of which was the transposition of Devens and McCrary.
The soldier was made Attorney-General, and the country lawyer,
ignorant of military matters, was made Secretary of War.
The Cabinet met on Tuesdays and Fridays. The members dropped in
one by one, but they were all on hand by "high twelve," each bringing
his portfolio containing matters to be submitted. President Hayes
sat at the head of the table and Secretary Schurz at the foot; on
the right, next to the President, was the Secretary of State, next
to him the Secretary of War, and beyond him the Postmaster-General.
On the left, next to the President, was the Secretary of the
Treasury, the next to him the Secretary of the Navy, and next to
the Secretary of the Interior, on that side, the Attorney-General.
After the Cabinet met it was ten or fifteen minutes before the
members got to work. That ten minutes was taken up in greetings
and off-hand talk, in which the spirit of fun and humor cropped
out a good deal. When out of official harness, the members of the
Cabinet were all men with a sunny, fun-loving side. Judge Key was,
perhaps, the jolliest, though the Attorney-General pushed him hard
for that distinction. Secretary Thompson was a proverbial lover
of a pleasant joke, while Secretary Schurz was hardly equalled in
telling one. Secretary McCrary was a good story-teller. Secretary
Sherman did not indulge in humor often, but when he did it was, on
account of its unexpected character, the more enjoyable. Secretary
Evarts was a quiet humorist, and his fund of dry humor and wit was
inexhaustible.
The Cabinet jokes always found their way into public circulation
and provoked many hearty laughs. It was intimated that Attorney-
General Devens delighted in joking the "Ancient Mariner" of the
Navy Department. One day Secretary Thompson presented to the
Cabinet a list of midshipmen who had passed their examinations.
The Secretary called attention to them, and said he would like to
have their nominations for promotion to ensigns sent to the Senate
as soon as possible, "as they are worthy young men who have thoroughly
earned their spurs." "Mr. Thompson," interrupted Mr. Devens, "how
long since have they been wearing spurs in the navy?" After ten
minutes of so of boy's play before school, the President would call
the meeting to order. The Secretary of State would present his
budget, and when disposed of he would be followed by the other
members of the Cabinet in their order of precedence. The meetings
generally occupied about two hours, and the business was conducted
in a conversational way.
It was unfortunate for Mr. Hayes that he felt obliged to appoint
as his private secretary Mr. Rodgers, of Minnesota. It was understood
at Washington that he had been unsuccessful in several business
operations, and he certainly was a failure as private secretary.
Instead of smoothing down the variety of little grievances that
arose between the President and the politicians, he invariably made
matters worse. The consequence was that the President was often
seen in an unfavorable light by Congressmen, correspondents, and
others whose good opinions he merited.
[Facsimile]
Sincerely
R.B.Hayes
RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES was born at Delaware, Ohio, October 4th,
1822; studied law, and commenced practice at Cincinnati; served in
the Union Army receiving promotion from the rank of Major to that
of Brigadier-General, 1862-1865; was a Representative in Congress
from Ohio from December 4th, 1865, to December, 1867, when he
resigned, having been elected Governor of Ohio, serving 1868-1872,
and again 1876-1877; was elected President of the United States on
the Republican ticket in 1876, and was inaugurated March 5th, 1877.