The election of 1876 was one of the most fractious and genuinely corrupt in history. A decade after the Civil War, with an unpopular Reconstruction policy splintering the country, Samuel Tilden, Democratic Governor of New York, was the likely victor, winning the popular vote but finagled out of the presidency by some very fancy political footwork by the Republicans, thus making Rutherford B . Hayes, Governor of Ohio, the 19th President.
President Hayes
“Rud” Hayes himself was a decent sort, who assiduously remained above the fray, turning a blind eye to the disputatious electors, preferring to keep his image of “squeaky clean.” He was a lawyer, who at aged forty, enlisted in the Union army and rose to become a major general – a field general, who led his troops in battle and was wounded four times, once seriously. He was blessed with a character that engendered not only respect from his men, but their sincere affection. Both Rutherford and Lucy Hayes would remain deeply involved in veterans’ affairs for the rest of their lives.
After the war, he served two terms in Congress before becoming a two-term governor of Ohio. In those post-rebellious years, a Republican lawyer, a wounded general, congressman and governor were impeccable credentials. Being from Ohio, neither North nor South, and an importantr industrial state with thousands of veterans, made him practically unbeatable.
Alas for him, the scandals of the Grant administration, along with the violence created by a heavy-booted Reconstruction policy, turned the tables and did the unthinkable: nearly elected a Democrat – the party many claimed to have caused the Civil War. Fortunately for the political powers that were and still wanted to be, they could nitpick a few electoral votes (which indeed had produced elements of viable corruption) into Republican victories and swing the election.
First Lady Lucy Hayes’ Influence
The incoming First Lady, Lucy Webb Hayes, was a devout Methodist, and a lifelong teetotaler. A devoted wife and mother, she had become enthralled with the preachers and orators who railed against "John Barleycorn." Her husband, a tad less virtuous, had been known to bend a convivial elbow in fellowship. But that was back in his youth. In the early days of their marriage, Hayes had taken the pledge, possibly in compliance with Lucy’s request. He took an oath and signed the book in the presence of the pillars of local society who bore witness. Breaking one’s word was a serious offense against one’s honor and integrity. Not to mention sobriety. Rutherford B. Hayes was a man of his word.
The Decision to Ban Spirits
By the time the Hayeses were in the White House, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union had grown into a huge moral lobby with major political implications. Neither Hayes had actually joined the organization, nor would they ever.
Perhaps because of the scandals and ill-feelings surrounding the election and the polarizing Reconstruction issues facing them, the decision to ban spirits in the White House must have seemed like a good idea for a diffusing red herring. After all, who could find fault with people who opposed drunkenness? The new First Couple were unassailably righteous. But whose decision was it?
Lucy Hayes usually gets the blame or credit, depending on your point of view. The moniker “Lemonade Lucy” was given to her during their administration, and she reportedly wasn’t very happy about it. But did she make that decision or not? By her own admission, in letters and diaries, she considered herself a shy woman, and while she was personally temperate, she insisted that she did not wish to tell other people what to do. She claimed that if someone wanted a glass of brandy or champagne, it was not her concern. Besides, she claimed to be in favor of temperance, not abstinence.
Perhaps it was Hayes himself who issued the dictum. It may have been honorable, but it was not a popular call amongst Washington politicos who enjoyed their casual vices of fellowship. Perhaps Hayes enlisted Mrs. Hayes to take the heat, since chivalry was still in flower, and nobody would dare criticize the First Lady for her unimpeachable virtue. They might poke a little fun, but they would not be rude.
Meanwhile the good women of the WCTU commandeered her as their heroine, singing her praises to all who would listen. They wrote stories of her in their newspapers, commissioned a portrait, and refused to be swayed by the fact that she still did not formally join their ranks.
The upshot was that there would be no booze for four years, but there would be a large bowl of oranges in the cloakroom of the White House which became a hugely popular congregating place for the politicians. It seems the oranges were laced with rum. Then, of course, there were those who claimed it was only “rum flavoring.”
Historians have pondered over this for more than a century and they are still as divided about it as they are about the election of 1876.
We will probably never know for sure.
Sources:
- Boller, Paul F., Jr. – Presidential Anecdotes, Oxford University Press, 1981
- Geer, Emily Apt – First Lady: The Life of Lucy Webb Hayes, Kent State University Press, 1984
- Whitney, David C. – The American Presidents: Biographies of the Chief Executives from Washington through Clinton, The Readers Digest Association, Inc., 1996
Feather Schwartz Foster - Feather Schwartz Foster, author-historian. Making the First Ladies come to life.
