A Carnival of Corruption

 Federal Gov’t was full of corruption as a result of the chaos of the Civil War  Credit Mobilier Scandal 1872 Construction company used as a front for the UP RR, they built the RR lines at inflated prices They bribed congressman and the VP not to say anything It was discovered by a newspaper reporter

 Whiskey Ring Deprived the government of excise taxes Grant’s personal secretary got acquitted of charges with Grant’s help  Secretary of War Belknap was also guilty of accepting bribes from suppliers to Indian Reservations

There was a balancing scale between the two parties; just a few votes could throw the elections the other way Every president barely won House majorities changed six times from Candidates had to straddle every fence and were too timid to try anything that would create a wake The two parties were almost identical save by name Voter turn out was at its highest ever almost 80%

 Both parties existed and continued to exist through giving followers jobs in return for votes, kickbacks, and service

 Republicans had Rutherford B. Hayes (The Great Unknown) run in 1876 against Samuel Tilden  Tilden won the popular vote 4.2 to 4 million votes but the electoral college was unclear 20 votes were in dispute and Tilden only needed one of them The states in dispute turned in two votes, one democrat and one republican, it depended on who read the votes as to who would win  Republicans had Rutherford B. Hayes (The Great Unknown) run in 1876 against Samuel Tilden  Tilden won the popular vote 4.2 to 4 million votes but the electoral college was unclear 20 votes were in dispute and Tilden only needed one of them The states in dispute turned in two votes, one democrat and one republican, it depended on who read the votes as to who would win

 Compromise of 1877 Democrats threatened to go to war again Electoral Count Act Set up a commission of congressmen, senators, and judges to decide on the disputed votes Democrats allowed Hayes to become president and in return the Republicans promised to withdraw all federal troops from the South  The Republicans officially ended Reconstruction

 Rutherford B Hayes (Repub)  James Garfield (Repub)  Was assassinated after seven months by someone who wanted a job and didn’t get one  Chester A Arthur (Repub)  Grover Cleveland (Demo)  Only president elected twice non consecutively  William Henry Harrison (Repub)

 Used graft, election fraud, etc. to control local politics  Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall in NY  Illegally took millions from NY City  Eventually brought down by Thomas Nast by using political cartoons to show how bad the corruption was.