陆斯佛得．比察．海斯 (Rutherford Birchard Hayes) 生于1822年10月4日

在1876年总统选举的那一晚，共和党候选人陆斯佛得．海斯很早就上床就寝了。他觉得他输给了对手，也就是民主党的萨慕尔．提登 (Samuel J. Tilden) 。那晚，提登的确赢得普选胜利，但是共和党却质疑有三个州的选举人票无效。 (根据选举人团的规定，每一州选择自己的选举人来投票选举总统，总统候选人必须赢得选举人票才能成为总统。)

国会因此指派一个特别「选举委员会」，针对这项争议做出裁决。委员会的成员包括5位参议员、5位众议员，以及5位最高法院法官。最后，委员会决议海斯以一张选举人票之差，赢得了总统大选。因为选举期间的紧张气氛，海斯的第一个官方任务是秘密完成的。


On the night of the 1876 presidential election, Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes went to bed early. He assumed that he had lost the election to his opponent, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. Tilden did win the popular vote that night, but the Republicans challenged the validity of the electoral votes from three states. (Under the Electoral College, each state chooses electors to vote for the president.) A candidate must win the electoral vote to become president.

Congress appointed a special Electoral Commission to make a decision on the matter. The commission was made up of five senators, five members of the House of Representatives, and five Supreme Court justices. In the end, the commission determined that Hayes was elected president by a margin of one electoral vote. Because of the tension surrounding his election, Hayes's first official duty was done in secret.

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