The Democrats began attacking the Compromise of 1877 immediately. Rutherford B. Hayes was a lame duck from day 1. The Republicans needed another candidate for 1880. They nominated James A. Garfield of Ohio. Garfield had been tied to the Credit Mobilier Scandal and was a member of the commission that elevated Hayes in 1876. As a result, Garfield was open to charges of corruption.
While corruption was the GOP's weakness, the Civil War was the Democrats'. The Republicans blamed the Democrats for causing the war in each election. To counter this, the Dems nominated Winfield Scott Hancock for president. Hancock was a hero at Gettysburg and a Union General. This neutralized their big weakness.
On paper, the Democrats should have won, but they did not. Garfield was better financed and better organized. Additionally, the working class did not trust Hancock. He was ordered to bust a strike while in the army and labor did not forgive him for that.
The final results:Garfield: 4,446, 158 and Hancock: 4, 444, 260. Garfield won by less than 2,000 votes.
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