The 1880 Republican National Convention was held from June 2 to June 8, 1880, at the Interstate Exposition Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Delegates nominated James A. Garfield of Ohio and Chester A. Arthur of New York as the official Republican Party candidates for president and vice president in the 1880 presidential election.
Of the 14 men in contention for the Republican nomination, the three strongest leading up to the convention were Ulysses S. Grant, James G. Blaine, and John Sherman. Grant had served two terms as president from 1869 to 1877, and was seeking an unprecedented third term in office. He was backed by the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party, which supported political machines and patronage. Blaine was a senator and former representative from Maine who was backed by the Half-Breed faction of the Republican Party. Sherman, the brother of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, was serving as Secretary of the Treasury under President Rutherford B. Hayes. A former senator from Ohio, he was backed by delegates who did not support the Stalwarts or Half-Breeds.
With 378 votes required to obtain the nomination, on the first ballot Grant received 304 votes, Blaine 285, and Sherman 93. Balloting continued for several days without producing a nominee. After the thirty-fifth ballot, Blaine and Sherman switched their support to a new "dark horse", James Garfield. On the next ballot, Garfield won the nomination with 399 votes, 93 more than Grant. Garfield's Ohio delegation chose Chester A. Arthur, a Stalwart, as Garfield's running mate. Arthur won the vice presidential nomination with 468 votes, and the longest-ever Republican National Convention adjourned. The Garfield–Arthur Republican ticket narrowly defeated Democrats Winfield Scott Hancock and William Hayden English in the 1880 presidential election.
Background As President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes had caused tension within the post-American Civil War Republican Party. In an effort to aid post-war Reconstruction, he had offered government appointments to Southern Democrats, most of whom were former Confederates. His actions were contrary to the then-prevailing spoils system of patronage appointments and the campaign strategy of "waving the bloody shirt" employed by Republicans in the years after the war. Hayes's actions drew heavy criticism from party loyalists, including Roscoe Conkling of New York, leader of the Stalwarts, and James G. Blaine of Maine, leader of the Half-Breeds. Hayes had known since the dispute over the 1876 election that he was unlikely to win in 1880, and had announced at his 1877 inauguration that he would not run for a second term. Without an incumbent in the race, the Stalwarts and Half-Breeds each hoped to nominate their candidate.
Ulysses S. Grant
At the close of Grant's two terms as president in 1877, the Republican-controlled Congress suggested that Grant not return to the White House for a third term. Grant did not seem to mind and even told his wife Julia, "I do not want to be here [in the White House] another four years. I do not think I could stand it." After Grant left the White House, he and his wife used their US$85,000 savings to travel around the world. A biographer from the New York Herald, John Russell Young, traveled with the Grants and documented their journey in a book called Around the World with General Grant. Young saw that Grant's popularity was soaring, as he was treated with splendid receptions at his arrivals in Tokyo and Peking.
After Hayes' falling-out with the Republican Party and a perceived desire on the part of the United States' electorate for a strong man in the White House, Grant returned to the United States ahead of schedule, in hopes of seeking a third term. With the backing of the Stalwarts and calls for a "man of iron" to replace the "man of straw" in the White House, Grant was confident that he would receive the Republican nomination. Roscoe Conkling, leader of the Stalwart faction, formed a "triumvirate" with J. Donald Cameron of Pennsylvania and John A. Logan of Illinois to lead Grant's campaign. Conkling supported Grant because a Grant victory would give Stalwarts great influence in the White House. Grant accepted Stalwart support because he knew he could count on Stalwart leaders to solidify their state delegations at the convention, which would propel him toward the nomination. Conkling was so confident that he said, "Nothing but an act of God could prevent Grant's nomination." An aide to the ex-president, Adam Badeau, commented that Grant "displayed as much anxiety as I ever saw him display on his own account."
However, close friends of Grant saw that public support for his return to the White House was slipping. John Russell Young took Grant aside and told him he would lose the election, and should withdraw to avoid embarrassment. Young argued that Grant was being heavily attacked by opponents, who were against a third term. Young also told Grant that if he won, he would be indebted to the triumvirate. Grant felt that his Stalwart friends had been of great assistance and deserved political patronage if he won. Nonetheless, he listened to Young, and wrote a letter to J. Donald Cameron that authorized his name to be withdrawn from the nomination contest if his other Stalwart backers concurred. Upon hearing of his letter, Julia Grant was insistent that her husband should not withdraw his name. She said, "If General Grant were not nominated, then let it be so, but he must not withdraw his name – no, never." Young delivered the letter to the triumvirate in Chicago on May 31, but they took no action.
James G. Blaine
The other main contender for the Republican nomination was James G. Blaine, US senator from Maine. Blaine had previously served in the United States House of Representatives, including serving as Speaker of the House from 1869 to 1875. Blaine and Conkling had a long-standing feud that started during an 1866 debate on the floor of the House of Representatives, and Blaine hoped to win, or to damage Conkling by preventing Grant's nomination. Four years earlier Blaine had campaigned for the nomination; in the weeks prior to the 1876 convention, he was accused of committing fraudulent activities involving railroad stocks. The specifics of Blaine's involvement were detailed in the Mulligan letters. Blaine pleaded his own defense on the floor of the House of Representatives, and read aloud selected, edited portions of the letters that were not incriminating. Despite his attempt to clear his name, Blaine was tarnished by the scandal for the rest of his career.
On the Sunday before balloting was to begin in Cincinnati, Ohio, Blaine collapsed at the steps of Washington Congregational Church. He was unconscious for two days, and as a result, he lost supporters who were doubtful over his health and whether he was capable of handling the presidency. Blaine was also ridiculed by opponents, who accused him of faking illness to gain sympathy; the New York Sun headlined "Blaine Feigns a Faint". On the first ballot of the 1876 convention, Blaine received 285 votes, while Conkling was in second place with 99. After five more ballots resulted in no consensus, on the seventh ballot Conkling and other candidates switched their support to Hayes to ensure Blaine would not be nominated. Hayes defeated Blaine by 384 votes to 351.
After Blaine's failure in 1876, his supporters believed that he needed to be nominated in 1880 if he was ever going to be president, reasoning that if he tried for the nomination twice and failed, he could not count on another opportunity. As his campaign manager, William E. Chandler, put it: Despite the Mulligan letters scandal, Blaine had succeeded remarkably in his 1880 campaign, attracting nationwide support for his candidacy. He argued for the gold standard, support for big business, a tariff to protect American jobholders, civil rights for freed Blacks and Irish independence.
John Sherman
John Sherman was a longtime senator from Ohio who also served the state in the House of Representatives in the late 1850s and early 1860s. As a senator, Sherman led the planning of the national banking system. He also oversaw the national policy for the post-Civil War banking system, and helped restore the nation's finances after the Panic of 1873. Under President Hayes, Sherman served as the Secretary of the Treasury, advocating for the gold standard and building up the country's gold reserves.
Sherman's supporters did not have much confidence in his presidential bid. He was known as the "Ohio Icicle" for his uncharismatic personality, which made him unappealing to voters. His colleagues commented that in public, Sherman "was not eloquent, though a graceful speaker, confining himself almost entirely to statements of fact." In private, he was "reserved, self-contained", a personality with which many Americans were uncomfortable. If elected, Sherman intended to continue his support for the gold standard. Prior to the start of the convention, papers had predicted him to receive 110 votes in the balloting. Sherman felt that he still had a chance at the nomination if Grant's supporters broke apart after five or six ballots.
James Garfield
James Garfield came to Chicago as a senator-elect from Ohio, who had represented the state in the United States House since 1863. He was elected to the Ohio Senate in 1859, and the following year was admitted to the Ohio bar. He served as state senator until 1861, when he enlisted in the Union Army at the start of the Civil War. Garfield was assigned to command the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and had the task of driving Confederate forces out of eastern Kentucky. Garfield led an attack with a number of infantry regiments against Confederate cavalry at Jenny's Creek on January 6, 1862. The Confederates retreated, and for leading his men to victory, Garfield was promoted to brigadier general in March 1862.
Garfield served under Major General Don Carlos Buell at the Battle of Shiloh and under Thomas J. Wood at the siege of Corinth. Garfield's health deteriorated and he was assigned to serve on a commission that investigated the conduct of Union general Fitz John Porter. In the spring of 1863, Garfield returned to the field as chief of staff for William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland. After the disastrous Chickamauga campaign in September 1863, Rosecrans was relieved of his command. Garfield had fought bravely during the battles, so his reputation was not damaged, and he was subsequently promoted to major general. Garfield's fame spread, and William Dennison engineered Garfield's 1862 election to Congress. As Whitelaw Reid commented, Garfield was "the most able and prominent of the young politicians who entered the army at the outbreak of the war." Garfield did not want to leave the army, so he personally visited President Abraham Lincoln for advice. Lincoln told Garfield that he had more generals than he could handle, and what he needed was political support, so Garfield took his seat in the House in December 1863.