United States presidential election, 1880

The presidential election in the United States by 1880, largely as a referendum on the Republican " relaxation and reconstruction efforts " in the southern states considered.

President Rutherford B. Hayes did not stand for re-election, to keep the promise he had given during the campaign in 1876. The Republican Party chose James A. Garfield to their candidates; his running mate was Chester A. Arthur. The Democrats nominated Civil War General Winfield Scott Hancock and as vice presidential candidate William Hayden English. They missed their target, several northern states to decide for themselves, and thus to gain the majority. Although Garfield only about 2000 more votes than Hancock had, he was - thanks to the clear projection in the Electoral College - appointed president. It is to this day - apart from the four cases (most recently in 2000) in which the president-elect received fewer votes - the scarcest victory in the popular vote in American history.