HP, ended Reconstruction and did little to reign in the spoils system, the two main issues of his time. I'd have voted for him, because Tilden was worse, but that's not saying much.
As Tim Turner pointed out in another recent thread, the narrative regarding Hayes and reconstruction is over emphasized usually by Tilden sympathizers, including but not limited to Mr. Beat on his YouTube channel. However this ignores the reality that Tilden would have certainly done the same thing as would any other Democrat by this point.
The economic collapse, Grant's unpopularity and the lack of interest by Northern voters is what "ended" reconstruction, and after that point Republicans could either accept that and salvage themselves politically or lose and have the same result happen anyway. Either way reconstruction was not going to survive the decade and a Republican was certainly preferable to any Democrat of this period.
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