Rutherford B Hayes won by one electoral Vote; 1877; Electoral College

Tonight's episode we will discuss the election certification that is still causing controversy and doubts. In 1877, a joint session of the 44th Congress met for the first time to count the electoral votes in the 1876 presidential election. Democrat Samuel Tilden had emerged from the close election leading Republican Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, just one vote shy of the 185 needed to win. However, returns from Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, and Oregon remained in dispute. Both Tilden & Hayes electors submitted votes from these 3 states, each claiming victory. The Democratic controlled House and the Republican dominated Senate came to a compromise on how to resolve the problem by creating an Electoral Commission: a bipartisan committee of House Members, Senators, and Supreme Court Justices who would determine the final disposition of the unassigned electoral votes. The February 1 Joint Session first put the commission to work, submitting the Florida returns for investigation before a large crowd in the gallery. “There was a great desire to witness a fair count,” said the NY Times, “and curiosity was increased by the expectation that the new law would afford some new diversion to the formality of the counting.” Congress met in a Joint Session 15 times, until—acting on the decision of the commission—it awarded the disputed vote to Hayes, granting him the victory by one vote.  We also discuss the Nashville explosion on how some people think there was a missile strike behind it that damaged ATT communications & fiber optics.