CLEP US History II

Answer: C - Rutherford B. Hayes lost the popular vote to Samuel Tilden in the 1876 presidential election by over 250,000 votes, but back-room deals made with the election commission and members of Congress won him the presidency anyway. To win the 20 disputed electoral votes that decided the election, Hayes made a deal that required him to remove federal troops from Southern states, ending Reconstruction. As a result, he was the last president of the Reconstruction Era. As of 2012, Hayes is one of only four elected presidents in American history who took office without winning the popular vote. (The other three are: J.Q. Adams in 1824, B. Harrison in 1888 and G.W. Bush in 2000) Hayes was not reelected to a second term.