Samuel J Tilden Essay

An adamant reformer, an principled politician, and a courageous national leader, Samuel J. Tilden was a man devoted to serving the public. As Governor of New York, and as a Presidential candidate in the disputed and controversial Presidential election of 1876, he served as an example for future politicians of how an honorable and high-minded statesman should act. Born in New Lebanon, New York in 1814, Tilden attended Yale College and studied law at New York University. He soon found extensive success as an attorney representing corporate interests. In 1846, he joined the New York Assembly as a Democrat, later becoming a leading opponent of the expansion of slavery into the Western territories. When the Civil War broke out, he supported the
Unsurprisingly, the Commission granted Hayes the electoral votes, meaning that he had beaten Tilden by only one electoral vote. Tensions continued to rise, however, as many Democrats refused to accept the legitimacy of Hayes’s victory. In order to end the crisis and avert disorder, the “Compromise of 1877” was reached, in which Hayes’s legitimacy as President was accepted in exchange for the withdrawal of all federal troops from the South, ending the process of Reconstruction. Tilden accepted the result of the election, and advised his followers to do the same. Samuel J. Tilden died in 1886, at the age of 72. He bequeathed most of his fortune to the creation of a public library for New York City. Tilden managed to thrive as an honorable politician loyal to advancing the interests of the public at a time when men of his caliber were scarce. He forfeited his aspiration to the Presidency in order to “insure domestic Tranquility” and prevent violence and unrest from breaking out. As Governor of New York, he fought to “establish Justice” and eliminate corrupt practices. Samuel Tilden defined how an American politician should act: not in his own interest, nor in that of a small faction; but instead in the interest of the