Biography:

Samuel Jones Tilden was born in 1814 in New York.  He studied law in New York and was admitted to the bar in 1841.   He soon became a successful lawyer and political leader.  In 1874 he was elected to serve as Governor of New York.  As governor, he fought corruption and broke up the “Canal Ring,” a scheme involving illegal contracts for work on the State’s canal system.  He also helped bring about the downfall of the infamous William “Boss” Tweed.

In 1876, Tilden became the Democratic nominee for president.  He ran against Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in what would become the most contested election in US history.  The election results in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon were unclear, and so Congress assembled an Electoral Commission to decide who would win the disputed electoral college votes.  It is believed that Republicans and Southern Democrats made a deal in which they would support Hayes for president if he withdrew federal troops from the South and ended Reconstruction.  Although Tilden won the popular vote, Rutherford Hayes became president.  Tilden died on August 4, 1886.