Republicans nominate Hayes-Wheeler ticket 140 years ago today (June 16 1876)

(Friday, June 16, 1876) — Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio was nominated president today at the 1876 Republican National Convention meeting at Exposition Hall in Cincinnati.

Senator James G. Blaine of Maine, the former Speaker of the House led Hayes 285 to 61 on the first ballot. Hayes finally defeated Blaine on the 7th ballot 384 to 351 votes.

Republican President Ulysses S. Grant considered seeking a third term, but with various scandals, a weak economy and Democratic gains in the House of Representatives leading many Republicans to repudiate him, he did not run.

The convention also nominated Congressman William A. Wheeler of New York for vice president on the first ballot, defeating Marshall Jewell, Stewart L. Woodford of New York, Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut, and Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey.

The Hayes-Wheeler ticket would oppose Democrats Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks in the United States presidential election, 1876.