(Friday, June 16, 1876, 6:05 p.m. local time) — Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio was nominated President of the United States 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 chose not to run.

Convention delegates nominated Congressman William A. Wheeler of New York for vice president on the first ballot, defeating Frederick T. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, Marshall Jewell and Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut for the nomination.

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