The 1876 U.S. presidential election occurred at the twilight of Reconstruction and was between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden.

After an extremely heated election dispute, a compromise was eventually reached where Hayes would become U.S. President in exchange for the end of Reconstruction and a withdrawal of U.S. federal troops from the South.

[1] Tilden was previously the chair of the New York Democratic Party as well as the campaign manager for Horatio Seymour's unsuccessful 1868 presidential campaign and was notable for both toppling Boss Tweed (the corrupt boss of the Tammany Hall political machine) and prosecuting the Canal Ring.

[1][3] The 1876 Democratic platform demanded the repeal of the Specie Payment Resumption Act, condemned the Grant Administration's corruption, reaffirmed the Reconstruction Amendments, denounced Congressional Reconstruction as both coercive and corrupt, supported a tariff only for revenue, conservation of public lands, and civil service reform.

[1] Meanwhile, the Republicans "waved the bloody shirt" by associating the Democrats with the Confederacy[4] and criticized Tilden's questionable tax returns, early association with Boss Tweed, poor health, and conflicting views on the "money question" in comparison to his running mate.

[5] Tilden's campaign aggressively focused on winning the crucial New York state and its 35 electoral votes while the Grant Administration spent nearly $300,000—mostly in the South and in New York City—on deputy marshals and supervisors whose job was to secure a fair election (there was violence against and intimidation of Black voters by the Democrats in the Southern U.S. in 1876).

[5] Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled House made a crucial blunder when it passed a statehood bill for Colorado in the middle of the campaign.