rutherford b. hayes and william a. wheeler were nominated in the summer of 1876, and so close was the fight against samuel j. tilden and thomas a. hendricks that friends of the latter to this day refer to the selection of hayes and wheeler by a joint electoral commission to whom the contested election was referred, as a fraud and larceny on the part of the republican party. it is not the part of an historian, who is absolutely destitute of political principles, to pass judgment. facts have crept into this history, it is true, but no one could regret it more than the author; yet there has been no bias or political prejudice shown, other than that reflected from the historical sources whence information was necessarily obtained.