Which president won the election of 1876 and ended Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the South?

Rutherford B. Hayes won the election of 1876 and played a pivotal role in the end of Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the South. This election was one of the most disputed in American history, with Hayes losing the popular vote but winning the presidency through a highly controversial compromise. The Compromise of 1877, which followed his election, resulted in the agreement to remove federal troops from the Southern states in exchange for the Democrats allowing Hayes to assume the presidency.

This withdrawal marked a significant turning point, effectively ending the Reconstruction era, which had aimed to integrate formerly enslaved people into society and rebuild the South after the Civil War. The departure of federal troops allowed Southern states to implement Jim Crow laws and impose racial segregation and disenfranchisement methods that would last for decades. Hayes’s presidency is often viewed in the context of his attempts to bring about reconciliation between the North and South, but the compromise ultimately led to the abandonment of the rights of African Americans in the South.