Vidal Gore — Eighteen Seventy [2808]

In Grant’s view, Hayes has carried South Carolina (which may be true) and Florida (which is not true), but he agrees that Hayes has plainly lost Louisiana to Tilden. The President then went on to observe that since Louisiana is such a peculiarly corrupt state and that since both sides have made complaints of irregularities, all sets of returns from Louisiana should be thrown out and the election decided in the House of Representatives, as prescribed by the Constitution. — Vidal Gore, Eighteen Seventy, 2808

Note

The concluding suggestion that ‘all sets of returns from Louisiana should be thrown out and the election decided in the House of Representatives’ presents a dramatic pivot in the narrative, underscoring the stakes and the potential for political upheaval.