Garfield’s letter accepting the 1880 Republican nomination, summarized

When James A. Garfield accepted the 1880 Republican presidential nomination, he did it in a letter written from Mentor, Ohio. It covers voting rights, schools, money, trade, rivers, immigration and the civil service, and it shows what a candidate was willing to commit to in print. This NPS article, by the site manager of the James A. Garfield National Historic Site, reproduces it; what follows is a summary.

A view of the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago. Library of Congress.

Accepting the nomination

Garfield wrote to the convention committee's chairman, George F. Hoar, saying that on the evening of June 8 he had received the official announcement that the convention in Chicago had nominated him. He accepted with gratitude and a sense of responsibility, and endorsed the party platform. He noted that his views on most of its subjects were already in the published proceedings of Congress, and said he wanted to discuss the likely topics without reviving the passions of the late war.

A nation, and every citizen's rights

Garfield wrote that Republicans defend the rights of the people and the states but reject the "doctrine of State supremacy" that had crippled the national government and nearly destroyed the union. The nation, he said, has ample power of self-preservation, and its laws must not be violated or evaded, so every elector can freely cast a ballot that is honestly counted and not cancelled by a fraudulent one. The wounds of the war could not fully heal, he added, until every citizen, rich or poor, white or black, was secure in civil rights, and he faulted the South for lacking enough toleration of political opinion for a minority party to restrain the party in power.

James A. Garfield in 1880. Library of Congress.

Schools, money and trade

• Education. Popular education is next in importance to freedom and justice. Schools belong to the states and the people, though the nation can generously help support common schools. No tax money, national or state, should go to sectarian schools, and church and state should be absolutely separate on taxation.
• Finance. The public debt is well secured and interest rates have fallen through refunding, so economy and steady payment of principal would free the people from the burden of the war debt. The government can still meet its ordinary costs and its duties to soldiers and to widows and orphans. Resuming specie payments, he said, made paper money equal to coin, and he warned against violent changes or doubtful financial experiments.
• Tariffs. Customs laws should raise revenue and let American labor and capital compete fairly in the home market. He argued that a country is not independent unless its people have the skill to clothe, arm and equip themselves for war, and make the tools of peace.

The 1880 Republican ticket: Garfield of Ohio and Chester A. Arthur of New York. Library of Congress.

Rivers, immigration and the civil service

Garfield favored harbor and river improvements strictly limited to works of national importance, with special attention to the Mississippi, whose shipping carried the products of 25,000,000 people, and he noted that seven-twelfths of the population was in agriculture.

On immigration, he said the nation had long welcomed emigrants who wished to join its society, but described the recent movement of Chinese people to the Pacific coast as unlike that, and said that if diplomatic talks with China failed, Congress should restrict it. The wording reflects the prejudice of its time.

On appointments, he held that the civil service needed a better basis, with Congress devising a method to fix tenure of office, and he wanted officials to do their duties with intelligence, efficiency and faithfulness. The president, he said, should seek information from those who know the communities concerned.

The close

Garfield said the convention's doctrines were deliberate convictions, not temporary devices to win votes, and that they would guide his conduct until experience showed a better way. If elected, he would enforce strict obedience to the constitution and the laws and promote the interest and honor of the whole country.

President Garfield's inauguration, March 4, 1881. Architect of the Capitol.

Sources

• National Park Service article by Todd Arrington, Site Manager, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, written March 2019 for the Garfield Observer (https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/james-a-garfield-s-letter-accepting-the-1880-republican-presidential-nomination.htm). Garfield's letter is a document from 1880 and the article is a U.S. government work in the public domain.
• National Park Service; rewritten in hubnx's own words.