Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4, 1822 - January 17, 1893) was the 19th President of the USA (1877-81). When the Civil War began, he left a successful political career to join the Union Army. Wounded five times, he earned a reputation for bravery in combat and was promoted to the rank of major general. After the war, he served in the Congress from 1865-67 as a Republican. Hayes left Congress to run for Governor of Ohio and was elected to two consecutive terms, serving from 1868-72, and again in 1876-77. In 1876, Hayes was elected president in one of the most contentious elections in national history. He lost the popular vote to Democrat Samuel Tilden, but won the electoral college vote after a Congressional commission awarded him twenty disputed electoral votes. As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and restored trust in government. He believed in meritocratic government, equal treatment without regard to race, and improvement through education. He kept his pledge not to run for re-election. He retired to his home in Ohio and became an advocate of social and educational reform. He died of complications of a heart attack in 1893 at the age of 70.