Hayes Presidential Library and Museums

It may sound familiar to hear that when a certain U.S. president felt his message was not being carried by news reporters in a manner he liked, he instead insisted on making efforts to deliver his message to the public directly. 

That sort of effort to circumvent the press was made by President Rutherford Hayes early on into his term in the White House, which began in 1877. 

In the midst of the Reconstruction-era after the Civil War, Hayes, a Republican, began his presidency under a “tumultuous start.” But as he was trying to structure a message that could appeal to Southerners, Hayes decided to travel there and make his argument directly to what he viewed as potential future Republicans. 

During a visit to Nashville, Tennessee, as part of that trip, in an attempt to “soothe remaining animosity between the North and the South,” Hayes argued that “the North had won the war by virtue of greater numbers and, thus, the South had no reason to feel inferior.”

It may sound familiar to hear that when a certain U.S. president felt his message was not being carried by news reporters in a manner he liked, he instead insisted on making efforts to deliver his message to the public directly. 

That sort of effort to circumvent the press was made by President Rutherford Hayes early on into his term in the White House, which began in 1877. 

In the midst of the Reconstruction-era after the Civil War, Hayes, a Republican, began his presidency under a “tumultuous start.” But as he was trying to structure a message that could appeal to Southerners, Hayes decided to travel there and make his argument directly to what he viewed as potential future Republicans. 

During a visit to Nashville, Tennessee, as part of that trip, in an attempt to “soothe remaining animosity between the North and the South,” Hayes argued that “the North had won the war by virtue of greater numbers and, thus, the South had no reason to feel inferior.”

That message, however, was something Hayes claimed that a reporter in Louisville “failed to interpret.” That was largely why he decided to make the trip and lay out his hopes to take Reconstruction policy a step forward himself, rather than by relying on the press. 

That story is just one of many featured in the new special exhibit at the Hayes Presidential Library and Museums titled “The Press and The Presidency,” which opened to the public on Saturday. 

Read the full article here.