Joseph P. Bradley - 1876 Electoral Commission Controversy

1876 Electoral Commission Controversy

Bradley is best remembered as being the 15th and final member of the Electoral Commission that decided the disputed 1876 presidential election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden.

A Republican since the early days of the party, Bradley was not an obvious first choice. The four justices charged with selecting the fifth and final justice (who, all realized, would be the deciding vote on the commission as all 14 other members were strictly partisan) initially chose justice David Davis for the job, but as Davis had just been elected to the United States Senate he was unable to join. The justices then settled on Bradley. The reasons for this are not entirely clear, though it is evident that Bradley was thought by his colleagues to be the most politically neutral; the court overall at that time had more Republicans than Democrats, however.

Bradley wrote a number of opinions on the electoral commission and justified his votes to his own satisfaction; he sided with the Republicans on every case. On the night before the final vote the Democrats visited Dr. Bradley and believed they had convinced him so that he would decide in their favor. But the next morning his vote was pro-Republican and Hayes was declared President. Sometime after midnight, a delegation of Republicans had allegedly visited the Bradley home and perhaps with the aid of Mrs. Bradley, had convinced the Judge to change his opinion. Whatever happened, the vote of Joseph Bradley had elected Rutherford B. Hayes as President of the United States. Because of this he was vilified in the press and privately as well, even receiving a number of death threats at his home in Washington.