Rutherford B. Hayes (born October 4, 1822, Delaware, Ohio, U.S.—died January 17, 1893, Fremont, Ohio) was the 19th president of the United States (1877–81), who brought post-Civil War Reconstruction to an end in the South and who tried to establish new standards of official integrity after eight years of corruption in Washington, D.C. He was the only president to hold office by decision of an extraordinary commission of congressmen and Supreme Court justices appointed to rule on contested electoral ballots.