Medal Given by U.S. Grant to His Supporters at the 1880 Republican Convention – the Old Guard As He Called Them

It was struck from the last cannon fired at Appomattox

U.S. Grant served as president from 1869-1877. He was succeeded by Rutherford B. Hayes, who remained in office for one term, and announced that he would not run for reelection in 1880. Thus, in 1880, the Republican Party had no clear leader. Grant left office after his two terms under a cloud of scandal. But he had just returned from a triumphal world tour and was anxious to return to the White House for a third term as President. Republicans met for their seventh national convention in Chicago in early June 1880. They convened in the brand new Industrial Exposition building, that could hold 15,000 delegates, dignitaries and spectators. Some 500 reporters were provided tables right below the speakers’ platform where they could hear every word; they could report to the country by telegraph directly from the convention hall. The stage was set for the longest nominating battle in the history of the Republican Party.

When the convention convened, Grant was supported by the largest bloc of delegates. But he did not have enough votes to win the nomination on the first ballot. The “anybody but Grant” Republicans were led by Senator James G. Blaine. A smaller group, led by Congressman James A. Garfield, supported Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman, brother of General William T. Sherman. Several “favorite son” candidates were also nominated. The anti-Grant factions could not muster a majority for any one of those candidates. By the end of the day twenty-eight ballots had been taken, and the vote totals had barely budged. Grant had abut 307 votes, Blaine 279 and Sherman 91. The next day they began with the twenty-ninth ballot, but there was no real change in the vote totals until the very end of the roll call for the thirty-fourth ballot. At that point, seeing a stalemate, a man who was not a candidate and who had challenged the ability of delegates to vote for him. James A. Garfield, began to gather votes. Garfield won on the 36th ballot, leaving the other candidates stunned.

The 306 stalwarts who stuck with Grant to the end were called Grant’s “Old Guard”. In gratitude, each of them received a gift from the grateful former president. It was a 2 3/4 inch diameter bronze medal featuring a bust profile of Grant surrounded by laurels and a series of tallies corresponding to 36, the number ballots at the convention. There is also a copyright date of 1881. On the verso it reads, “Commemorative of the 36 Ballots of The Old Guard for Ulysses S. Grant for President. Republican National Convention. June 1880.” The striking thing about the medals was that they were struck from metal from the last cannon fired at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. The original presentation box is still present, with its purple velvet lining, along with the inscription “Old Guard, Chicago, June 1880. U.S. Grant.”

Uncommon, this being just the third Old Guard medal we have on all these decades.