Editing James A. Garfield (section)

===Campaign against Hancock===
[[File:1880RepublicanPoster.png|thumb|200px|Garfield–Arthur election poster]]
[[File:ElectoralCollege1880.svg|right|thumb|200px|1880 electoral vote results]]
Even with a Stalwart on the ticket, animosity between the Republican factions carried over from the convention, so Garfield traveled to New York to meet with party leaders.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=488–491}} After convincing the Stalwart crowd to put aside their differences and unite for the coming campaign, Garfield returned to Ohio, leaving the active campaigning to others, as was traditional at the time.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=498–500}} Meanwhile, the Democrats settled on their nominee, Major General [[Winfield Scott Hancock]] of Pennsylvania, a career military officer.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=488–491}} Hancock and the Democrats expected to carry the [[Solid South]], while much of the North was considered safe territory for Garfield and the Republicans; most of the campaign focused on a few [[Swing state|close states]], including New York and Indiana.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=501–502}}

Practical differences between the candidates were few, but Republicans began the campaign with the familiar theme of [[waving the bloody shirt]]. They reminded Northern voters the Democratic Party was responsible for secession and four years of civil war, and Democrats would reverse the gains of that war, dishonor Union veterans, and pay Confederate veterans pensions out of the federal treasury.{{sfn|Clancy|1958|pp=175–180}} Fifteen years had passed since the end of the war, and with Union generals at the head of both tickets, the bloody shirt was of diminishing value in exciting the voters.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=493–494}} With a few months to go before the election, the Republicans switched tactics to emphasize the [[tariff]]. Seizing on the Democratic platform's call for a "tariff for revenue only", Republicans told Northern workers a Hancock presidency would weaken the tariff protection that kept them in good jobs.{{sfn|Clancy|1958|pp=232–233}} Hancock made the situation worse when, attempting to strike a moderate stance, he said, "The tariff question is a local question."{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=493–494}} The Republican ploy proved effective in uniting the North behind Garfield.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=511–513}} Ultimately, of the more than 9.2{{spaces}}million popular votes cast, fewer than 2,000 separated the two candidates.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/scores.html#1880 |title=Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996 |publisher=U.S. National Archives |access-date=January 10, 2018 |archive-date=February 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204033536/http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/scores.html#1880 |url-status=live }}</ref> But in the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]], Garfield had an easy victory over Hancock, 214 to 155.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=510–511}} The election made Garfield the only sitting member of the House ever to be elected to the presidency.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-election-of-President-James-Garfield-of-Ohio/|publisher=[[United States House of Representatives]]|title=The election of President James Garfield of Ohio|access-date=June 23, 2015|archive-date=May 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504200455/https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-election-of-President-James-Garfield-of-Ohio/|url-status=live}}</ref>