I found it a bit odd that no one has mentioned this yet , so I will do it . The Election of 1876 , 1876 # Closestates was between Republican Rutherford Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden . This was during the reconstruction of the south , a period after the Civil War where congress basically took military control of the South . After voting , Tilden won the popular vote by 3 % and was set to win the electoral college . Tilden was one vote from winning , but 20 votes were being disputed in Florida , Louisiana , and South Carolina . Congress created a Commission to determine who will win the states . The Commission was made up of 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats . The members struck a deal , the Compromise of 1877 , which elected Hayes as president in trade for ending Reconstruction in the South .