Born in Ohio in 1822, Hayes was educated at Kenyon College and Harvard Law School. After five years of law practice in Lower Sandusky, he moved to Cincinnati, where he flourished as a young Whig lawyer. He fought in the Civil War, was wounded in action, and rose to the rank of brevet major general.
But he was also smart enough to know that he did not have all the answers to life's challenges. In a letter during some difficult considerations about bringing the country to a better place in the wake of the Civil War, he said the following:
We do not want a united North nor a united South. We want a united country. And if the great trust shall devolve upon me, I fervently pray that the Divine Being, who holds the destinies of the nations in his hands, will give me wisdom to perform its duties so as to promote the truest and best interests of the whole country.
So despite his Harvard degree he needed to consult our Creator. This has been and still is part of our country's history.
Read more here:
http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/scholarworks/display.asp?id=503
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