What President's election marked the end of Reconstruction?

We've been on a Civil War kick lately, so why stop a good thing now?  This one comes off of our Pocket Trivia: US Presidents game: What President's election marked the end of Reconstruction?  Was it Rutherford Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland or Ulysess Grant?

The correct answer is Rutherford Hayes - but there's an interesting twist to this story.

The Presidential Election of 1876 was, without a doubt, one of the most controversial of all time.  It featured Republican Rutherford Hayes against Democrat Samuel Tilden.  When all of the votes were counted, 20 electoral votes were in dispute: Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina.  Those states all appeared to have favored Tilden.  Allegations of fraud and intimidation came from both sides.  Meanwhile, in Oregon, a single vote was disputed when the Democratic Governor said that the Republican elector was ineligible to serve as an elector under the constitution.  Tilden needed just one Electoral Vote to get to 185, the magic number - Hayes needed 20.

When partisan conflict left Congress incapable of solving the problem, an electoral commission was formed.  The commission consisted of an even number of Republicans and Democrats, as well as one independent judge from Illinois, David Davis.  Democrats in Illinois promptly elected Davis to the Senate, believing that they had won his support by doing so - however, Davis resigned from the Commission to take his seat - and a Republican was appointed in his place.  As a result, the commission voted 8-7 to give all votes to Hayes - thus electing Hayes by a 185-184 margin.

However, the result was filibustered by Democrats in the Senate.  Ultimately, Democrats agreed to drop their filibuster in return for the withdrawal of troops from the South - thus marking the formal end of reconstruction.

What papers, published by the New York times, revealed the systematic deception of the American people in regards to the Vietnam War?

Given all of the recent controversy over Wikileaks, I can think of few questions that would be more appropriate than this one right here.  This one comes off of our Pocket Trivia: U.S. History game: What papers, published by the New York times, revealed the systematic deception of the American people in regards to the Vietnam War?  Was it The Kissinger Compilation, The Defense Report, The Pentagon Papers or The Dreyfuss Report?

The correct answer would be The Pentagon Papers.  The Papers, published by the New York Times, was actually a Defense Department study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945-1967.  The study was put together by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.  It was leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, who had once worked on the report, to the New York Times.  It showed that four Presidential administrations had actually lied to the American public about the war and had expanded the war greater than was previously known, among other accusations.

The Nixon administration sued to stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers, fearing that its publication would set a bad precedent for future National Security leaks (sound fimiliar?).  The Nixon Administration obtained an injunction to stop the Papers publication, but the decision was overturned 6-3 in a U.S. Supreme Court decision, allowing the publication of the Papers to continue.

Others in the Nixon administration would later admit that the report was a classic example of "overclassification" and that there was never a threat to national security, so the parallel to Wikileaks is unclear - but nonetheless, certainly makes you think, doesn't it?

What former U.S. Vice President would later become Secretary of War for the Confederate States of America?

We did it yesterday, so let's keep the streak alive: another Civil War question, this one from our Pocket Trivia: U.S. Presidents game.  What former U.S. Vice President would later become Secretary of War for the Confederate States of America?  Was it James Polk, John Breckenridge, John Calhoun or John Tyler?

This one always interested me - it's amazing to think that a former Vice President of the United States could wind up becoming one of the highest ranking officials in the Confederacy?

Alright - not John Tyler.  Tyler was Vice President to William Henry Harrison and became President when Harrison died.  When war broke out, Tyler tried to stop it via a compromise, but to no avail.  Instead, Tyler was elected to serve as a Congressman in the Confederate Congress (!!!!), but died before he could serve.  Harrison became the only President whose death was not mourned in Washington.

Not John Calhoun.  Calhoun, a Senator and one-time Vice President, was an advocate for states rights and the rights of slaveholders, but died ten years before the Civil War.

Not James Polk either.  Polk was a Congressman, Speaker of the House and U.S. President, but never V.P. Polk died 103 days after he left the Presidency in 1849.

The correct answer is John Breckenridge.  Breckenridge was something of a boy wonder and elected Vice President at age 35 - the youngest V.P. in history.  He ran for President in 1860 and came in third, winning only border states, having been nominated by the southern wing of the Democratic party.  He was expelled from the U.S. Senate in 1861 for supporting the South and eventually served as a successful general.  Named Secretary of War during 1865, the final days of the confederacy, Breckenridge helped to oversee an end to the Civil War and negotiate an honorable surrender with Union forces.  Breckenridge fled the country and only reentered in 1869 after having been granted amnesty.