Rutherford B. Hayes:Middle-of-the-Road

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语介绍美国总统栏目。

Today we are talking about Rutherford B. Hayes. He took office in 1877 and was president during the end of what Americans call Reconstruction – the period following the Civil War.
今天，我们来谈论下拉瑟福德·B·海斯。他于1877年上任，即重建末期的总统，重建时期指内战之后的阶段。

Hayes had a public image as an honest, dignified¹ man. And even though he had ideas that were radical at the time, he supported moderate policies and measured² change.
海斯为人正直，高贵。尽管当时他有一些激进的想法，但他仍然支持温和政策以及适当的改变。

One exception was alcoholic drinks. Hayes banned wine and liquor from the White House.
除了酒精饮料，海斯禁止在白宫饮酒。

Early Life 早年生活

Before Rutherford Hayes was born, his father died. Not too long after that, his older brother died, too.
拉瑟福德·海斯出生前，父亲就去世了。不久，他的大哥也去世了。

As a result, Hayes grew up mostly with just his mother and his older sister. Later, an uncle helped raise him, as well.
因此，海斯主要是在妈妈和姐姐的陪伴下长大。后来，他的一位叔叔也帮助抚养了他。

As a boy, Rutherford Hayes was called “Rud.” He grew up on a farm in Ohio and spent his early years playing with his sister, who taught him to love books.
小时候，拉瑟福德·海斯叫“路德”。他在俄亥俄州的一处农场长大，在那里他和姐姐度过了早年时光，他的姐姐教他爱上了读书。

Hayes was an excellent student, and in time he attended Kenyon College and Harvard Law School.
海斯是一位出色的学生，后来他进入了凯尼恩学院和哈佛法学院。

Hayes started his career as a lawyer in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. He did not go into a field that made much money. Instead, he defended people who were poor or in difficult situations.
海斯在俄亥俄州的辛辛那提市开始了他的律师生涯。他没有进入非常赚钱的领域，而是为穷人及处于困境的人辩护。

He also courted³ the woman he would marry. Lucy Webb – like Hayes’ mother and sister – strongly influenced the way Hayes thought.
他还追求他要娶的女人。露西·韦伯像海斯的母亲和姐姐一样，对海斯的思想产生了较大的影响。

​Hayes’ own views at the time were moderate. He drank alcohol, but not much. He opposed slavery, but he was not an anti-slavery activist.
海斯的观点较为温和。他饮酒，但不多。他反对奴隶制，但不是一名反奴隶制的积极分子。

His new wife, however, was strongly against alcohol and slavery. She was part of social movements at the time to ban alcoholic drinks entirely in the United States.
然而，他的新婚妻子强烈反对饮酒和奴隶制。当时，她是禁酒运动的一员，该运动旨在美国完全禁止酒精饮料。

And she encouraged⁴ Hayes to defend not only the poor in his law business, but also runaway slaves.
她鼓励海斯不仅仅要为穷人辩护，而且也要为逃亡的奴隶辩护。

Together, Rutherford and Lucy Hayes formed an equal marriage committed⁵ to helping others. They were known for being friendly, informal⁶ and welcoming.
拉瑟福德和露西一起形成了一个平等的婚姻来致力于帮助别人。他们因友好、不拘礼节以及热情而为人所知。

They also went on to have eight children, five of whom survived to adulthood. Lucy Webb Hayes said her husband was “always calm” as a father, and took time even when he was president to care for his children.
他们还养育了8个孩子，其中5个活到了成年。露西·韦伯·海斯说，她的丈夫作为父亲总是很“镇静”，即使当上总统后也会抽出时间来照顾他的孩子。

Election of 1876 1876年大选

Because Hayes had such a positive⁷ public image, it is ironic⁸ that the contest⁹ that elected him president was one of the most hostile in U.S. history.
海斯拥有积极的公众形象，但具有讽刺意味的是，选举他作为总统的竞选是美国历史上最不友好的竞选之一。

The full story is complex. But the general story is that Hayes was the Republican candidate, and Samuel Tilden was the Democratic candidate.
整个故事很复杂。但通常的故事是，海斯是共和党的总统候选人，塞繆尔·狄尔登是民主党的候选人。

Tilden won more popular votes across the country. But in the U.S. system, the majority of voters do not choose the president. Instead, a few electors in each state cast votes. In a way, then, the states choose the president.
狄尔登在全国赢得了更多的选票。但在美国选举制度当中，大多数选民不直接选举总统，而是，每个州的选举人（由各州的选民选出）来投票决定。在某种程度上来说，是各州选择总统。

And in the election of 1876, three Southern states gave conflicting reports. It was not clear whether Tilden or Hayes had won South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana.
在1876年大选中，3个南方州发生了选票计算纠纷。是狄尔登还是海斯赢得了南卡罗莱纳州，佛罗里达州和路易斯安那州的选票并不清楚。

Even though the election was held in November, the debate over the winner lasted until the following March – days before the new president was to be sworn in.
即使大选在11月举行，关于胜者的争论却一直持续到第二年的3月，也就是新总统宣誓就职的前几天。

One of the most serious accusations was that Democrats in the South had prevented many black men from voting. If those men had been able to vote, they almost certainly would have voted for Hayes.
最严重的指控之一是，南方的民主党人阻止了许多黑人投票。如果这些黑人能够投票，他们几乎肯定会投票给海斯。

In the end, a special commission in Congress gave the votes in all three disputed states to Rutherford Hayes.
最终，国会的一个特别委员会将这3个争议州的选票全部给了拉瑟福德·海斯。

His opponents pointed out that the majority of people on the commission were Republicans. As a result, they said, the new president had earned his position only because of party politics. They called him “Rutherfraud” and “His Fraudulancy.”
他的对手指出，特别委员会的大多数人都是共和党人。结果，他们说新总统仅仅是因为党派政治赢得了总统职位。他们称海斯为“拉瑟福德骗子”以及“他的欺骗”。

But, in the end, Hayes was widely considered an independent president who operated outside of party loyalties.
但最终，海斯普遍被认为是一位独立的总统，他不效忠于党派。

Presidency 总统任期

One of Hayes’ first acts as president was probably his most important: He withdrew federal troops from Southern states.
海斯就任总统后的第一件事可能也是他最重要的一件事就是，他撤出了南方州的联邦军队。

The troops had been trying to protect the civil and political rights of African-Americans . But white Democrats disliked the federal government’s involvement in their affairs. Also, the troops were not very effective.
军队一直保护着黑人的民权和政治权利。但民主党白人厌恶联邦政府参与他们自己的事务。另外，军队的效果也不是很好。

So Hayes said that if Southern officials promised to obey the country’s laws protecting all people equally, he would end the federal government’s occupation of their states.
所以海斯说，如果南方官员承诺遵守国家法律来保护所有人民平等，他会撤出联邦军队。

The officials agreed, and the period known as Reconstruction officially ended.
官员们同意了，重建时期从官方上来说正式结束了。

But, as the years went on, the rights of black Americans were increasingly violated.
但是，随着时间的推移，美国黑人的权利逐渐被侵犯。

As a result, part of Hayes’ legacy is one of betrayal. His policy permitted systemic violence and racism to continue for decades¹⁰.
结果，海斯的部分遗产是背叛。他的政策允许了体系暴力和种族歧视持续了数十年。

Another of Hayes’ important acts was to reform the country’s civil service. For the most part, members of Congress offered their political allies government jobs with good pay. But Hayes sought to change the rules. He wanted to give government jobs to the most able workers.
海斯的另一项重要举措是改革国家行政部门。大多数情况下，国会议员为他们的政治盟友提供了高薪的政府职位。但海斯力图改变这个规则。他想要最有才能的人担任政府职位。

While his goal was a good one, his action shocked and angered many members of Congress.
然而他的目的是好的，但却震惊及恼怒了许多国会议员。

The Democrats especially sought to weaken Hayes’ position by removing the president’s ability to veto their bills. Hayes fought back – and won.
民主党人尤其想力图通过取消总统否决他们议案的能力去削弱海斯的职能地位。海斯给予回击并成功了。

By the second half of his term, Hayes had restored some of Americans’ trust in government that had been lost under the two presidents before him, Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant.
海斯的后半任期已经恢复了一些美国人对于政府的信任，人们曾经对于在他之前两任总统安德鲁·约翰逊和尤利西斯·S·格兰特的政府失去了信任。

He had helped ease the tensions between the North and South.
海斯帮助缓和了南方和北方之间的紧张局势。

He had stabilized¹¹ the economy.
他稳固了国家经济。

He had increased the power of the presidency in a mostly positive way.
他大部分情况以积极的方式提升了总统的权威。

And he had prepared the way for major civil service reform.
他起草了主要行政部门的改革方案。

But Hayes is not remembered as an especially great president. He is often placed toward the middle – not one of the best, and not one of the worst.
但是，海斯并不是一位特别伟大的总统而被后人记住。他经常被排在中间，不是最好，也不是最差。

Some historians suggest that Hayes would be better remembered if he had stayed a second term and supervised some of the gains begun in his first years.
一些历史学家认为，如果海斯能够继续连任，并且监督指导他最初几年取得的一些进展的话，他会被更好地被后人记住。

But, Hayes had promised that he would serve only one term as president.
但是，海斯承诺过只会担任一届总统。

So, true to his word, Hayes did not seek re-election.
所以，海斯遵守了诺言，没有寻求连任。

Final years 晚年

Hayes had always believed that the best way to solve the country’s problems was to improve the education system.
海斯一直认为，解决国家问题的最好办法是改善教育系统。

So, in his retirement, Hayes became president of two social welfare organizations. One aimed to provide a Christian education to blacks in the South. One of the people helped by that organization was the well-known writer and activist W.E.B. DuBois.
所以，海斯退休后担任了2个社会福利机构的主席。一个致力于为南方黑人提供基督教教育。这个机构所帮助的人们当中出现了一位著名的作家及积极分子杜波依斯。

Hayes also led a group aimed at reforming the country’s prison system.
海斯还领导了一个致力于改革国家监狱系统的组织。

When he was 70 years old, Hayes fell ill. Although he had a big heart¹² for children and for helping people, he died of heart failure.
海斯70岁时病倒了。尽管他拥有一个帮助儿童和人们的宽广胸怀，但却死于心力衰竭。

Afterwards, one of his sons began a new tradition in honor of his father. He established the first presidential library.
后来，他的一个儿子创建了一项新的传统来纪念他的父亲，成立了第一个总统图书馆。

原文链接

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/americas-presidents-rutherford-hayes/3929542.html

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