The unlikely 1880 POTUS election of Ohio Congressman James Garfield.

Something I don't think I knew. Garfield ran as a Republican against former U.S. Army General Winfield Hancock of Gettysburg fame who ran as a Democrat. Hancock one every single former Confederate state. But Garfield won the Northern powerhouse states of Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

Some interesting issues involved in the 1880 Republican primary and later general election. Perhaps chief among them ending a corrupt political patronage system which was growing out of control and replacing it with a more professional, merit-based civil service program.