The election of 1876 was one of the most fiercely contested in American history, and the outcome led to a constitutional crisis. The Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, won by a single electoral vote over the Democrat, Samuel J. Tilden. However, the Democrats claimed that the election had been stolen, and the country was on the brink of civil war. To resolve the crisis, a special commission was appointed to decide who had won the election. The commission voted along party lines, in favor of Hayes, who was duly inaugurated as president in March 1877. The election of 1876 is often cited as an example of the dangers of a close election, and it led to several reforms to the electoral process, including the establishment of the Electoral College and the creation of the presidential ballot box.