B. Hayes of Ohio, likely to block his rival James G. Blaine from winning the nomination. At the Republican Convention in Cincinnati on June 14, the New York delegation actively worked to secure Conkling’s nomination, and his name was placed forward by Stewart L. Woodford. The other candidates named were Marshall Jewell, Oliver P. Morton, Benjamin Bristow, John Hartranft, Hayes, and Conkling’s personal rival James G. Blaine. After Conkling's vote slipped lower on the first five ballots, a member of the Indiana delegation began a stampede to Hayes, who was nominated. New Yorker William A. Wheeler was nominated for vice president. Conkling pledged to make four speeches on behalf of Hayes, but made only one, claiming ill health. Conkling played an active part in resolving the disputed election. Acting on the advice of President Grant, he helped write and pass the bill establishing the Electoral Commission of 1877, tasked with resolving the dispute between Hayes and Samuel Tilden. He gave a powerful speech urging its constitutionality, passage as a means of avoiding violence, but declined to serve on the Committee himself. Conkling’s own position on the controversy was that neither Tilden nor Hayes should be inaugurated, frequently reported as an implicit endorsement of Tilden. 1880 convention As the 1880 election approached, a growing movement favored the nomination of President Grant for a third term. Conkling, along with Senators J. Donald Cameron of Pennsylvania and John A. Logan of Illinois, were at its head. At the 1880 state convention, Conkling secured a binding resolution pledging New York’s delegates to Grant. At the national convention, Conkling moved to have all delegates pledge their support to the eventual nominee. After James A. Garfield delivered a speech against his resolution, Conkling wrote him a note: "I congratulate you as being the 'dark horse.'" Conkling then withdrew his resolution. On the fourth day, Conkling placed Grant’s name in nomination, and the nomination was seconded by William O'Connell Bradley. Grant’s strongest opponents were Conkling’s rivals James G. Blaine and John Sherman, who was nominated by James A. Garfield. Conkling marshaled the Grant delegates through dozens of successive ballots, never wavering in his conviction that Grant should receive a third term. On the fifth night of the convention, some delegates suggested that Conkling himself could be nominated if he would withdraw Grant’s name; he declined. The non-Grant delegates struggled to find an alternate candidate, but it soon