 After speeches in favor of the other front @-@ runners , Garfield rose to place Sherman 's name in nomination ; his nominating speech was well @-@ received , but the delegates mustered little excitement for the idea of Sherman as the next president . The first ballot showed Grant leading with 304 votes and Blaine in second with 284 ; Sherman 's 93 placed him in a distant third . Subsequent ballots quickly demonstrated a deadlock between the Grant and Blaine forces , with neither having the 379 votes needed for nomination . Jeremiah McLain Rusk , a member of the Wisconsin delegation , and Benjamin Harrison , an Indiana delegate , sought to break the deadlock by shifting a few of the anti @-@ Grant votes to a dark horse candidate — Garfield . Garfield gained 50 votes on the 35th ballot , and the stampede began . Garfield protested to the other members of his Ohio delegation that he had not sought the nomination and had never intended to betray Sherman , but they overruled his objections and cast their ballots for him . In the next round of voting , nearly all of the Sherman and Blaine delegates shifted their support to Garfield , giving him 399 votes and the Republican nomination . Most of the Grant forces backed the former president to the end , creating a disgruntled Stalwart minority in the party . To obtain that faction 's support for the ticket , former New York customs collector Chester A. Arthur , a member of Conkling 's political machine , was chosen as the vice @-@ presidential nominee . 
