 At the 1880 Republican National Convention , Senator @-@ elect Garfield attended as campaign manager for Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman , and gave the presidential nomination speech for him . When neither Sherman nor his rivals – Ulysses S. Grant and James G. Blaine – could get enough votes to secure the nomination , delegates chose Garfield as a compromise on the 36th ballot . In the 1880 presidential election , Garfield conducted a low @-@ key front porch campaign , and narrowly defeated Democrat Winfield Scott Hancock . 
