Editing Henry L. Dawes (section)

===Strategist for "Half-Breed" Republicans===
During the presidency of [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] (spanning 1877–81), Dawes was a prominent member of congressional "[[Half-Breeds (politics)|Half-Breeds]]" within the Republican Party allied with Hayes' support for [[Civil service reform in the United States|civil service reform]].<ref>Welch, Richard E., Jr. (1968). [https://vermonthistory.org/journal/misc/GeorgeEdmunds.pdf ''George Edmunds of Vermont: Republican Half-Breed''], p. 65. ''Vermont History''. Retrieved March 4, 2022.</ref> Along with fellow Massachusetts senatorial Half-Breed [[George F. Hoar]] and Rep. [[John Davis Long]], he became one of the faction's leading strategists.<ref name=p.67-68>''George Edmunds of Vermont'', p. 67–68.</ref>

During the [[1880 United States presidential election]], the agreed strategy planned was to prevent either former president [[Ulysses S. Grant]], the leader of "[[Stalwarts (politics)|Stalwarts]]," nor [[Blaine faction]] leader [[James G. Blaine]] of Maine, from obtaining the nomination at the [[Republican National Convention]].<ref name=p.67-68/> Instead, the Half-Breeds would push to nominate faction member [[George F. Edmunds]], a senator from [[Vermont]].

However, Sen. Hoar admonished Half-Breed supporters that Republican delegates should not make their preferences clearly visible to others.<ref name=p.67-68/> Although the Massachusetts delegation did support Edmunds, the Vermont Half-Breed failed to garner enough support, and the faction ultimately formed an alliance with Blaine supporters in successfully nominating [[James A. Garfield]] of [[Ohio]].