Last week, in one of his typically foolish speeches, Barack Obama poked fun at a number of people whom he said were not for progress, like he supposedly is. Among those he skewered was Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president. It turns out that Hayes was not the Luddite Obama portrayed him to be (will an apology to Hayes’ descendants be forthcoming?) and in this piece, Dan Mitchell observes that the Hayes presidency beats the stuffing out of Obama’s in crucial respects like keeping down the cost of government and abiding by the Constitution.