He was a leader of the Democratic Party's anti-slavery faction during the Civil War. His defeat in the national campaign aided in the termination of Reconstruction in the Southern and the removal of government soldiers from the region. During his existence, he never was wedded and had no kids. He was well-known for his truthfulness and capacity to identify wrongdoing. The Public Library was established with the majority of his fortune left to the town of New York.

Tilden received 250,000 votes in the public election. However, 20 electoral votes were up for grabs, putting Tilden and Hayes without the need for a plurality of the delegates. Since Tilden had received 184 electoral college votes, one vote short of the mark, a Hayes success needed him to win all of the contested ballots. Congress, despite Tilden's desires, created the nonpartisan Electoral Commission to resolve the dispute. The Electoral Commission, which had a one-seat majority, ruled in a succession of group judgments that Hayes had received all the contested electoral votes. Democratic leaders agreed to acknowledge Hayes as the winner in exchange for the conclusion of Reconstruction in the 1877 Compromise. Tilden's supporters attempted to make him a significant Democratic candidate for president in the 1880 and 1884 national campaigns, and he had abandoned elections and refused to run.