The Resumption Act was hotly debated during the 1880 presidential election, with most western politicians opposed to it. Specie payments finally resumed during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. Aided by the return of prosperity in 1877, Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman accumulated a gold reserve to be redeemed for existing greenbacks mostly from transactions with Europe. Sherman earmarked a redemption fund by January 1, 1879 that amounted to $133 million acquired from the sale of bonds to Europe and Treasury surplus. However, when people found greenbacks to be on par with gold, they lost their desire for redemption.