Ulysses S. Grant

The legacy of Ulysses S. Grant is one of the most peculiar of all the presidents. Prior to the 1990s and 2000s, Grant was almost universally demonized as one of, if not the, worst president in American history. James Buchanan's negligence regarding the secession crisis, Franklin Pierce irritating sectional tensions more than any other president, and James K. Polk sacrificing the lives of American soldiers to provoke a foreign country were all considered minor faults in comparison to Grant's main issue: Corruption. But in recent years, other aspects of the Grant Administration have been inspected by historians. As a result, Grant's name has been elevated amidst those of other presidents. While nowhere near the top 10 (where internet historians tend to place him), Grant is now considered a good president by most experts in US history. Like with many things, in life, however, the truth sits in between these two extremes: Grant was neither an incompetent buffoon with a knack for corruption nor a brilliant president whose name should be connected with the names of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, Truman, or Eisenhower. I would consider him average, or perhaps even slightly below average.

One of the greatest parts of the Grant Administration was his dedication to civil rights. Grant was inaugurated in 1869 amidst the country's work in Reconstruction. Reconstruction was officially launched in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln as a project to rebuild the south in the wake of the civil war and to extend political, economic, and legal rights to ex-slaves. Despite its early launch, Reconstruction took until the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 to become a major concern. With the southern surrender at Appomattox Court House, Lincoln no longer had to dedicate all his time and energy to the war effort and instead could divert those things to reconciliation and restoration. Tragically, however, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865, resulting in Lincoln's death the following day. With this, Andrew Johnson - a southern Unionist Lincoln had selected as his running mate in 1864 to show his love for the south - became president.

Johnson proved to be one of the worst leaders in American history. He was wise enough to endorse the 13th Amendment banning slavery as Lincoln had, but his civil rights record instantly plunged into the abyss of evil and prejudice the second slavery formally ended in the US. Congressional Republicans like Thaddeus Stevens and Benjamin Wade drafted dozens of bills protecting and establishing the rights of the newly-freed slaves and Johnson vetoed almost every single one of them. Thankfully, after Johnson humiliated himself during a speaking tour in 1866, the Republicans won an enormous majority in Congress and drafted the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This law split the former-Confederate states into 5 military districts and then had federal troops occupy these districts with the task of enforcing laws meant to protect the rights of ex-slaves. Although Johnson continued to veto civil rights bills, his vetoes were constantly overridden and the laws were enforced regardless.

As life for black Americans dramatically improved, the 1868 election took place, pitting Democrat Horatio Seymour against the Republican Ulysses S. Grant. Largely because of the black vote, Grant easily won the election and replaced Johnson as president on March 4, 1869. Grant was altruistic enough and had the intelligence to go along with the program of egalitarians in Congress. He signed nearly every civil rights bill that crossed his desk. With the executive and legislative branches now unified in their pursuit of more freedom, opportunity, and safety for the ex-slaves, black Americans (even black southerners) began to enjoy a markedly better life. For this fact, Grant deserves our eternal gratitude and unending praise. Were it not for this fact, Grant would be in the bottom 10 or maybe even the bottom 5 of my list. But his support for civil rights saves him from that ignominy.

Grant didn't just help black people. He also did a lot of good for Native Americans. During his inaugural address, Grant bravely and accurately labeled Native Americans as the original inhabitants of his nation and our nation. From there, he initiated the Peace Policy, a project to improve the treatment of Native Americans by white people and federal authorities. Grant set aside vast swathes of American land for indigenous control and increased funding to the Native American reservations that already existed. He also reduced corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and even attempted to give Native Americans citizenship. In the latter pursuit, though, he failed and Native Americans wouldn't obtain citizenship until Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. Under Grant, the first Native Americans were hired to advise the federal government on its relationship with indigenous tribes. One aspect of the Peace Policy was flawed, though: Since Quakers are pacifists, Grant started appointing Quakers to offices in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Grant's intentions here were good, but this decision was unconstitutional. As per the No Religious Tests Clause of the Constitution, no public official can be hired or fired on the basis of their faith.

Again, Grant's pursuit of civil rights was very admirable. However, they only helped black Americans in the short term. In the long term, Grant actually facilitated the Jim Crow Era. As mentioned in my introductory paragraph, Grant used to be derided for his corruption to the point of being dubbed a bottom 3 president. While the corruption issue was over-exaggerated, it did exist. This corruption was not only bad on its own but also caused people to lose interest in Grant's pro-civil rights policies, which contributed to the end of Reconstruction. For instance, in 1862, Lincoln suspended the gold standard so that the government could produce as much money as it needed to fund the war effort. After the civil war ended, Lincoln restored the gold standard and started giving US citizens gold in exchange for "greenbacks", i.e. the currency not backed up by any precious metal.

This practice horrified Jay Gould and James Fisk, two major Wall Street speculators who were making an enormous profit selling their personal gold collection. If the practice of exchanging greenbacks for gold continued, then the amount of gold on the market would dramatically increase and so the price of the average nugget would decline. Hence, it would be harder for them to make a profit. So, they hired a lawyer named Abel Corbin to convince Grant to appoint a man named Daniel Butterfield to the Department of the Treasury. Butterfield then convinced Grant to stop exchanging gold for greenbacks. On September 24, 1869, Grant's secretary of treasury realized what was going on and halted Fisk and Gould's plans by placing $4,000,000 of the government's gold on the private market. The sudden drop in gold prices almost caused a catastrophic recession. Thankfully, no such recession took place.

Grant was not aware of what was going on, but he was close with Fisk and Gould because he didn't know how manipulative and selfish the two really were. For this reason, the Gold Scandal hurt Grant's approval ratings and became associated with Grant's defense of racial equality. In 1872, it was revealed that when Grant allowed the Union Pacific Railroad to take control of building a transcontinental railroad, the UPR set up its own auction giving the responsibility to a different entity. Herbert Hoxie, a UPR board member, created a shell company called Credit-Mobilier and submitted an astonishingly-high bid to ensure his corporation received control over the railroad. Since Credit-Mobilier was composed of other UPR officials, the UPR still effectively had control over the railroad.

Under the pseudonym of "Credit-Mobilier", the UPR started engaging in corrupt behavior that halted the completion of the railroad all so they could line their pockets. Just before Grant stood for reelection, the jig was revealed, along with the fact that several of Grant's officials had been given stocks in Credit-Mobilier in exchange for their silence. Grant condemned the Credit-Mobilier Scandal and even knocked his vice president Schuyler Colfax off the reelection ticket as a punishment for his involvement in the affair. Colfax was replaced by a man named Henry Wilson. Again, as demonstrated by his fury at the news of the Credit-Mobilier Scandal, Grant had no involvement in the scheme. But he still failed to develop the judgment that would prevent him from hiring such crooks, even in the wake of the Gold Scandal. Grant also failed to stop or even monitor the Whiskey Ring, a group of his lower officials and moguls in the alcohol industry stealing tax-payer money and funneling it into their businesses and Grant's reelection campaign. Coupled with the Gold Scandal and Credit-Mobilier Affair, information about the Whiskey Ring destroyed public support for Grant's Reconstruction policies.

Similarly, Grant's handling of the economy was abysmal. In 1871, Germany swapped out the silver standard for the gold standard. Other countries followed suit, and Grant decided to join in on the trend in 1873. The replacement of the silver standard caused silver to flood out of bank deposits and into other regions of the economy, creating a massive deflation crisis in the silver market. The establishment of the gold standard also caused gold to exit most of the economy and be stuffed inside bank vaults, creating an inflation crisis in the gold standard. These facts worsened the economy. The fact that gold is rarer than silver also reduced the amount of currency on the market in general, making it harder for several companies to support themselves. Beginning with Jay Cooke & Company on September 13, 1873, dozens of corporations filed for bankruptcy, creating a major recession called the Panic of 1873.

The Panic of 1873 was one of the longest recessions in modern history. It caused thousands of Americans to lose their jobs and many of those who were fortunate enough to maintain employment were forced to endure lower wages. But these facts are minor in comparison to the worst impact of the Panic of 1873: It distracted northerners from Reconstruction. Now, people from states like Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut were concerned not about black rights, but about securing an economic recovery. The fact that Grant failed to do that dragged out the Panic of 1873 and allowed the south to get away with treating black people more poorly. Grant also kowtowed to southern demands for the removal of federal troops. By 1876, only South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida had troops left within their borders. With Reconstruction having been reduced to a minor and almost pathetic political force, it was much easier for the south to demolish it following the 1876 election. And with the removal of federal troops, segregation became the norm in the south until the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Outside of Grant's support for civil rights, he had other accomplishments. For instance, he resisted immense pressure to support an independence revolt in Cuba, thus averting a war with Spain. However, Grant also tried to buy Cuba (much like James K. Polk and Franklin Pierce before him), which I oppose because the residents of Cuba would have no say in the acquisition. I oppose Grant's efforts at annexing the Dominican Republic for the same reason. Although, I will note that Grant's attempt to acquire the Dominican Republic had good intentions: He wanted a place for black Americans to seek refuge if they couldn't bare the violence and hate they faced in the mainland US. He also hoped that employers would treat their black employees better because they could always just go get a job in the Dominican Republic.

In regards to protecting the working class, Grant practiced what he preached: He issued an executive order lowering the workday of government employees to 8 hours a day. This would eventually be repealed by a future president, though William Howard Taft went on to restore it. Grant established the Department of Justice as well. He also launched the first investigation into the Star Route Affair. After John Tyler created star routes - the practice of the post office gathering revenue by selling postal routes to private bidders - officials in the post office would bribe Congressmen into creating new star routes or into giving the postal service money with which to create star routes. Then, they would stuff the profits into their own pockets rather than giving it to the genuine needs and projects of the postal service.

Like Benjamin Harrison, Grant was an interesting forerunner to the environmentalism of the Progressive Era. Contrary to popular belief, it was not Theodore Roosevelt who established the first national park. Yellowstone (the first national park) was set aside for conservation and tourism by Grant, not Roosevelt. Grant also signed the Timber Culture Act of 1873, which expanded upon the Homestead Act. Signed in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln, the Homestead Act permitted any American (regardless of race, gender, or status as an immigrant or native-born citizen) to buy 160-acre plots of federal land so long as they were over 18 or the head of a household. The land was sold at a very low price with few expectations, simply requiring $26 upfront and $1.50 in each of the 6 months following the original purchase. All they had to do was live on and improve the land for 5 years. Under Grant's law, people who had bought land under the Homestead Act could buy a second 160-acre plot of land if they planted 40 acres of trees on their first plot.

Ulysses S. Grant was a great man. He was a caring husband who, even as he suffered in his last days, dedicated all of his might to writing memoirs that would support his struggling relatives. He was an educated general whose brilliance was integral to the Union victory in the civil war and, as a result, the end of American chattel slavery. While living in the White House, he prevented a war with Spain, stood up for black rights and indigenous rights, created the Department of Justice, improved the treatment of government employees, and foreshadowed the environmentalism of presidents like Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. However, these serious positives are counteracted by serious negatives: His failure to mitigate the Panic of 1873 (which he was mostly responsible for) and his inability to punish the corrupt scoundrels infesting his cabinet facilitated the end of Reconstruction and 90 years of segregation.