Ulysses S. Grant: Part Two

“I shall on all subjects have a policy to recommend, but none to enforce against the will of the people. Laws are to govern all alike—those opposed as well as those who favor them. I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution. 

The country having just emerged from a great rebellion, many questions will come before it for settlement in the next four years which preceding Administrations have never had to deal with. In meeting these, it is desirable that they should be approached calmly, without prejudice, hate, or sectional pride, remembering that the greatest good to the greatest number is the object to be attained.

This requires security of person, property, and free religious and political opinion in every part of our common country, without regard to local prejudice. All laws to secure these ends will receive my best efforts for their enforcement.” President Ulysses S. Grant March 4th, 1869

Welcome to Civics and Coffee. My name is Alycia and I am a self-professed history nerd. Each week, I am going to chat about a topic on U.S history and give you both the highlights and occasionally break down some of the complexities in history; and share stories you may not remember learning in high school. All in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of coffee. 

INTRO MUSIC

Hey everyone, welcome back. 

Just four short years removed from the Civil War and still reeling from the chaotic presidential administration of Andrew Johnson, the United States readied itself to welcome another commander in chief. Ulysses S. Grant gave a short address to the gathered crowd, sharing that despite the fact that he had not sought the office, he nevertheless understood the importance of the moment and felt ready to face the challenges ahead. 

Included in his speech were not so subtle references to his predecessor, including the quote opening the episode. Grant indicated in his speech that he would strive to ensure that all laws were just and fair for as many people as possible and that he would not let regional or other loyalties cloud his judgment. But could a career military man who never held an elected office really be effective as President? The United States was about to find out. 

This week, I am diving into part two of Ulysses S. Grant. How did Grant like being president? What challenges did he face? And what legacy did he leave behind?

Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let’s do this. 

Last episode I ended with Grant’s election to the presidency. But exactly made Grant such an attractive candidate in the 1868 contest? Well, for one, Grant was a celebrated military hero of the largest conflict the country had ever known. Even former confederate soldiers spoke kindly of Grant’s treatment of them, citing how fair he was toward the soldiers when no such mercy was guaranteed and, in some eyes, unwarranted. His war experience also colored his views about newly emancipated African Americans and he was committed to enforcing the recently passed reconstruction acts. Grant’s outward display of stoicism meant that supporters could project their thoughts and hopes on the candidate without ever knowing his true politics. Radical Republican supporters were convinced that a President Grant would further perpetuate reconstruction in their image, while the moderate wing of the party believed the General would be a calming influence on the more liberal members of the party. 

True to custom, Grant did not hit the trails to campaign for the presidency, staying in Galena, Illinois not only to follow tradition, but also out of concerns over his safety. As I mentioned in the last episode, when President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater in April 1865, Grant was on the target list and could have been gravely injured or even killed had circumstances been different. Those who believed that Grant would be another Lincoln wanted to make sure he never reached the Oval Office and threats against Grant’s life persisted ahead of the election. Upon arriving in D.C., Grant made a decision that he would later admit as a mistake. Writing in his memoirs, Grant shared of his early days as quote: “I entered the White House as president without any previous experience either in civil or political life… I thought I could run the government of the United States as you did the staff of my army. It was my mistake, and it led me to other mistakes,” end quote. 

Grant was right. The Government of the United States had grown exponentially since the start of the war. What was once a mostly decentralized, small federal government evolved into a massive bureaucracy. The government’s budget exploded from $78 million in 1860 to over $375 million by 1867 - more than quadrupling in size. Operating a bureaucracy so massive was way beyond anything Grant experienced while serving as the General of the Army. Making matters worse was the fact that not only would Grant enter the White House with zero political experience, he also started his term without many political relationships. Coming in as the 19th Century version of a quote unquote outsider, Grant stubbornly got in his own way by refusing to seek the guidance of others. This led to early missteps in his presidency, such as his decision to nominate a treasury secretary who was engaging in trade and commerce - something that was prohibited. Grant, in an effort to stay above politics, followed his gut in choosing members of his cabinet, irritating Republican Party leaders who felt they deserved payment for helping Grant get elected in the first place. As time would demonstrate, while Grant may have been a brilliant military leader, he was not a good judge of character and went through a number of cabinet officials as a result.   

The new president also made questionable choices in selecting patronage appointments, where several members of both his and his wife’s family sought - and received - political posts. A man known for his honor, the decision to - at least on the surface - give preferential treatment to family is considered one of the black marks on Grant’s time in office. Despite these missteps, Grant displayed a capacity to think beyond his time and appointed large numbers of Jewish, Black, and Native Americans to federal positions, including Ebenezer Basset who became the first Black diplomat in American history. Economically, Grant focused on trying to restore American credit, signing legislation that guaranteed war bonds were paid in gold. 

Of course, the biggest issue facing the new president was what to do with the former confederate south. The 1868 presidential election is to date the only one in history that did not include votes from every state as some southern states including Texas had not yet been readmitted to the union. How, exactly, would the Grant administration move forward with Reconstruction? Would Grant choose to ignore the events of war and clear a path for the former confederacy like his predecessor? Or would he demand penance from Southerners in exchange for their readmission? As I covered briefly in the last episode, Grant aligned much more with former President Lincoln than he did with President Johnson. Thus, Grant worked to strike a balance between ensuring newly emancipated Black Americans were protected and able to participate in newly erected governments and keep the union together. 

Despite the fact that Black Americans had fought and died in service to preserving the Union, many Americans were completely against extending suffrage to the newly emancipated - and existing free - Black population. In the opinion of many Americans, the federal government had gone far enough by outlawing slavery and there was no need to go further by extending access to the franchise. And several residents were incensed at the idea of a Black man running for - and being elected - to political office. In their estimation, the United States was a white man’s government and it needed to remain that way, even if Black people were no longer bound by forced servitude. 

Walking this tight rope Grant again demonstrated he was ahead of his time. Whatever the political risks, the President remained steadfast in his support of extending the right to vote to Black men - even including his support in his inaugural speech. Once in office, the President signed the 15th Amendment into law in 1870 and ordered troops into the former confederacy to ensure the Black Americans were protected from political violence. 

Grant also got involved in the debates over whether the state of Georgia should be readmitted to the Union after they expelled black legislators. With Grant’s urging, Congress retracted Georgia’s admission and set new parameters the state had to meet before they would be reconsidered, including reinstating the formerly expelled black legislators and requiring that those seated take what is described by author and historian Fergus Bordewich as a quote “ironclad loyalty oath,” end quote - which several members of the state’s legislature failed to do. In order to be reconsidered for admission, the state also had to ratify the 15th Amendment. As Bordewich observes, the issue over the readmission of Georgia was not whether the state should be allowed to rejoin the union - that was considered a foregone conclusion - but rather, it boiled down to whether the state should retain its legislature. The future of Reconstruction was on the line for the state - if former Confederates were allowed to retake power, some worried, they would inevitably create barriers for newly enfranchised Black men, stripping them of their newly won federal rights. Again from Bordewich quote, “the debates were essentially tests for whether a state could obey the letter but violate the spirit of the Reconstruction laws,” end quote. 

Just a year into his administration, President Grant also signed legislation establishing the United States Department of Justice. Led by the Attorney General of the United States, the Department of Justice was initially primarily responsible for the safeguarding of civil and voting rights for newly freed Black Americans. Under Grant’s direction, the new Department of Justice was ordered to go after any organization and entity, particularly in the South, that used violence and intimidation to undercut access to the franchise. Grant was no doubt at least partially inspired to act as a result of the letters from residents in the south who wrote to the president about the horrors they faced by supporting Republican politics in the former confederacy. In 1871, the president signed the final enforcement act of Reconstruction, commonly referred to as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which empowered the federal government to enforce the provisions of the 14th Amendment. Under the provisions of the Ku Klux Klan Act, Grant’s Department of Justice secured 3,384 indictments and 1,143 convictions. 

As if extending and protecting voting rights wasn’t enough, Grant was also responsible for the country’s first national park when the president declared Yellowstone public land on March 1, 1872. However, despite the president being someone of almost unquestionable integrity, Grant could not seem to avoid the whispers of scandal. Much of this boiled down to Grant’s iron clad loyalty and his poor choices for who to keep in his company, including his relationships with speculators Jay Gould and Jim Fisk. Gould and Fisk sought to corner the gold market, where they would buy up as much gold as possible and watch as its value climbed. Once it got high enough to their liking, they would sell off their supply and make a fortune. The only problem? The President’s economic policy meant that government gold would continue to be on the market, blunting Fisk’s and Gould’s scheme. They worked hard to manipulate the president and were almost successful but Grant ultimately grew suspicious and ordered the sale of $4 million in gold in September of 1869. Regardless, the taint of scandal followed the president and critics painted his administration as filled with corruption. It was a label that would continue to plague the president, despite people supporting him as an individual.  

Facing re-election in 1872, Grant contended with a party weakened by in-fighting and Republicans were split, with quote unquote liberal republicans pushing for the end of the Reconstruction in the south. Grant also had to contend with the growing women’s movement during his election, when a coalition of women banded together under the banner of the Equal Rights Party to nominate 34 year old Victoria Woodhull as the first female presidential candidate. Their motivation stemmed, in part, from their anger over the 15th Amendment which only granted the right to vote to Black men. These women wanted another amendment added to the constitution granting women the right to vote and were unimpressed by the lack of support by members of congress. Despite the launch of a third party candidate with Woodhull, several prominent women, including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ultimately swung their support behind Grant, with Anthony even breaking the law by casting a vote for the president. 

Grant’s second term was marred by an economic recession. In September 1873, just a few months after Grant was inaugurated to his second term, the failure of a prominent brokerage firm created a panic on the New York Stock Exchange thanks in part to over speculation in land and ongoing expansion of the railroads. Things got so bad that the stock exchange closed for over a week and the economy went on a downward slide for the rest of Grant’s time in office. Grant faced political pressure to sign an inflation bill aimed at infusing more cash into the economy. This was against his economic policy which sought to reduce the amount of paper currency in the market and the president ultimately vetoed the bill. 

Grant’s presidency also continued to be plagued by scandals, including one involving Grant’s personal secretary, Orville Babcock, showing again that Grant made some questionable choices in who he trusted. But for all the drama, Grant also continued his fight to secure rights for Black Americans, signing the Civil Rights Act of 1875 which provided African Americans equal treatment in public places and allowed them to serve on a jury. After eight years in office, President Grant decided against seeking a third term, allowing the Republican Party to nominate Rutherford B. Hayes as their candidate for the 1876 election. 

Once out of office, Grant embarked on an international tour. Despite being a private citizen, the former president was permitted the use of military boats and received assistance from foreign diplomats. He was the first American President to visit Jerusalem, landing in the holy city in February 1878. Domestically, there were supporters who hoped Grant would consider a third time and suggested the General take his time overseas to better increase his chances of reelection. Grant’s experience overseas proved helpful to his image as well as his confidence. The former president was not only welcome robustly upon his return stateside, but he also demonstrated a new found command in his speeches which were a stark contrast from before. While Grant tried to launch a bit of a comeback in 1880, he ultimately lost at the Republican convention to James Garfield, who would go on to win the presidency. In a moment Grant later regretted, the former president broke with tradition, publicly criticizing his successor. After President Garfield was shot in an assassination attempt, Grant felt incredibly guilty, hoping in vain for the president to recover from his wounds.  

After making several bad investment calls in retirement, including losing his life savings in a ponzi scheme, Grant decided the best way to secure income for his remaining years was to write and publish his memoirs. There was just one major issue - Grant had been diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly, time was of the essence and the former president discovered a fountain of strength and fortitude to commit his life to paper. 

Grant died on July 23, 1885 at the age of 65 from throat cancer, just days after completing his memoirs. Published posthumously, Grant’s memoirs were incredibly popular and met with critical acclaim, creating quite the financial windfall for his widow and former first lady, Julia Grant, who took to writing her own memoirs in the 1890s. Roughly 300,000 people attended Grant’s funeral in New York City and, in a testament to his record, the General and former president was carried by both Union and Confederate soldiers.  

Ulysses S. Grant ascended to the presidency at a critical moment in American history. Facing a nation still divided over the Civil War and lacking any experience in the political arena, President Grant marched to the beat of his own drum. The career military commander relied heavily on his gut instincts and while he frequently fell prey to people who took advantage of his loyalty, Grant was not a man who could be manipulated when it came to his convictions. He may have struggled a bit when it came to the administrative duties of the office, but Grant showed up when and where it mattered most - protecting the civil liberties of millions of Black Americans, helping solidify the Republican Party as their preferred choice for decades to come. 

Thanks, peeps. I will see you next week.

Thanks for tuning and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Civics & Coffee. If you want to hear more small snippets from american history, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening and I look forward to our next cup of coffee together. 

OUTRO MUSIC