Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant

Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant
President	Ulysses S. Grant
Term start	March 4, 1869
Term end	March 4, 1877
Cabinet	See list
Party	Republican
Election	1868, 1872
Predecessor	Andrew Johnson
Successor	Rutherford B. Hayes
Seal caption	Seal of the president (1850–1894)

Contents

Election of 1868 and first term
Reconstruction and civil rights
Foreign policy and Native American affairs
Economic policies and the gold standard
Scandals and corruption
Election of 1872 and second term
Historical reputation and legacy

Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant began on March 4, 1869, when the famed Union Army general was inaugurated as the 18th President of the United States. His two terms, lasting until 1877, were defined by the aggressive federal enforcement of Reconstruction policies in the defeated Confederate States of America, significant efforts to protect the civil rights of African Americans, and a series of major political scandals that tarnished his administration's reputation. Grant's tenure also saw pivotal developments in foreign policy, contentious economic battles, and the continuation of often brutal federal policies toward Native American tribes in the American West.

Election of 1868 and first term

The 1868 United States presidential election was the first held after the American Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The Republican Party nominated the war hero Ulysses S. Grant, whose campaign slogan "Let Us Have Peace" resonated with a nation weary of conflict. He defeated the Democratic nominee, former Governor of New York Horatio Seymour, in a decisive electoral college victory. Grant's first inauguration in March 1869 was overseen by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. He assembled a cabinet that included individuals like Secretary of State Hamilton Fish and Secretary of War John A. Rawlins, though several initial appointments proved problematic.

Reconstruction and civil rights

Grant made the enforcement of Reconstruction and the protection of African Americans in the South a central pillar of his presidency. He vigorously used federal power, signing a series of Enforcement Acts designed to combat the violent terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups like the White League. In 1870, he oversaw the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibited denying the vote based on race. Grant deployed federal troops on multiple occasions, such as during the Kirk–Holden war in North Carolina and in response to the Colfax massacre in Louisiana, to suppress violence and support Republican state governments. His administration also created the Department of Justice and the office of the Solicitor General to centralize legal efforts to uphold civil rights laws.

Foreign policy and Native American affairs

In foreign policy, Grant's Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish, skillfully navigated several crises. The Alabama Claims dispute with Great Britain, stemming from British-built Confederate raiders like the CSS ''Alabama'', was resolved through the Treaty of Washington and the subsequent Geneva Arbitration, which awarded damages to the United States. Grant also sought to annex the Dominican Republic through a treaty, but the effort was blocked by the United States Senate, led by Charles Sumner. Concurrently, Grant's presidency continued the wars against Plains Indians tribes. While he initially promoted a "Peace Policy" under his advisor Ely S. Parker, the period was marked by major conflicts such as the Battle of the Little Bighorn where George Armstrong Custer was defeated, and the Red River War.

Economic policies and the gold standard

Grant's administration was consumed by economic turmoil and the debate over the nation's monetary standard. The Black Friday gold panic in September 1869, orchestrated by the financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk, was a major scandal that threatened the Treasury. Grant and his Secretary of the Treasury, George S. Boutwell, eventually intervened to stabilize the market. The primary economic battle was over the Public Credit Act, which pledged to repay U.S. bonds in gold. This commitment to "sound money" was challenged by proponents of "free silver", led by politicians like Representative George Washington Julian. The financial panic culminated in the Panic of 1873, a severe economic depression that began with the failure of the banking firm Jay Cooke & Company. In response, Grant vetoed the Inflation Bill, and later signed the Resumption Act of 1875, which committed the nation to returning to the gold standard by 1879.

Scandals and corruption

Grant's presidency is notoriously associated with a cascade of political scandals, though Grant himself was not personally implicated in corruption. The Whiskey Ring fraud, which defrauded the federal government of liquor tax revenues, implicated high-level officials including Grant's private secretary, Orville E. Babcock. The Crédit Mobilier scandal, which involved corrupt contracts for the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, tainted members of the United States Congress and reached into Grant's Vice President, Schuyler Colfax. Other major scandals included the securities fraud of the Sanborn Contract, the bribery conspiracy in the Star Route postal contracts, and the resignation of Grant's Secretary of War, William W. Belknap, for taking bribes in the Trader post scandal.

Election of 1872 and second term

Despite the emerging scandals, Grant remained popular and easily won re-election in the 1872 United States presidential election. The Republican Party re-nominated him, while a faction of reform-minded Liberal Republicans, dissatisfied with corruption and Reconstruction policies, split off and nominated the influential newspaper editor Horace Greeley. The Democratic Party, lacking a strong candidate, also endorsed Greeley. Grant and his new running mate, Henry Wilson, won a landslide victory over the Greeley ticket. His second term, however, was dominated by the economic hardship of the Panic of 1873 and the increasing political exposure of the scandals that would define his historical legacy.

Historical reputation and legacy