Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant

The Grant cabinet
Henry Wilson	1873–1875
None	1875–1877
Hamilton Fish	1869–1877
William A. Richardson	1873–1874
Benjamin H. Bristow	1874–1876
Lot M. Morrill	1876–1877
William W. Belknap	1869–1876
Alphonso Taft	1876
J. Donald Cameron	1876–1877
Amos T. Akerman	1870–1871
George H. Williams	1871–1875
Edwards Pierrepont	1875–1876
Alphonso Taft	1876–1877
James W. Marshall	1874
Marshall Jewell	1874–1876
James N. Tyner	1876–1877
George M. Robeson	1869–1877
Columbus Delano	1870–1875
Zachariah Chandler	1875–1877

Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
18th President of the United States
	In office; March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877
Vice President	Schuyler Colfax (1869–1873) Henry Wilson (1873–1875); None (1875–1877)
Preceded by	Andrew Johnson
Succeeded by	Rutherford B. Hayes
Personal details
Born	Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822; Point Pleasant, Ohio
Died	July 23, 1885 (aged 63); Mount McGregor, New York
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Julia Dent Grant
Children	Jesse Grant, Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., Nellie Grant, Frederick Grant
Alma mater	United States Military Academy at West Point
Occupation	Soldier
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	Union Army United States Army;
Years of service	1839–1854, 1861–1869
Rank	General of the Army of the United States

The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant began during the turbulent Reconstruction period following the American Civil War. Grant was elected the 18th President of the United States in 1868 and was re-elected to the office in 1872, serving from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1877. The United States was at peace with the world throughout the era, and was prosperous until the Panic of 1873, that predominated Grant's second term in office.^[1] Grant was a Republican, and his main supporters were the Radical and Stalwart Republican factions. President Grant bolstered the Executive Branch's enforcement powers by signing into law the Department of Justice and Office of Solicitor General.^[2] President Grant supported Civil War values that included "union, freedom and equality."^[3] He was opposed by the Liberal faction of the party, many of them founding fathers of the GOP, who denounced Grant's patronage.^[4] The Liberals insisted that Reconstruction had been successful and that Army troops should be withdrawn from the South so it could regain its normal political status. The Liberals nominated a candidate in 1872, who was supported by the Democrats, but was decisively defeated by Grant. President Grant was a loner who never developed a cadre of trustworthy political advisers; he relied heavily on former Army associates who had a thin understanding of politics and a weak sense of civilian ethics. Although Grant implemented Civil Service Reform legislation and abolished the Treasury agent moiety system, his presidential reputation was severely damaged by repeated scandals and frauds.^[5]

Characteristically, Grant lacked discernment and good judgment when it came to appointing honest men. His Secretary of War, his personal secretary, and high officials he named to the Treasury and Navy departments joined bribery or tax-cheating schemes. Instead of exposing the culprits, Grant defended them and attacked the accusers. Middle-class public opinion, a key element in the Republican Party base, turned hostile to Grant.^[6] At various times capable appointments were made by Grant; honest men who desired to save Grant and the nation from scandal. After a false start with weak selections, Grant named to his Cabinet leading reformers including Hamilton Fish, Benjamin Bristow, Alphonso Taft, and Amos T. Akerman. Fish, as Secretary of State, negotiated the Treaty of Washington and was successful at keeping the United States out of trouble with Britain and Spain. Bristow, as Secretary of Treasury, ended the corruption of the Whiskey Ring where distillers and corrupt officials made millions from tax evasion. Taft, a brilliant jurist as Attorney General, successfully negotiated for bipartisan panel to peacefully settle the controversial Election of 1876. Grant and Attorney General Akerman enforced civil rights legislation that protected African Americans and destroyed the Ku Klux Klan. Grant encouraged peaceful Congressional negotiations after the controversial Election of 1876; signed the Electoral Commission Act of 1877; while the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction.^[7]^{[note 1]}

Economically, Grant favored a hard-money, gold-based, anti-inflationary policy that entailed paying off the large national debt with gold. He reduced governmental spending, decreased the federal work force, and reduced the national debt, while tax revenues increased in the Treasury Department. During his second term in office, the Panic of 1873, caused by rampant railroad speculation, shook the nation's financial institutions; banks failed, prices fell, and unemployment surged. Before the Panic there had been eight years of tremendous industrial growth after the Civil War that fueled lavish money making schemes, personal greed, and national corruption. President Grant's contraction of money supply worsened the panic; the ensuing major U.S. depression that followed lasted for five years causing massive economic damage to the country. The Panic wiped out both the fortunes of business and corruption.^[8] Southern Reconstruction continued that included escalated sectional violence over the status of freedmen and fractured state party alliances and elections.

With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, the West was wide open to expansionism that sometimes was challenged by hostile Native Americans. Grant implemented an innovative peace policy, though not always successful, with Native Americans. Hostilities took place with the Modoc War, the Red River War, and the Great Sioux War that culminated with the famous Battle of Little Bighorn where Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer was killed. In 1874, millions of buffalo were being slaughtered to make room for settlers and ranchers. Grant, who favored ranchers land use for domestic cattle, rejected legislation that would have limited the slaughter of the bison. After the fatal Modoc peace commission in 1873, Grant's Native American policy incorporated the military strategies favored by William T. Sherman and Phil Sheridan. Corruption was rampant in the Department of Indian Affairs under Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano.^[9]^[10]^[11] Grant's presidential legacy has suffered due to his heavy-handed use of the U.S. Army to prop up his political allies in southern states. However, since the mid 1990s his presidential reputation has improved as historians emphasize his enforcement of African American civil rights in the South and his Peace policy towards Indians.^[12]

Presidency 1869–1877

Grant's presidency has traditionally been viewed by historians as incompetent and full of corruption. An examination of his presidency reveals Grant had both successes and failures during his two terms in office. In recent years historians have elevated his presidential rating because of his support for African American civil rights. He leaned heavily toward the Radical camp and often sided with their Reconstruction policies, signing into law Force Acts to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan. In foreign policy Grant won praise for the Treaty of Washington, settling the Alabama Claims issue with Britain through arbitration. Economically he sided with Eastern bankers and signed the Public Credit Act that paid U.S. debts in gold specie, but was blamed for the severe economic depression that lasted 1873–1877.^[13] Grant, wary of powerful congressional leaders, was the first President to ask for a line item veto.^[14]

In the century after he left office most historians denounced the Reconstruction policies followed by Grant. More recently, Grant's support for and enforcement of African Americans civil rights has earned him praise from scholars. While graft and corruption existed in the Southern state governments he supported with the Army, many civil rights advances were made for African Americans.^[15] He was vigorous in his enforcement of the 14th and 15th amendments and prosecuted thousands of persons who violated African American civil rights; he used military force to put down political insurrections in Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.^[16]

As President, Grant failed to establish and enforce ethical standards with his cabinet and appointees. He failed to take measures to lessen the effects of the Panic of 1873 and the economic depression that ensued. The depression of 1873, along with the increasingly unpopular Reconstruction program, weakened his reputation and his party, allowing the resurgent Democrats to gain a majority in the House of Representatives in 1875. His Presidency was inundated with many scandals caused by low standards and carelessness with his political appointees and personal associates. Often through flattery, these corrupt associates used Grant as a shield against prosecutors and reformers. Grant surrounded himself with people denounced by reformers as scoundrels, and he unwisely accepted gifts from rich friends who used their friendship for financial advantage. Nepotism, practiced by Grant, was unrestrained with almost forty family members or relatives who financially benefited from government appointments or employment.^[17]

In 1872, Senator Charles Sumner, the leader of civil rights forces in Congress, compared him to the despotic Julius Caesar and labeled his presidency as "one man and his personal will" and that the office of the President was treated no more than a "play thing and perquisite". Grant and Sumner were often at odds with each other on matters of foreign policy and political patronage. Sumner followed his own foreign policy and detested Grant's practice of nepotism in making political appointments. One historian, Mary L. Hinsdale, described the Grant Administration as "a most extraordinary array of departures from the normal course" and a "military" rule, in close connection with a select Republican Senatorial group. In an unsuccessful effort to annex the island country of Santo Domingo, Grant completely bypassed the State Department by sending his military associate Orville E. Babcock to produce the treaty. Grant blatantly disregarded the public opinion of Attorney General Ebenezer R. Hoar over the McGarrahan mining claim patents.^[18]^[19]

Public policies were a burden and at times perplexing to Grant, and he often delegated unprecedented authority to others. Grant's foreign policy was heavily influenced by the able Secretary of State Hamilton Fish. Grant depended on Fish's advice on domestic issues such as money policy and Reconstruction. His Secretary of Treasury, George Boutwell, was given full charge of national economic policies. In 1874, Grant began a series of appointments that included reformers and qualified statesmen to his Administration, starting with Benjamin Bristow who prosecuted the Whiskey Ring. With the departure of Orville E. Babcock and William W. Belknap from the White House in 1876, the Grant Administration took on a civilian rather than "military" style.^[20]^[21]

Election of 1868

There were two main divisive issues in 1868. The first was the continued Reconstruction of the South. The Democrats advocated allowing former Confederate soldiers to hold elective offices, and the Republicans endorsed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution which allowed African Americans to vote. The other controversial issue concerned the redemption of war bonds either in gold or paper money known as greenbacks. The Democrats wanted to redeem the bonds with $100,000,000 in greenbacks and the rest with gold. The greenbacks were known as "cheap money" and would be inflationary. The Republicans wanted to pay the redemption of war bonds only with gold, a position attractive to investors and bankers.^[22]

Finding a popular hero who endorsed their Reconstruction policies, the Republicans nominated Grant and Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax. The Democrats, ignoring politically damaged President Andrew Johnson (who was a political independent), nominated Horatio Seymour – former governor of New York – and Francis P. Blair from Missouri. Seymour was a wealthy conservative who came under GOP attack for weakness during the war and favoring the anti-war Copperheads. The campaigning was nasty, as the Republicans waved the "bloody shirt" of treason against the Democrats-as-Copperheads. Grant himself never campaigned, except for his slogan "Let us have peace" and his apology to Jewish voters for his 1862 General Order No. 11 that banned Jewish merchants from his zone during the Civil War because of alleged profiteering. Grant won with 52.7% of the popular vote and won by a landslide in the Electoral College with 214 votes to Seymour's 80 votes. Grant was helped by the fact that six southern states were controlled by Radical Republicans who kept many ex-Confederates from voting.^[23]

First Term 1869–1873

Independently chosen cabinet

In 1869, one year after the notorious impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the nation was in a mood for reform. Rather than choosing his cabinet by consulting with key Senators such as Charles Sumner, Grant chose his cabinet independently. Except for John A. J. Creswell, not one of Grant's choices would have been chosen by the Senate. Although the Senate was shocked by his appointments they were all unanimously ratified; the public rejoiced claiming that Grant had "cut himself loose from a set of party hacks". Senator Charles Sumner, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and leading Radical in the Senate, however, was no party hack and was insulted at not being offered a cabinet position or being consulted. When it was found out that A.T. Stewart, a wealthy New York businessman, would be Secretary of Treasury, Sumner blocked an exception to a Senate rule that stated a nominee could not own a business and be head of the Treasury. This example of Sumner's power in the Senate was only a first of clashes with President Grant. George S. Boutwell, a Radical, was nominated by Grant and confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Treasury. Some of Grant's cabinet members did not even know their names were offered to the Senate for confirmation. Grant's independent secretive manner in choosing his muddled cabinet, however, created animosity with many in Congress.^[24]

Modified Tenure of Office Act

In March 1869, President Grant made it known he desired the Tenure of Office Act fully repealed stating it was a "stride toward a revolution in our free system". The Tenure of Office Act was passed by Congress in 1867, sponsored by Radical Republicans, to curb the power of the President Andrew Johnson in making government office appointments. The controversial law had been invoked during the impeachment trial of Johnson in 1868. On March 5, 1869, a bill was brought before Congress to repeal the act, but Senator Charles Sumner was opposed, unwilling to give Grant a free hand in making appointments. Grant, to bolster the repeal effort, declined to make any new appointments except for vacancies, until the law was overturned, thus, agitating political office seekers to pressure Congress to repeal the law. Under national pressure for governmental reform, a compromise was reached and a new bill was passed that allowed the President to have complete control over removing his own cabinet, however, government appointees needed the approval of Congress within a thirty day period. Grant, who did not desire a party split over the matter, signed the bill; afterwards, he received criticism for not getting a full repeal of the law. The unpopular measure was completely repealed in 1887. Grant was criticized for appointing many family members considered unqualified to highly sought government posts, a practice known as nepotism.^[25]

Political defections

Initially, President Grant was popular among many political and newspaper elite. Political defections began as early as the spring and fall of 1869 when both Charles A. Dana and Henry Adams became critical and discouraged over Grant's Presidency in the aftermath of the Black Friday scandal. By 1870, Horace Greeley lost enthusiasm for the Administration with the resignations of Attorney General Ebenezer R. Hoar and Ambassador to Britain John L. Motley. Prominent journalists Samuel Bowles, Horace White, E. L. Godkin, and William C. Bryant became concerned over alleged incompetence and lack of national direction from Grant. Personal animosity remained between Charles Sumner and Grant over the Senate rejection of the Santo Domingo Treaty. The common citizen, however, revered Grant for his gallant service in the Civil War.^[26]

Reconstruction

During Reconstruction, Freedmen (freed slaves), were given the vote by Congress and became active in state politics; fourteen were elected to Congress. In state government they were never governor but did become lieutenant governors or secretaries of state. They formed the voting base of the Republican party along with some local whites (called "Scalawags") and new arrivals from the North (called "Carpetbaggers".) Most Southern whites opposed the Republicans; they called themselves "Conservatives" or "Redeemers". Grant repeatedly took a role in state affairs; for example on December 24, 1869, he established federal military rule in Georgia and restored black legislators who had been expelled from the state legislature.^[27]

Fifteenth amendment

According to biographer, William S. McFeely, Grant and many in the north believed the American Civil War extended democracy to the African American freedmen.^[28] Grant used political pressure to ensure the states ratified the Fifteenth Amendment, guaranteeing that "no citizen can be denied the right to vote based upon race, color, or previous condition of servitude".^[29] When it passed he hailed it as "a measure of grander importance than any other one act of the kind from the foundation of our free government to the present day".^[30] Many in the south, however, were determined that the African American males' right to vote would be unenforcable.^[28]

Department of Justice

On June 22, 1872, Grant signed a bill into law passed by Congress that created the Department of Justice and to aid the Attorney General, the Office of Solicitor General. Grant appointed Amos T. Akerman as Attorney General and Benjamin H. Bristow as America's first Solicitor General. Both Akerman and Bristow used the Department of Justice to vigorously prosecute Ku Klux Klan members in the early 1870s. In the first few years of Grant's first term in office there were 1000 indictments against Klan members with over 550 convictions from the Department of Justice. By 1871, there were 3000 indictments and 600 convictions with most only serving brief sentences while the ringleaders were imprisoned for up to five years in the federal penitentiary in Albany, New York. The result was a dramatic decrease in violence in the South. Akerman gave credit to Grant and told a friend that no one was "better" or "stronger" then Grant when it came to prosecuting terrorists.^[31] Akerman's successor, George H. Williams, in December 1871, continued to prosecute the Klan throughout 1872 until the Spring of 1873 during Grant's second term in office.^[32] William's clemency and moratorium on Klan prosecutions was due in part that the Justice Department, having been inundated by Klan outrage cases, did not have the effective man power to continue the prosecutions.^[32]

Naturalization Act of 1870

On July 14, 1870 Grant signed into law the Naturalization Act of 1870 that allowed persons of African descent to become citizens of the United States. This revised an earlier law, the Naturalization Act of 1790 that only allowed white persons of good moral character to become U.S. citizens. The law also prosecuted persons who used fictitious names, misrepresentations, or identities of deceased individuals when applying for citizenship.^[33]

Force Acts of 1870 and 1871

To add enforcement to the 15th Amendment, Congress passed an act that guaranteed the protection of voting rights of African Americans; Grant signed the bill, known as the Force Act of 1870 into law on May 31, 1870. This law was designed to keep the Redeemers from attacking or threatening African Americans. This act placed severe penalties on persons who used intimidation, bribery, or physical assault to prevent citizens from voting and placed elections under Federal jurisdiction.^[34]

On January 13, 1871 President Grant submitted to Congress a report on violent acts committed by the Ku Klux Klan in the South. On March 20, President Grant personally took the lead and told a reluctant Congress the situation in the South was dire and federal legislation was needed that would effectively "secure life, liberty, and property, and the enforcement of law, in all parts of the United States."^[35] President Grant stated that the U.S. mail and the collection of revenue was in jeopardy.^[35] Congress investigated the Klan's activities and eventually passed the Force Act of 1871 to allow prosecution of the Klan. This Act, also known as the "Ku Klux Klan Act" and written by Representative Benjamin Butler, was passed by Congress to specifically go after local units of the Ku Klux Klan. Grant was initially reluctant to sign the bill, being wary of charges that his administration was a military dictatorship.^[36] Grant signed the bill into law on April 20, 1871 after being convinced by Secretary of Treasury, George Boutwell, that federal protection was warranted, having cited documented atrocities against the Freedmen. This law allowed the President to suspend habeas corpus on "armed combinations" and conspiracies by the Klan. The Act also empowered the president "to arrest and break up disguised night marauders". The actions of the Klan were defined as high crimes and acts of rebellion against the United States.^[37]^[38]

The Ku Klux Klan consisted of local secret organizations formed to violently oppose Republican rule during Reconstruction; there was no organization above the local level. Wearing white hoods to hide their identity the Klan would violently attack and threaten Republicans. The Klan was strong in South Carolina between 1868 and 1870; South Carolina Governor Robert K. Scott, who was mired in corruption charges, allowed the Klan to rise to power.^[39] Grant, who was fed up with their violent tactics, ordered the Ku Klux Klan to disperse from South Carolina and lay down their arms under the authority of the Enforcement Acts on October 12, 1871. There was no response, and so on October 17, 1871, Grant issued a suspension of habeas corpus in all the 9 counties in South Carolina. Grant ordered federal troops in the state who then captured the Klan; who were vigorously prosecuted by Att. Gen. Akerman and Sol. Gen. Bristow. With the Klan destroyed other white supremacist groups would emerge, including the White League and the Red Shirts.^[34]

Amnesty Act of 1872

Texas was readmitted into the Union on March 30, 1870, Mississippi was readmitted February 23, 1870, and Virginia on January 26, 1870. Georgia became the last Confederate state to be readmitted into the Union on July 15, 1870. All members for the House of Representatives and Senate were seated from the 10 Confederate states who seceded. Technically, the United States was again a united country.^[40]

To ease tensions, Grant signed the Amnesty Act of 1872 on May 23, 1872 that gave amnesty to former Confederates. This act allowed most former Confederates, who before the war had taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, to hold elected public office. Only 500 former Confederates remained unpardoned and therefore forbidden to hold elected public office.^[41]

Civil and human rights

Native American policy

Grant's 1868 campaign slogan, "Let us have peace," defined his policy toward reconstructing the South and opening a new era in relations with the western Indian tribes. The goal of his "peace policy" was to minimize military conflict with the Indians, looking forward to "any course toward them which tends to their civilization and ultimate citizenship". It was a sharp reversal of federal policy toward Native Americans. "Wars of extermination ... are demoralizing and wicked.", he told Congress four years later in his second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1873. The president lobbied, though not always successfully, to preserve Native American lands from encroachment by the westward advance of pioneers. The economic forces of western expansionism led to conflicts between Native Americans, settlers, and the U.S. military. Native Americans were increasingly forced to live on reservations.^[42]^[43]^{[note 2]} Statistical data of the number of Indian wars per year between 1850 and 1890, revealed that battles decreased during Grant's two terms in office from 101 in 1869 to 43 in 1877.^[47] In 1875 there were only 15 Indian battles, the lowest rate since 1853 at 13 battles.^[47]

In 1869, Grant appointed his aide General Ely S. Parker (Seneca) as the first Native American Commissioner of Indian Affairs. During Parker's first year in office, the number of Indian Wars per year dropped by 43 from 101 to 58.^[48] Chief of the Oglala Sioux Red Cloud wanted to meet President Grant, after learning that Parker was appointed Indian Commissioner. Red Cloud, along with chief of the Brulé Sioux Spotted Tail, came to Washington, D.C. by train and met with Parker and President Grant in 1870. Grant held no personal animosity towards Native Americans and personally treated them with dignity. When Red Cloud and Spotted Tail first met Grant at the White House on May 7, 1870, they were given a bountiful dinner and entertainment equal to what was shown to a young Prince Arthur at a White House visit from Britain in 1869. At their second meeting on May 8, Red Cloud informed Grant that Whites were trespassing on Native American lands and that his people needed food and clothing. Out of concern for Native Americans, Grant ordered all Generals in the West to "keep intruders off by military force if necessary". To prevent Native American hostilities and wars, Grant lobbied for and signed the Indians Appropriations Act of 1870–1871. This act ended the governmental policy of treating tribes as independent sovereign nations. Native Americans would be treated as individuals or wards of the state and Indian policies would be legislated by Congressional statues.^[49]^[50]

The historian David Sim (2008) examined the peace policy, emphasizing incoherence in its formulation and implementation. Historians have debated issues of "paternalism" and "colonialism" but have glossed over the significance of contingencies, inconsistencies, and political competition involved in forging a substantive federal policy. While the Grant administration focused on well-meaning but limited goals of placing "good men" in positions of influence and convincing native peoples of their fundamental dependency on the US government, attempts to create a new departure in federal-native relations were characterized by conflict and disagreement. The muddled creation of what has become known as the peace policy thus tells much about the varied and divergent attitudes Americans had toward the consolidation of their empire in the West following the Civil War.^[51]

The innovation in Grant's Native American peace policy was in appointing Quaker or Christians as US Indian agents to various posts throughout the nation. This destroyed the power of patronage, as Congress would be reluctant to go after church appointments. On April 10, 1869, Congress created the Board of Indian Commissioners. Grant appointed volunteer members who were "eminent for their intelligence and philanthropy"; a previous commission had been set up under the Andrew Johnson Administration in 1868. The Grant Board was given extensive power to supervise the Bureau of Indian Affairs and "civilize" Native Americans. After the Piegan Massacre on January 23, 1870, when Major Edward M. Baker killed 173 tribal members, mostly women and children, Grant was determined to divide Native American post appointments "up among the religious churches"; by 1872, 73 Indian agencies were divided among religious denominations.^[52]^[53] Quaker or other clergy officials predominately controlled most of the central and southern Plains Indian territories, while all other surrounding territories were under the control of appointed military officers.^[54]

The historian Robert M. Utley (1984) contended that Grant, as a pragmatist, saw no inconsistencies with dividing up Native American posts among religious leaders and military officers. He added that Grant's "Quaker Policy", despite having good intentions, failed to solve the real dilemma of the misunderstandings between "the motivations, purposes, and ways of thinking" between both White and Native American cultures. These inconsistencies were evident in the breakdown of peace negotiations between the U.S. military and the Modoc tribal leaders during the Modoc War from 1872 to 1873.^[52]

In 1871, President Grant's Indian peace policy, enforced and coordinated by Brig. Gen. George Stoneman in Arizona, required the Apache to be put on reservations where they would receive supplies and agriculture education. The Apache slipped out and occasionally raided white settlers. In one raid, believed to be done by Apache warriors, settlers and mail runners were murdered near Tuscan, Arizona. The townspeople traced this raid to Apache reservation from Camp Grant. 500 Apache lived at the Camp Grant near Dudleyville. Angered over the murders, the Tuscan townspeople hired 92 Papago Indians, 42 Mexicans, and 6 whites to take revenge on the Apache. When the war party reached Camp Grant on April 30, they murdered 144 Apaches, mostly women and children. Twenty-seven captured Apache children were sold into Mexican slavery.^[55] In May, an attempt was made by a small federal military party to capture Apache leader Cochise; during the chase they killed 13 Apache.^[56] Grant immediately removed Stoneman of his command in Arizona.

Most detrimental to Grant's Peace Policy was corruption in the Department of Interior and the Department of War. Columbus Delano, whose tenure as Secretary of Interior from 1870 to 1875 was a debacle; allowed fraud to rampantly spread into the Department of Indian Affairs. Corruption was the rule rather than the exception. Money intended to supply Native American tribes with food and clothing was skimmed off by corrupt Indian agents and clerks, often allied with traders. After newspapers exposed Delano's delinquency, Grant defended him rather than investigate the matter. The previous Grant appointment, Secretary Jacob D. Cox, had run the department with efficiency and merit. Cox had been considered to be one of the best secretaries of Interior in the nation's history. When Cox resigned in 1870, Grant appointed Delano out of patronage considerations to appease Stalwart party bosses. Grant's Secretary of War, William W. Belknap, took extortion money from a Fort Sill Indian trading post.^[57]^[58]

West Point hazing and reform

While President Grant advocated that African Americans enter the West Point Academy, he initially failed in 1870 and 1871 to protect the first African American West Point Academy cadet, James Albert Smith, from racist hazing by other cadets. This lack of protection was influenced by Grant's son, then West Point cadet Frederick Dent Grant, who participated in the hazing against Smith.^[59] Maj. Gen. Thomas H. Ruger, however, was appointed Superintendent of West Point in 1871, reformed the Academy; having reduced the amount of hazing of cadets by 1873 and made strong efforts to eradicate the "discreditable" practice.^[60] In 1871, other African Americans eventually followed Smith's entrance into West Point and Henry O. Flipper, who was admitted to the Academy in 1873, became the first to graduate from the Academy in 1877.^[61] In 1874, Smith was forced out of the Academy due to having failed an unconventional private test, in defiance of traditional West Point practice, administrated by Prof. Peter S. Michie.^[62] Smith, not forgotten, was finally commissioned an officer by West Point in 1997, one hundred and twenty three years later.^[63]

Utah territory polygamy

In 1862, during the American Civil War President Lincoln signed into law the Morrill bill that outlawed polygamy in all U.S. Territories. Mormons who practiced polygamy in Utah for the most part resisted the Morrill law and the territorial governor.^[64] During the 1868 election, Grant had mentioned he would enforce the law against polygamy. Tensions began as early as 1870, when Mormons in Ogden, Utah began to arm themselves and practice military drilling.^[65] By the Fourth of July, 1871 Mormon militia in Salt Lake City, Utah were on the verge of fighting territorial troops, however, leveler heads prevailed and violence was averted.^[66] President Grant, however, who believed Utah was in a state of rebellion was determined to arrest those who practiced polygamy outlawed under the Morrill Act.^[67] In October, 1871 hundreds of Mormons were rounded up by U.S. marshals, put in a prison camp, arrested, and put on trial for polygamy. One convicted polygamist received a $500 fine and 3 years in prison under hard labor.^[68] On November 20, 1871 Mormon leader Brigham Young, in ill health, had been charged with polygamy. Young's attorney stated that Young had no intention to flee the court. Other persons during the polygamy shut down were charged with murder or intent to kill.^[69] The Morrill Act, however, proved hard to enforce since proof of marriage was required for conviction.^[70] On December 4, 1871 President Grant stated that polygamists in Utah were "a remnant of barbarism, repugnant to civilization, to decency, and to the laws of the United States." ^[71]

Comstock Act

In March 1873, strong anti-obscenity moralists, led by the YMCA's Anthony Comstock, easily secured passage of the Comstock Act which made it a federal crime to mail articles "for any indecent or immoral use". Grant signed the bill after he was assured that Comstock would personally enforce it. Comstock went on to become a special agent of the Post Office appointed by Secretary James Cresswell. Comstock prosecuted pornographers, imprisoned abortionists, banned nude art, stopped the mailing of information about contraception, and tried to ban what he considered bad books.^[72]

Civil service reform

Grant was the first U.S. President to recommend a professional civil service, pushed the initial legislation through Congress, and appointed the members for the first Civil Service Commission. The temporary Commission recommended administering competitive exams and issuing regulations on the hiring and promotion of government employees. Grant ordered their recommendations in effect in 1872; having lasted for two years until December, 1874. At the New York Custom House, a port that took in hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenue, persons who applied for an entry position had to take and pass a civil service examination. Chester A. Arthur who was appointed by Grant as New York Custom Collector stated that the examinations excluded and deterred unfit persons from getting employment positions.^[73] However, Congress, in no mood to reform itself, denied any long-term reform by refusing to enact the necessary legislation to make the changes permanent. Historians have traditionally been divided whether patronage, meaning appointments made without a merit system, should be labelled corruption.^[74]

The movement for Civil Service reform reflected two distinct objectives: to eliminate the corruption and inefficiencies in a non-professional bureaucracy, and to check the power of President Johnson. Although many reformers after the Election of 1868 looked to Grant to ram Civil Service legislation through Congress, he refused, saying: "Civil Service Reform rests entirely with Congress. If members will give up claiming patronage, that will be a step gained. But there is an immense amount of human nature in the members of Congress, and it is human nature to seek power and use it to help friends. You cannot call it corruption – it is a condition of our representative form of Government."^[75] Grant used patronage to build his party and help his friends. He instinctively protected those whom he thought were the victims of injustice or attacks by his enemies, even if they were guilty.^[76] Grant believed in loyalty with his friends, as one writer called it the "Chivalry of Friendship".^[77]

Economy and Treasury reform

On taking office Grant's first move was signing the Act to Strengthen the Public Credit, which the Republican Congress had just passed. It ensured that all public debts, particularly war bonds, would be paid only in gold rather than in greenbacks. The price of gold on the New York exchange fell to $130 per ounce – the lowest point since the suspension of specie payment in 1862.^[78]

On May 19, 1869, Grant protected the wages of those working for the U.S. Government. In 1868, a law was passed that reduced the government working day to 8 hours; however, much of the law was later repealed that allowed day wages to also be reduced. To protect workers Grant signed an executive order that "no reduction shall be made in the wages" regardless of the reduction in hours for the government day workers.^[79]

Treasury Secretary George S. Boutwell reorganized and reformed the United States Treasury by discharging unnecessary employees, started sweeping changes in Bureau of Printing and Engraving to protect the currency from counterfeiters, and revitalized tax collections to hasten the collection of revenue. These changes soon led the Treasury to have a monthly surplus.^[49] By May 1869, Boutwell reduced the national debt by $12 million. By September the national debt was reduced by $50 million, which was achieved by selling the growing gold surplus at weekly auctions for greenbacks and buying back wartime bonds with the currency. The New York Tribune wanted the government to buy more bonds and greenbacks and the New York Times praised the Grant administration's debt policy.^[49]

The first two years of the Grant administration with George Boutwell at the Treasury helm expenditures had been reduced to $292 million in 1871 – down from $322 million in 1869. The cost of collecting taxes fell to 3.11% in 1871. Grant reduced the number of employees working in the government by 2,248 persons from 6,052 on March 1, 1869 to 3,804 on December 1, 1871. He had increased tax revenues by $108 million from 1869 to 1872. During his first administration the national debt fell from $2.5 billion to $2.2 billion.^[80]

In a rare case of preemptive reform during the Grant Administration, Brevet Major General Alfred Pleasonton was dismissed for being unqualified to hold the position of Commissioner of Internal Revenue. In 1870, Pleasonton, a Grant appointment, approved an unauthorized $60,000 tax refund and was associated with an alleged unscrupulous Connecticut firm. Treasury Secretary George Boutwell promptly stopped the refund and personally informed Grant that Pleasonton was incompetent to hold office. Refusing to resign on Boutwell's request, Pleasonton protested openly before Congress. President Grant removed Pleasonton before any potential scandal broke out.^[81]

Foreign policies

Dominican Republic annexation treaty

In 1869, Grant proposed to annex the independent largely black nation of the Dominican Republican, then known as Santo Domingo. Previously in 1868, President Andrew Johnson had attempted to annex the Dominican Republic and Santo Domingo, but the House of Representatives defeated two resolutions for the protection of the Dominican Republic and Santo Domingo and for the annexation of the Dominican Republic. In July, 1869 Grant sent Orville E. Babcock and Rufus Ingalls who negotiated a draft treaty with Dominican Republic President Buenaventura Báez for the annexation of Santo Domingo to the United States and the sale of Samaná Bay for $2 million. To keep the island nation and Báez secure in power, Grant ordered naval ships, unauthorized by Congress, to secure the island from invasion and internal insurrection.^[82] Báez signed an annexation treaty on November 19, 1869 offered by Babcock under federal State department authorization. Secretary Fish drew up a final draft of the proposal and offered $1.5 million to the Dominican national debt, the annexation of Santo Domingo as an American state, the United States' acquisition of the rights for Samaná Bay for 50 years with an annual $150,000 rental, and guaranteed protection from foreign intervention. On January 10, 1870 the Santo Domingo treaty was submitted to the Senate for ratification. Despite his support of the annexation, Grant made the mistakes of not informing Congress of the treaty or encouraging national acceptance and enthusiasm.^[83]

Not only did Grant believe that the island would be of use to the Navy tactically, particularly Samaná Bay, but also he sought to use it as a bargaining chip. By providing a safe haven for the freedmen, he believed that the exodus of black labor would force Southern whites to realize the necessity of such a significant workforce and accept their civil rights. Grant believed the island country would increase exports and lower the trade deficit. He hoped that U.S. ownership of the island would urge Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil to abandon slavery.^[84] On March 15, 1870, the Foreign Relations Committee, headed by Sen. Charles Sumner, recommended against treaty passage. Sumner, the leading spokesman for African American civil rights, believed that annexation would be enormously expensive and involve the U.S. in an ongoing civil war, and would threaten the independence of Haiti and the West Indies, thereby blocking black political progress.^[85] On May 31, 1870 Grant went before Congress and urged passage of the Dominican annexation treaty.^[84] Strongly opposed to ratification, Sumner successfully led the opposition in the Senate. On June 30, 1870 the Santo Domingo annexation treaty failed to pass the Senate; 28 votes in favor of the treaty and 28 votes against.^[86] Grant's own cabinet was divided over the Santo Domingo annexation attempt, and Bancroft Davis, assistant to Sec. Hamilton Fish, was secretly giving information to Sen. Sumner on state department negotiations.^[87]

Relying on his military instinct, President Grant fought back hard. Unable constitutionally to go directly after Sen. Sumner, Grant immediately removed Sumner's close and respected friend Ambassador, John Lothrop Motley.^[88] With Grant's prodding in the Senate, Sumner was finally deposed from the Foreign Relations Committee. Grant reshaped his coalition, known as "New Radicals", working with enemies of Sumner such as Ben Butler of Massachusetts, Roscoe Conkling of New York, and Oliver P. Morton of Indiana, giving in to Fish's demands that Cuba rebels be rejected, and moving his Southern patronage from the radical blacks and carpetbaggers who were allied with Sumner to more moderate Republicans. This set the stage of the Liberal Republican revolt of 1872, when Sumner and his allies publicly denounced Grant and supported Horace Greeley and the Liberal Republicans.^[89] Biographer William McFeely stated that Grant's annexation of Santo Domingo plan was not unrealistic, since African Americans faced difficult racial oppression in the South.^[90]

A Congressional investigation in June, 1870 led by Senator Carl Schurz revealed that Babcock and Ingalls both had land interests in the Bay of Samaná that would increase in value if the Santo Domingo treaty were ratified. U.S. Navy ships, with President Grant's authorization, had been sent to protect Báez from an invasion by a Dominican rebel, Gregorio Luperón, while the treaty negotiations were taking place. The investigation had initially been called to settle a dispute between an American businessman Davis Hatch against the United States government. Báez had imprisoned Hatch without trial for his opposition to the Báez government. Hatch had claimed that the United States had failed to protect him from imprisonment. The majority Congressional report dismissed Hatch's claim and exonerated both Babcock and Ingalls. The Hatch incident, however, kept certain Senators from being enthusiastic about ratifying the treaty.^[91]

Cuban insurrection

In 1869, Grant was urged by popular opinion to support rebels in Cuba with military assistance and to give them U.S. diplomatic recognition. Grant and Fish instead attempted to use arbitration with Spain with minister Daniel Sickles negotiating. Grant and Fish wanted Cuban independence and to end slavery without U.S. military intervention or occupation. Fish, diligently and against popular pressure, was able to keep Grant from officially recognizing Cuban independence because it would have endangered negotiations with Britain over the Alabama Claims.^[92] The Sickle's peace negotiations failed in Madrid, but Grant and Fish did not succumb to popular pressure for U.S. military involvement in the Cuban rebellion. Grant and Fish sent a message to Congress, written by Fish and signed by Grant. The message urged strict neutrality not to officially recognize the Cuban revolt, calming national fears.^[93]

Treaty of Washington

Historians have credited the Treaty of Washington for implementing International Arbitration to allow outside experts to settle disputes. Grant's able Secretary of State Hamilton Fish had orchestrated many of the events leading up to the treaty. Previously, Secretary of State William H. Seward during the Johnson administration first proposed an initial treaty concerning damages done to American merchants by three Confederate warships, CSS Florida, CSS Alabama, and CSS Shenandoah built in Britain. These damages were collectively known as the Alabama Claims. These ships had inflicted tremendous damage to U.S. merchant ships during the Civil War and Washington wanted the British to pay heavy damages, perhaps including turning over Canada.^[94]

Confederate Warship CSS *Alabama*
Active Service (1862–1864)

On April 1869, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly rejected a proposed treaty which paid too little and contained no admission of British guilt for prolonging the war. Senator Charles Sumner spoke up before congress; publicly denounced Queen Victoria; demanded a huge reparation; and opened the possibility of Canada ceded to the United States as payment. The speech angered the British government, and talks had to be put off until matters cooled down. Negotiations for a new treaty began in January 1871 when Britain sent Sir John Rose to America to meet with Fish. A joint high commission was created on February 9, 1871 in Washington, consisting of representatives from both Britain and the United States. The commission created a treaty where an international Tribunal would settle the damage amounts; the British admitted regret, not fault, over the destructive actions of the Confederate war cruisers. Grant approved and signed the treaty on May 8, 1871; the Senate ratified the Treaty of Washington on May 24, 1871.^[95]

The Tribunal met in Geneva, Switzerland. The U.S. was represented by Charles Francis Adams, one of five international arbitrators, and was counseled by William M. Evarts, Caleb Cushing, and Morrison R. Waite. On August 25, 1872, the Tribunal awarded United States $15.5 million in gold; $1.9 million was awarded to Great Britain.^[96] Historian Amos Elwood Corning noted that the Treaty of Washington and arbitration "bequeathed to the world a priceless legacy".^[95] In addition to the $15.5 million arbitration award, the treaty resolved some disputes over borders and fishing rights.^[97] On October 21, 1872 William I, Emperor of Germany, settled a boundary dispute in favor of the United States.^[96]

Korean incident

A primary role of the United States Navy in the 19th century was to protect American commercial interests and open trade to Eastern markets, including Japan and China. Korea had excluded all foreign trade and, the U.S. sought a treaty dealing with shipwrecked sailors after the crew of a stranded American commercial ship was killed. The long-term goal for the Grant Administration was to open Korea to Western markets in the same way Commodore Matthew Perry had opened Japan in 1854 by a Naval display of military force. On May 30, 1871 Rear Admiral John Rodgers with a fleet of five ships, part of the Asiatic Squadron, arrived at the mouth of the Salee River below Seoul. The fleet included the Colorado, one of the largest ships in the Navy with 47 guns, 47 officers, and a 571-man crew. While waiting for senior Korean officials to negotiate, Rogers sent ships out to make soundings of the Salee River for navigational purposes.^[98]^[99]

The American fleet was fired upon by a Korean fort, but there was little damage. Rogers gave the Korean government ten days to apologize or begin talks, but the Royal Court kept silent. After ten days passed, on June 10, Rogers began a series of amphibious assaults that destroyed 5 Korean forts. These military engagements were known as the Battle of Ganghwa. Several hundred Korean soldiers and three Americans were killed. Korea still refused to negotiate, and the American fleet sailed away. The Koreans refer to this 1871 U.S. military action as Shinmiyangyo. President Grant defended Rogers in his third annual message to Congress in December, 1871. After a change in regimes in Seoul, in 1881, the U.S. negotiated a treaty – the first treaty between Korea and a Western nation.^[98]

Scandals

There were eleven direct scandals during Grant's two terms as President of the United States. The main scandals included Black Friday in 1869 and the Whiskey Ring in 1875. The Crédit Mobilier is not a Grant scandal; its origins having been in 1864 during the Abraham Lincoln Administration which carried over into the Andrew Johnson Administration. The actual Crédit Mobilier scandal was exposed during the Grant Administration in 1872 as the result of political infighting between Congressman Oakes Ames and Congressman Henry S. McComb. Stocks owned by Ambassador to Britain Robert C. Schenck in the fraudulent Emma Silver Mine is considered a Grant Administration embarrassment rather than a scandal.^[100]

Although Grant had many successes during the first term as President in the economy, civil rights, and foreign policy, scandals associated with the Administration were beginning to emerge publicly. Grant's inability to establish personal accountability among his subordinates and Cabinet members created an environment rife for scandals. Although Grant himself was not directly responsible for and did not profit from the corruption among subordinates, he was reluctant to believe friends could commit criminal activities. As a result, he failed to take any direct action and rarely reacted strongly after their guilt was established. Grant protected close friends with Presidential power and pardoned persons who were convicted in the Whiskey Ring scandal after serving only a few months in prison.^[101]

Grant's single-minded temperament would often lead to vigorous counterattacks when critics complained, as he was very protective and defensive of his subordinates. Grant was weak in his selection of subordinates, many times favoring military associates from the war over talented and experienced politicians. He alienated party leaders by giving many posts to his friends and political contributors rather than supporting the party's needs. His failure to establish working political alliances in Congress allowed the scandals to spin out of control. When his second term ended, Grant wrote to Congress that "Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent". Nepotism was rampant; around 40 family relatives financially prospered while Grant was President.^[17]

Black Friday

In September 1869, financial manipulators Jay Gould and Jim Fisk set up an elaborate scam to corner the gold market through buying up all the gold at the same time to drive up the price. The plan was to keep the Government from selling gold, thus driving its price. President Grant and Secretary of Treasury George S. Boutwell found out about the gold market speculation and ordered the sale of $4 million in gold on (Black) Friday, September 23. Gould and Fisk were thwarted, and the price of gold dropped. The effects of releasing the gold by Boutwell were disastrous. Stock prices plunged and food prices dropped, devastating farmers for years.^[102]

Star Route Postal Ring

In the early 1870s during the Grant Administration, lucrative postal route contracts were given to local contractors on the Pacific Coast and Southern regions of the United States. These were known as Star Routes because an asterisk was given on official Post Office documents. These remote routes were hundreds of miles long and went to the most rural parts of the United States by horse and buggy. In obtaining these highly prized postal contracts, an intricate ring of bribery and straw bidding was set up in the Postal Contract office; the ring consisted of contractors, postal clerks, and various intermediary brokers. Straw bidding was at its highest practice while John Creswell, Grant's 1869 appointment, was Postmaster-General. An 1872 federal investigation into the matter exonerated Creswell, but he was censured by the minority House report. A $40,000 bribe to the 42nd Congress by one postal contractor had tainted the results of the investigation. In 1876, another congressional investigation under a Democratic House shut down the postal ring for a few years.^[103]

New York Custom House Ring

Prior to the Presidential Election of 1872 two congressional and one Treasury Department investigations took place over corruption at the New York Custom House under Grant collector appointments Moses H. Grinnell and Thomas Murphy. Private warehouses were taking imported goods from the docks and charging shippers storage fees. Grant's friend, George K. Leet, was allegedly involved with exorbitant pricing for storing goods and splitting the profits. Grant's third collector appointment, Chester A. Arthur, implemented Secretary of Treasury George S. Boutwell's reform to keep the goods protected on the docks rather than private storage.^[104]

Salary grab

On March 3, 1873, President Grant signed a law that authorized the President's salary to be increased from $25,000 a year to $50,000 a year and Congressmen's salaries to be increased by $2,500. Representatives also received a retroactive pay bonus for previous two years of service. This was done in secret and attached to a general appropriations bill. Reforming newspapers quickly exposed the law and it was repealed on January 1874. Grant missed an opportunity to veto the bill and to make a strong statement for good government.^[105]

Election of 1872

The Liberal Republican candidate, Horace Greeley, was unable to muster enough reforming appeal to win the popular vote.

Grant remained popular throughout the nation despite the scandals evident during his first term in office. Grant had supported a patronage system that allowed Republicans to infiltrate and control state governments. In response to President Grant's federal patronage, in 1870, Senator Carl Schurz from Missouri, a German immigrant and Civil War hero, started a second party known as the Liberal Republicans; they advocated civil service reform, a low tariff, and amnesty to former Confederate soldiers. The Liberal Republicans successfully ran B.G. Brown for the governorship of Missouri and won with Democrat support. Then in 1872, the party completely split from the Republican party and nominated New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley as candidate for the Presidency. The Democrats, who at this time had no strong candidate choice of their own, reluctantly adopted Greeley as their candidate with Governor B.G. Brown as his running mate.^[106] Frederick Douglass supported Grant and reminded black voters that Grant had destroyed the violent Ku Klux Klan.^[107]

The Republicans, who were content with their Reconstruction program for the South, renominated Grant and Representative Henry Wilson in 1872. Grant had remained a popular Civil War hero, and the Republicans continued to wave the "bloody shirt" as a patriotic symbol representing the North. The Republicans favored high tariffs and a continuation of Radical Reconstruction policies that supported five military districts in the Southern states. Grant also favored amnesty to former Confederate soldiers like the Liberal Republicans. Because of political infighting between Liberal Republicans and Democrats, the physically ailing Greeley was no match for the "Hero of Appomattox" and lost dismally in the popular vote. Grant swept 286 Electoral College votes while other minor candidates received only 63 votes. Grant won 55.8 percent of the popular vote between Greeley and the other minor candidates. Heartbroken after a hard fought political campaign, Greeley died a few weeks after the election and was able to receive only 3 electoral votes. Out of respect for Greeley, Grant attended his funeral.^[106]

Second Term 1873–1877

Grant's second inauguration as President by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase on March 4, 1873

Reconstruction

Conservative resistance to Republican state governments grew after the 1872 elections. With the destruction of the Klan in 1872, new secret paramilitary organizations arose in the Deep South. In Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Louisiana, the Red Shirts and White League operated openly and were better organized than the Ku Klux Klan. Their goals were to oust the Republicans, return Conservative whites to power, and use whatever illegal methods needed to achieve them. Being loyal to his veterans, Grant remained determined that African Americans would receive protection.^[108]

Colfax Massacre

After the November 4, 1872 election, Louisiana was a split state. In a controversial election two candidates were claiming victory as governor. Violence was used to intimidate black Republicans. The fusionist party of Liberal Republicans and Democrats claimed John McEnery as the victor, while the Republicans claimed U.S. Senator William P. Kellogg. Two months later each candidate was sworn in as governor on January 13, 1863. A federal judge ordered that Kellogg was the rightful winner of the election and ordered him and the Republican based majority to be seated. The White League supported McHenry and prepared to use military force to remove Kellogg from office. Grant ordered troops to enforce the court order and protect Kellogg. On March 4, Federal troops under a flag of truce and Kellogg's state militia defeated McHenry's fusionist party's insurrection.^[109]

A dispute arose over who would be installed as judge and sheriff at the Colfax courthouse in Grant Parish, Louisiana Kellogg's two appointments had seized control of the Court House on March 25 with aid and protection of Black state militia troops. Then on April 13, White League forces attacked the courthouse and massacred 50 black militiamen who had been captured. A total of 105 blacks were killed trying to defend the Colfax courthouse for Governor Kellogg. On April 21, Grant sent in the U.S. 19th Infantry Regiment to restore order. On May 22, Grant issued a new proclamation to restore order in Louisiana. On May 31, McHenry finally told his followers to obey "peremptory orders" of the President. The orders brought a brief peace to New Orleans and most of Louisiana, ironically, except Grant Parish.^[110]

The Brooks-Baxter war in Arkansas

In the fall of 1872 the Republican party split in Arkansas and ran two candidates for governor, Elisha Baxter and Joseph Brooks. Massive fraud characterized the election, but Baxter was declared the winner and took office. Brooks never gave up, and finally in 1874 a local judge ruled Brooks was entitled to the office and swore him in. Both sides mobilized militia units, and rioting and fighting bloodied the streets. There was anticipation who President Grant would side with – either Baxter or Brooks. Grant delayed, requesting a joint session of the Arkansas government to figure out peacefully who would be the Governor, but Baxter refused to participate. Then, on May 15, 1874, President Grant issued a Proclamation that Baxter was the legitimate Governor of Arkansas, and the hostilities ceased.^[111]^[112] In fall of 1874 the people of Arkansas voted out Baxter, and all the Republicans and the Redeemers came to power. A few months later in early 1875, Grant astonished the nation by reversing himself and announcing that Brooks had been legitimately elected back in 1872. Grant did not send in troops, and Brooks never regained office; instead Grant gave him the high-paying patronage job of postmaster in Little Rock. Brooks died in 1877. The episode brought further discredit to Grant.^[113]

Vicksburg riots

In August 1874, the Vicksburg city government elected a White reform party consisting of Republicans and Democrats. This was done initially to lower city spending and taxes. Despite their early intentions, the reform movement turned racist when the new White city officials went after the county government, which had a majority of African Americans. Rather than using legal means, the White League threatened the life of and expelled Crosby, the black county sheriff and tax collector. Crosby then went to Governor Adelbert Ames to seek help to regain his position as sheriff. Governor Ames told him to take other African Americans and use force to retain his lawful position as Sheriff of Warren County. At that time Vicksburg had a population of 12,443, over half of whom were African American.^[114]

On December 7, 1874, Crosby and an African American militia approached the city. He had declared that the Whites were, "ruffians, barbarians, and political banditti". A series of battles occurred that resulted in 29 African Americans and 2 Whites killed. The White militia retained control of the Court House and jail. On December 21, Grant gave a Presidential Proclamation for the people in Vicksburg to stop fighting. Philip Sheridan in Louisiana dispatched troops who reinstated Crosby as sheriff and restored the peace. When questioned about the matter, Governor Ames denied he had told Crosby to use African American militia. On June 7, 1875, Crosby was shot to death by a White deputy while drinking in a bar. The origins for the shooting remained a mystery.^[114]

Former Confederate General James A. Longstreet and African American militia attempted to stop a White supremacist revolt at New Orleans in September, 1874.

Louisiana revolt and coups

On September 14, 1874, the White League and Democratic militia took control of the state house at New Orleans, and the Republican Governor William P. Kellogg was forced to flee. Former Confederate General James A. Longstreet, with 3,000 African American militia and 400 Metropolitan police, made a counterattack on the 8,000 White League troops. Consisting of former Confederate soldiers, the experienced White League troops routed Longstreet's army. On September 17, Grant sent in Federal troops, and they restored the government back to Kellogg. During the following controversial election in November, passions rose high, and violence mixed with fraud were rampant; the state of affairs in New Orleans was becoming out of control. The results were that 53 Republicans and 53 Democrats were elected with 5 remaining seats to be decided by the legislature.^[115]^[116]

Grant had been careful to watch the elections and secretly sent Phil Sheridan in to keep law and order in the state. Sheridan had arrived in New Orleans a few days before the January 4, 1875 legislature opening meeting. At the convention the Democrats again with military force took control of the state building out of Republican hands. Initially, the Democrats were protected by federal troops under Colonel Philip Régis de Trobriand, and the escaped Republicans were removed from the hallways of the state building. However, Governor Kellogg then requested that Trobriand reseat the Republicans. Trobriand returned to the State house and used bayonets to force the Democrats out of the building. The Republicans then organized their own house with their own speakers all being protected by the Federal Army. Sheridan, who had annexed the Department of the Gulf to his command at 9:00 P.M., claimed that the federal troops were being neutral since they had also protected the Democrats earlier.^[115]

South Carolina 1876

During the election year of 1876, South Carolina was in a state of rebellion against Republican governor Daniel H. Chamberlain. Conservatives were determined to win the election for ex-confederate Wade Hampton through violence and intimidation. The Republicans went on to nominate Chamberlain for a second term. Hampton supporters, donning red shirts, disrupted Republican meetings with gun shootings and yelling. Tensions became violent on July 8, 1876 when five African Americans were murdered at Hamburg. The rifle clubs, wearing their Red Shirts, were better armed then the blacks. South Carolina was ruled more by "mobocracy and bloodshed" than by Chamberlain's government.^[117]

Black militia did fight back in Charleston on September 6, 1876 in what was known as the "King Street riot". The white militia assumed defensive positions out of concern over possible federal troop intervention. Then, on September 19, the Red Shirts took offensive action by openly killing 30 to 50 African Americans outside Ellenton. During the massacre, state representative Simon Coker was killed. On October 7, Governor Chamberlain declared martial law and told all the "rifle club" members to put down their weapons. In the meantime, Wade Hampton never ceased to remind Chamberlain that he did not rule South Carolina. Out of desperation, Chamberlain wrote to President Grant and asked for federal intervention. The "Cainhoy riot" took place on October 15 when Republicans held a rally at "Brick Church" outside Cainhoy. Blacks and whites both opened fire; six whites and one black were killed. Grant, upset over the Ellenton and Cainhoy riots, finally declared a Presidential Proclamation on October 17, 1876 and ordered all persons, within 3 days, to cease their lawless activities and disperse to their homes. A total of 1,144 federal infantry were sent into South Carolina, and the violence stopped; election day was quiet. Both Hampton and Chamberlain claimed victory, and for a while both acted as governor; then Hampton took the office after President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877 withdrew federal troops and after Chamberlain left the state.^[117]

Indian affairs

Under Grant's peace policy wars between settlers, the federal army, and the American Indians had been decreasing from 101 per year in 1869 to a low of 15 per year in 1875.^[47] However, the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory and the completion of the Northern Pacific Railway, threatened to unravel Grant's peace policy, as white settlers encroached upon native land to mine for gold.^[118] Indian wars per year jumped up to 32 in 1876 and remained at 43 in 1877.^[47] One of the highest casualty Indian battles that took place in American history was at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876.^[119] Indian war casualties in Montana went from 5 in 1875, to 613 in 1876 and 436 in 1877.^[120]

Modoc War

In January 1873, Grant's Native American peace policy was challenged. Two weeks after Grant was elected for a second term, fighting broke out between the Modocs and settlers near the California-Oregon border. The Modocs, led by Captain Jack, killed 18 white settlers and then found a strong defensive position. Grant ordered General Sherman not to attack the Indians but settle matters peacefully with a commission. Sherman then sent Major General Edward Canby, but Captain Jack killed him. Reverend Eleazar Thomas, a Methodist minister, was also killed. Alfred B. Meacham, an Indian Agent, was severely wounded. The murders shocked the nation, and Sherman wired to have the Modocs exterminated. Grant overruled Sherman; Captain Jack was executed, and the remaining 155 Modocs were relocated to the Quapaw Agency in the Indian Territory. This episode and the Great Sioux War undermined public confidence in Grant's peace policy, according to historian Robert M. Utley.^[121]^[122]^{[note 3]}

Red River War and buffalo slaughter

In 1874, war erupted on the southern Plains when Quanah Parker, leader of the Comanche, led 700 tribal warriors and attacked the buffalo hunter supply base on the Canadian River, at Adobe Walls, Texas. The Army under General Phil Sheridan launched a military campaign, and, with few casualties on either side, forced the Indians back to their reservations by destroying their horses and winter food supplies. Grant, who agreed to the Army plan advocated by Generals William T. Sherman and Phil Sheridan, imprisoned 74 insurgents in Florida.^[10]^[124]

In 1872, around two thousand white buffalo hunters between Arkansas and Witchita were killing buffalo for their hides by the many thousands. Acres of land were dedicated solely for drying the hides of the slaughtered buffalo. Native Americans protested at the "wanton destruction" of their food supply. By 1874, 3,700,000 bison had been destroyed on the western and southern Plains of the United States. Concern for the destruction of the buffalo mounted, and a bill in Congress was passed, HR 921, that would have made buffalo hunting illegal for whites. Grant pocket vetoed the bill. Ranchers favored the buffalo slaughter to open pasture land for their cattle herds. With the buffalo food supply lowered Native Americans were forced to stay on reservations.^[10]^[125]

Bureau of Indian Affairs corruption

In 1874, massive fraud prevailed in the Bureau of Indian Affairs under Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano. This proved to be the most serious detriment to Grant's Indian peace policy. Many agents that worked for the department made unscrupulous fortunes and retired with more money than their pay would allow. Secretary Delano had allowed "Indian Attorneys" who were paid by Native American tribes $8.00 a day plus food and traveling expenses for sham representation in Washington. Other corruptions charges were brought up against Secretary Delano and he was forced to resign; he had left the Bureau of Indian Affairs in complete corruption. In 1875, Grant appointed Zachariah Chandler to Secretary of the Interior. Chandler vigorously uncovered and cleaned up the fraud in the department by firing all the clerks and banned the phony "Indian Attorneys" access to Washington. Grant's "Quaker" or church appointments partially made up the lack of food staples and housing from the government.^[11]^[126]

Great Sioux War

In 1874 gold had been discovered in the Black Hills in the Dakota Territory. White speculators and settlers rushed in droves seeking riches mining gold on land reserved for the Sioux tribe by the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868. In 1875, to avoid conflict President Grant met with Red Cloud, chief of the Sioux, at Washington, D.C., and offered $25,000 from the government to purchase the land. The offer was declined. On November 3, 1875 at a White House meeting, Phil Sheridan claimed to the President that the Army was overstretched and could not defend the Sioux tribe from the settlers; Grant capitulated; ordered Sheridan to round up the Sioux and put them on the reservation. Sheridan used a strategy of convergence, using Army columns to force the Sioux onto the reservation. On June 25, 1876, one of these columns, led by Colonel George A. Custer met the Sioux at the Battle of Little Big Horn and was slaughtered. Approximately 253 federal soldiers and civilians were killed compared to 40 American Indians.^[127] Custer's death and the Battle of Little Big Horn shocked the nation. Sheridan avenged Custer, pacified the northern Plains, and put the defeated Sioux on the reservation.^[128] On August 15, 1876 President Grant signed a proviso giving the Sioux nation $1,000,000 in rations, while the Sioux relinquished all rights to the Black Hills, except for a 40 mile land tract west of the 103 meridian. On August 28, a seven man committee, appointed by Grant, gave additional harsh stipulations for the Sioux in order to receive government assistance. Halfbreeds and "squaw men" were banished from the Sioux reservation. To receive the government rations, the Indians had to work the land. Reluctantly, on September 20, the Indian leaders, whose people were starving, agreed to the committee's demands and signed the agreement.^[129]

Civil Rights

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Throughout his Presidency, Grant was continually concerned with the civil rights of all Americans. Grant signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 that allowed citizens access to public eating establishments, hotels, and places of entertainment. This was done particularly to protect African Americans who were discriminated across United States. The bill was also passed in honor of Senator Charles Sumner who had previously attempted to pass a civil rights bill in 1872.^[130]

Polygamy and Chinese prostitution

In October, 1875 Grant traveled to Utah and was surprised that the Mormons treated him kindly. He told Utah territorial governor, George W. Emery, that he had been deceived concerning the Mormons.^[67] However, on December 7, 1875 after his return to Washington, Grant wrote to Congress in his seventh annual state of the Union address that as "an institution polygamy should be banished from the land…"^[131] Grant believed that polygamy negatively affected children and women. Grant advocated that a second stronger law then the Morrill Act be passed to "punish so flagrant a crime against decency and morality." ^[132]

Grant also denounced the immigration of Chinese women into the United States whose only purpose was prostitution.^[132]

Secular education

President Grant believed strongly in the separation of church and state and championed complete secularization in public schools. Grant inexplicably in an 1875 speech advocated "security of free thought, free speech, and free press, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and of equal rights and privileges to all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion." In regard to public education, Grant endorsed that every child should receive "the opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheist tenets. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private schools.... Keep the church and the state forever separate."^[133]

Panic of 1873

The Panic of 1873 was a worldwide depression that started when the stock market in Vienna, Austria crashed in June that year. Unsettling markets soon spread to Berlin and throughout Europe. The panic eventually reached New York when two banks went broke – the New York Warehouse & Security Company on September 18 and the major railroad financier Jay Cooke & Company on September 19. The ensuing depression lasted 5 years, ruined thousands of businesses, depressed daily wages by 25% from 1873 to 1876, and brought the unemployment rate up to 14%.^[134]^[135]

The causes of the panic in the United States included the destruction of credit from over-speculation in the stock markets and railroad industry. Eight years of unprecedented growth after the Civil War had brought thousands of miles of railroad construction, thousands of industrial factories, and a strong stock market; the South experienced a boom in agriculture. However, all this growth was done on borrowed money by many banks in the United States that have over-speculated in the Railroad industry by as much as $20 million. A stringent monetary policy under Secretary of Treasury George S. Boutwell, during the height of the railroad speculations, contributed to unsettled markets. Boutwell created monetary stringency by selling more gold then he bought bonds. The Coinage Act of 1873 made gold the de facto currency metal over silver.^[136]

On September 20, 1873 the Grant Administration finally responded. Grant's Secretary of Treasury William Adams Richardson, Boutwell's replacement, bought $2.5 million of five-twenty bonds with gold. On Monday, September 22, Richardson bought $3 million of bonds with legal tender notes or greenbacks and purchased $5.5 million in legal tender certificates. From September 24 to September 25 the Treasury department bought $24 million in bonds and certificates with greenbacks. On September 29 the Secretary prepaid the interest on $12 million bonds bought from security banks. From October, 1873 to January 4, 1874 Richardson kept liquidating bonds until $26 million greenback reserves were issued to make up for lost revenue in the Treasury. These actions did help curb the effects of the general panic by allowing more currency into the commercial banks and hence allowing more money to be lent and spent. Historians have blamed the Grant administration for not responding to the crisis promptly and for not taking adequate measures to reduce the negative effects of the general panic. The monetary policies of both Secretary Boutwell and Richardson were inconsistent from 1872 to 1873. The government's ultimate failure was in not reestablishing confidence in the businesses that had been the source of distrust. The Panic of 1873 eventually ran its course despite all the limited efforts from the government.^[137]

Grant's "cronyism", as Smith (2001) calls it, was apparent when he overruled Army experts to help a wartime friend, engineer, James B. Eads. Eads was building a major railroad bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis that had been authorized by Congress in 1866, and was nearing completion in 1873. However, the Army Corps of Engineers chief of engineers, agreeing with steam boat interests, ordered Eads to build a canal around the bridge because the bridge would be "a serious obstacle to navigation." After talking with Eads at the White House, Grant reversed the order and the 6,442 feet (1,964 m) long steel arched bridge went on to completion in 1874 without a canal.^[138]^[139]

Economy

Vetoes inflation bill

The rapidly accelerated industrial growth in post-Civil War America and throughout the world crashed with the Panic of 1873. Many banks overextended their loans and went bankrupt as a result, causing a general panic throughout the nation. In an attempt to put capital into a stringent monetary economy, Secretary of Treasury William A. Richardson released $26 million in greenbacks. Many argued that Richardson's monetary policies were not enough and some argued were illegal. In 1874, Congress debated the inflationary policy to stimulate the economy and passed the Inflation Bill of 1874 that would release an additional $18 million in greenbacks up to the original $400,000,000 amount. Eastern bankers vigorously lobbied Grant to veto the bill because of their reliance on bonds and foreign investors who did business in gold. Grant's cabinet was bitterly divided over this issue while conservative Secretary of State Hamilton Fish threatened to resign if Grant signed the bill. On April 22, 1874, after evaluating his own reasons for wanting to sign the bill, Grant unexpectedly vetoed the bill against the popular election strategy of the Republican Party because he believed it would destroy the nation's credit.^[140]

Resumption of Specie Act

On January 14, 1875, Grant signed the Resumption of Specie Act, and he could not have been happier; he wrote a note to Congress congratulating members on the passage of the act. The legislation was drafted by Ohio Republican Senator John Sherman. This act provided that paper money in circulation would be exchanged for gold specie and silver coins and would be effective January 1, 1879. The act also implemented that gradual steps would be taken to reduce the amount of greenbacks in circulation. At that time there were "paper coin" currency worth less than $1.00, and these would be exchanged for silver coins. Its effect was to stabilize the currency and make the consumers money as "good as gold". In an age without a Federal Reserve system to control inflation, this act stabilized the economy. Grant considered it the hallmark of his administration.^[141]^[142]

Foreign Policy

Virginus affair

On October 31, 1873, a steamer Virginius, flying the American flag carrying war materials and men to aid the Cuban insurrection (in violation of American and Spanish law) was intercepted and taken to Cuba. After a hasty trial, the local Spanish officials executed 53 would-be insurgents, eight of whom were United States citizens; orders from Madrid to delay the executions arrived too late. War scares erupted in both the U.S. and Spain, heightened by the bellicose dispatches from the American minister in Madrid, retired general Daniel Sickles. Secretary of State Fish kept a cool demeanor in the crisis, and through investigation discovered there was a question over whether the Virginius ship had the right to bear the United States flag. The Spanish Rupublic's President Emilio Castelar expressed profound regret for the tragedy and was willing to make reparations through arbitration. Fish negotiated reparations with the Spanish minister Senor Poly y Bernabe. With Grant's approval, Spain was to surrender Virginius, pay an indemnity to the surviving families of the Americans executed, and salute the American flag; the episode ended quietly.^[143]

Hawaiian free trade

In 1875, the Grant Administration had successfully negotiated a free trade treaty with Hawaiian King Kalākaua. The main product from Hawaii, sugar, was made duty free while American manufactured goods, including clothing, were allowed to be sold in the island kingdom.^[144]

Liberian-Grebo civil war

The U.S. settled the Liberian-Grebo civil war in 1876 by dispatching the USS Alaska to Liberia. Liberia was in practice an American colony. US envoy James Milton Turner, the first African American ambassador, requested a warship to protect American property in Liberia. After the USS Alaska arrived, Turner negotiated the incorporation of Grebo people into Liberian society and the ousting of foreign traders from Liberia.^[145]

Scandals continued

The corruption scandals and frauds continued to be exposed during President Grant's second term in office. The Democrats along with the Liberal Republicans had gained control of the House of Representatives and held many Committee meetings to stop political graft. The main scandal was the Whiskey Ring where the investigation went up to Grant himself. The Emma Silver mine was a minor embarrassment associated with American Ambassador to Britain, Robert C. Schenck, using his name to promote a worked out silver mine. The Crédit Mobilier scandal's origins were during the presidential Administrations of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, however, political congressional infighting during the Grant Administration exposed the scandal.^[100]

Scandal cabinet and appointees

The most infamous of Grant's cabinet or other presidential appointees who were involved in scandals or criminal activity:

Daniel Butterfield, Assistant Secretary of Treasury – (Black Friday- 1869)
William A. Richardson, Secretary of Treasury – (Sanborn Contracts- 1874)
George H. Williams, Attorney General – (Pratt & Boyd- 1875)
Columbus Delano, Secretary of Interior – (Bogus Agents – 1875)
Orville E. Babcock, Private Secretary – (Black Friday – 1869) (Whiskey Ring – 1875) (Safe Burglary Conspiracy – 1876)
John McDonald, Internal Revenue Supervisor, St. Louis – (Whiskey Ring– 1875)
Horace Porter, Private Secretary – (Whiskey Ring – 1875)
William W. Belknap, Secretary of War – (Trading Post Ring- 1876)
George M. Robeson, Secretary of Treasury – (Naval Department Ring- 1876)

Sanborn contracts

In June 1874, Treasury Secretary William A. Richardson gave private contracts to one John D. Sanborn who in turn collected illegally withheld taxes for fees at inflated commissions. The profits from the commissions were allegedly split with Richardson and Senator Benjamin Butler, while Sanborn claimed these payments were "expenses". Senator Butler had written a loophole in the law that allowed Sanborn to collect the commissions, but Sanborn would not reveal whom he split the profits with.^[146]

Pratt & Boyd

In April 1875, it was discovered that Attorney General George H. Williams allegedly received a bribe through a $30,000 gift to his wife from a Merchant house company, Pratt & Boyd, to drop the case for fraudulent customhouse entries. Williams was forced to resign by Grant in 1875.^[49]

Delano affair

Secretary Columbus Delano allowed corruption to run rampant in the Department of Interior.

In 1875, the U.S. Department of Interior was in serious disrepair with corruption and incompetence. The Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano, discovered to have taken bribes to secure fraudulent land grants, resigned from office on October 15, 1875. Delano had also given bogus lucrative cartographical contracts to his son John Delano and Ulysses S. Grant's own brother, Orvil Grant. Neither John Delano nor Orvil Grant performed any work or were skillfully qualified to hold such surveying positions. The Department of Indian Affairs was being controlled by corrupt clerks and bogus agents who made enormous profits from the exploitation of Native American tribes. Massive fraud was also found in the Patent Office with corrupt clerks who embezzled from the government payroll. Delano who refused to make any reforms resigned under public pressure rather than Grant asking for a resignation. It was another missed opportunity for Grant to support ethics in government. However, on October 19, 1875, Grant made another reforming cabinet choice when he appointed Zachariah Chandler as Secretary of the Interior. Chandler cleaned up the Patent Office and the Department of Indian Affairs by firing all the corrupt clerks and banned bogus agents.^[17]^[147]^[148]

Whiskey ring

In May 1875, Secretary of Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow discovered that millions of dollars of taxes were being funneled into an illegal ring from whiskey manufacturers. Prosecutions ensued, and many were put in prison. Grant's private Secretary Orville E. Babcock was indicted and later acquitted in trial.^[149] The Whiskey Ring was organized throughout the United States, and by 1875 it was a fully operating criminal association. The investigation and closure of the Whiskey Ring resulted in 230 indictments, 110 convictions, and $3,000,000 in tax revenues that were returned to the Treasury Department. During the prosecution of the Whiskey Ring leaders, Grant testified on behalf of his friend Babcock. As a result, Babcock was acquitted, however, the deposition by Grant was a great embarrassment to his reputation. The Babcock trial turned into an impeachment trial against the President by Grant's political opponents.^[150]^[151]

Trading post ring

In March 1876 it was discovered under House investigations that Secretary of War William W. Belknap was taking extortion money in exchange for allowing an Indian trading post agent to remain in position at Fort Sill. Belknap was allowed to resign by President Grant and as a result was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial. Profits were made at the expense of Native Americans who were supposed to receive food and clothing from the government.^[58] In late April 1876, Grant lashed out at Lieut. Col. George A. Custer, after Custer had testified at a Congressional committee one month before against Grant's brother Orville and Sec. Belknap. There had been rumors Custer had talked with the press concerning the Indian post profiteering. Custer personally went to the White House to clear matters up with the President, however, Grant coldly refused to see him three times. When Custer left Washington on May 3 to return to Fort Lincoln, he had been spitefully removed from overall command by Grant and denied any participation of the Sioux Campaign; having been replaced by Brig. Gen. Alfred Terry. However, at Terry's insistence, Grant partially relented and allowed Custer to participate in the campaign against the Sioux on the condition he did not take any pressmen.^[152]

Cattellism

In March 1876, Secretary of Navy George M. Robeson was charged by a Democratic-controlled House investigation committee with giving lucrative contracts to Alexander Cattell & Company, a grain supplier, in return for real estate, loans, and payment of debts.^[153] The House investigating committee also discovered that Secretary Robeson had allegedly embezzled $15 million in naval construction appropriations.^[154] Since there were no financial paper trails or enough evidence for impeachment and conviction, the House Investigation committee admonished Robeson and claimed he had set up a corrupt contracting system known as "Cattellism".^[155]

Safe burglary conspiracy

In September 1876, Orville E. Babcock, Superintendent of Public Works and Buildings, was indicted in a safe burglary conspiracy case and trial. In April, corrupt building contractors in Washington, D.C. were on trial for graft when a safe robbery occurred. Bogus secret service agents broke into a safe and attempted to frame Columbus Alexander, who had exposed the corrupt contracting ring. Babcock was named as part of the conspiracy, but later acquitted in the trial against the burglars. Evidence suggests that Backcock was involved with the swindles by the corrupt Washington Contractors Ring and he wanted revenge on Columbus Alexander, an avid reformer and critic of the Grant Administration. There was also evidence that safe burglary jury had been tampered with.^[156]^[156]

Scandal summary table

Grant Administration Scandals and Corrupt Activities	Description	Date
Black Friday	Speculators corner the gold market and ruin the economy for several years.	1869
New York custom house ring	Three investigations, two congressional and one Treasury, looked into alleged corruption ring set up at the New York Custom House under two of Grant's appointments, collectors Moses H. Grinnell and Thomas Murphy.	1872
Star Route Postal Ring	Bribery system of postal contractors, clerks, and brokers to obtain lucrative Star Route postal contracts.	1872
Salary Grab	Congressmen receive a rhetro active $5,000 bonus for previous term served.	1872
Sanborn Contract	John Sanborn collected taxes at exorbitant fees and split the profits among associates.	1874
Delano Affair	Secretary of Interior, Columbus Delano, allegedly took bribes to secure fraudulent land grants.	1875
Pratt & Boyd	Attorney General George H. Williams allegedly received a bribe not to prosecute the Pratt & Boyd company.	1875
Whiskey Ring	Corrupt government officials and whiskey makers steal millions of dollars in national tax embezzlement scam.	1876
Trading Post Ring	Secretary of War William Belknap allegedly takes extortion money from trading contractor at Fort Sill.	1876
Cattelism	Secretary of Navy George Robeson allegedly receives bribes from Cattell & Company for lucrative Naval contracts.	1876
Safe Burglary Conspiracy	Private Secretary Orville Babcock indicted over framing a private citizen for uncovering corrupt Washington contractors.	1876

Reforming cabinet members

Grant's cabinet fluctuated between talented individuals or reformers and those involved with political patronage or party corruption.^[157] Some notable reforming cabinet members were persons who had outstanding abilities and made many positive contributions to the administration. These reformers resisted the GOP demands for patronage to select efficient civil servants.^[158]^[159]

Hamilton Fish

Hamilton Fish was not seeking any office when his name was presented to the Senate for confirmation, and he even declined Grant's offer to serve as United States Secretary of State. Grant insisted that Fish be in his cabinet and had his name placed before the Senate where he was confirmed on March 17, 1869. According to Fish's biographer and historian Amos Elwood Corning in 1919, Fish was known as "a gentleman of wide experience, in whom the capacities of the organizer were happily united with a well balanced judgment and broad culture". After the confirmation, Fish went immediately to work and collected, classified, indexed, and bound seven hundred volumes of correspondence of a malicious nature. He established a new indexing system that simplified retrieving information by clerks. Fish also created a rule that applicants for consulate had to take an official written examination to receive an appointment; previously, applicants were given positions on a patronage system solely on the recommendations of Congressmen and Senators. This raised the tone and efficiency of the consular service, and if a Congressman or Senator objected, Fish could show them that the applicant did not pass the written test.^[92]

George S. Boutwell

Another reforming cabinet member was United States Secretary of Treasury George S. Boutwell who was confirmed by the Senate on March 12, 1869. His first actions were to dismiss S.M. Clark, the chief of U.S. Bureau and Engraving, and to set up a system of securing the plates that the paper money was printed on to prevent counterfeiting. Boutwell set up a system to monitor the manufacturing of money to ensure nothing would be stolen. Boutwell prevented collusion in the printing of money by preparing sets of plates for a single printing, with the red seal being imprinted in the Treasury Bureau. Boutwell persuaded Grant to have the Commissioner of Internal Revenue Alfred Pleasanton removed for misconduct over approving a $60,000 tax refund. In addition to these measures, Boutwell established a uniform mode of accounting at custom houses and ports. Boutwell along with Attorney General, Amos T. Akerman, were two of Grant's strongest cabinet members who advocated racial justice for African Americans.^[160]^[161]

Amos T. Akerman

During Amos T. Akerman's tenure as Attorney General of the United States from 1870 to 1871, thousands of indictments were brought against Klansmen to enforce the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and the Force Acts of 1870 and 1871. Born in the North, Akerman moved to Georgia after college and owned slaves; he fought for the Confederacy and became a Scalawag during Reconstruction, speaking out for blacks' civil rights. As U.S. Attorney General, he became the first ex-Confederate to reach the cabinet. Akerman was unafraid of the Klan and committed to protecting the lives and civil rights of blacks. To bolster Akerman's investigation, Grant sent in Secret Service agents from the Justice Department to infiltrate the Klan and to gather evidence for prosecution. The investigations revealed that many whites participated in Klan activities. With this evidence, Grant issued a Presidential proclamation to disarm and remove the Klan's notorious white robe and hood disguises. When the Klan ignored the proclamation, Grant sent Federal troops to nine South Carolina counties to put down the violent activities of the Klan. Grant teamed Akerman up with another reformer in 1870 – the first Solicitor General and native Kentuckian Benjamin Bristow – and the duo went on to prosecute thousands of Klan members and brought a brief quiet period of two years in the turbulent Reconstruction era.^[162]

Benjamin H. Bristow

As perhaps Grant's most popular cabinet reformer, Benjamin H. Bristow was appointed Secretary of Treasury in June 1874. Bristow had served ably as Solicitor General of the United States from 1870 to 1872, prosecuting many Ku Klux Klan's men who violated African American voting rights. When Bristow assumed office he immediately made an aggressive attack on corruption in the department. Bristow discovered that the Treasury was not receiving the full amount of tax revenue from whiskey distillers and manufacturers from several Western cities, primarily St. Louis, Missouri. Bristow discovered in 1874 that the Government alone was being defrauded by $1.2 million. On May 13, 1875, armed with enough information, Bristow struck hard at the ring, seized the distilleries, and made hundreds of arrests; the Whiskey Ring ceased to exist. Although President Grant and Bristow were not on friendly terms, Bristow sincerely desired to save Grant's reputation from scandal.^[100] At the end of the Whiskey Ring prosecutions in 1876, there were 230 indictments, 110 convictions, and $3 million in tax revenues returned to the Treasury Department.^[163]^[164]

Edwards Pierrepont

In 1875, Grant paired up Secretary of Treasury Benjamin Bristow with U.S. Attorney General Edwards Pierrepont, a Yale graduate. The appointment was popularly accepted by the public as Bristow and Pierrepont successfully prosecuted members of the Whiskey Ring. Before becoming U.S. Attorney General, Pierrepont was part of a reforming group known as the "Committee of Seventy" and was successful at shutting down William M. Tweed's corrupt contracting Ring while he was a New York U.S. Attorney in 1870. Although Grant's reputation was vastly improved, Pierrepont had shown indifference in 1875 to the plight of freedmen by circumventing Federal intervention when White racists terrorized Mississippi's African American citizens over a fraudulent Democratic election. Every cabinet appointment made by Grant came with a political cost.^[165]

Alphonso Taft

When President Grant was in a bind to find a replacement for Secretary of War William W. Belknap, who abruptly resigned in 1876 amidst scandal, he turned to his good friend Alphonso Taft from Cincinnati. Taft, who accepted, served ably as Secretary of War until being transferred to the Attorney General position. As Secretary of War, Taft reduced military expenditures and made it so that no post-traderships would be given to any person except on the recommendation of the officers at the post. Grant then appointed Taft as U.S. Attorney General. Taft was a wise scholar and jurist educated at Yale University, and the Attorney General position suited him the best. During the controversial Presidential Election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, Attorney General Taft and House Representative J. Proctor Knott had many meetings to decide the outcome of the controversial election. The result of the Taft-Knott negotiations, the Electoral Commission Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by Grant on January 29, 1877; it created a 15 panel bipartisan committee to elect the next President. Hayes won the Presidency by one electoral vote two days before the March 4, 1877 Inauguration. Alphonso Taft was the father of future president William H. Taft.^[166]

Zachariah Chandler

In 1875, the U.S. Department of Interior was in serious disrepair with corruption and incompetence. The result was that United States Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano, reportedly having taken bribes to secure fraudulent land grants, was forced to resign from office on October 15, 1875.^[17] On October 19, 1875, in a personal effort of reform, Grant appointed Zachariah Chandler to the position and was confirmed by the Senate in December 1875. Chandler immediately went to work on reforming the Interior Department by dismissing all the important clerks in the Patent Office. Chandler had discovered that fictitious clerks were earning money and that other clerks were earning money without performing services. Chandler simplified the patent application procedure and as a result reduced costs. Chandler, under President Grant's orders, fired all corrupt clerks at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Chandler also banned the practice of Native American agents, known as "Indian Attorneys" who were being paid $8.00 a day plus expenses for supposedly representing their tribes in Washington.^[92]

John A.J. Creswell

Postmaster General John A. J. Creswell proved to be one of the ablest organizers ever to head the Post Office. He cut costs while greatly expanding the number of mail routes, postal clerks and letter carriers. He introduced the penny post card and worked with Fish to revise postal treaties. A Radical, he used the vast patronage of the post office to support Grant's coalition. He asked for the total abolition of the franking privilege since it reduced the revenue receipts by five percent. The franking privilege allowed members of Congress to send mail at the government's expense.^[167]

Election of 1876

During the Presidential Election of 1876, the Republicans nominated the fiscally conservative Rutherford B. Hayes and the Democrats nominated reformer Samuel Tilden. Results were split. Tilden received 51% of the popular vote; Hayes 48%; while 20 key electoral votes remained undecided and in dispute. Both Republicans and Democrats claimed victory and the threat of a second civil war was eminent. Grant was watchful; encouraged Congress to settle the election by commission; and determined to keep a peaceful transfer of power. On January 29, 1877 Grant signed the Electoral Commission Act that gave a 15 panel bipartisan commission power to determine electoral votes. The commission gave Hayes 185 electoral votes; Tilden received 184. Hayes became the 19th President of the United States after being awarded 3 electoral votes from the state of Colorado. Grant's personal honesty, firmness, and even handedness reassured the nation and a second civil war was averted.^[7]^[168]^[169]

Administration and Cabinet

Supreme Court appointments

Grant appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:

Edwin M. Stanton – 1869 (died before taking seat)
William Strong – 1870
Joseph P. Bradley – 1870
Ward Hunt – 1873
Morrison Remick Waite (Chief Justice) – 1874

States admitted to the Union

Colorado – August 1, 1876

Colorado came into the Union just in time to give enough electoral votes for Rutherford B. Hayes to win the Presidential Election of 1876.^[170]

Vetoes

Grant vetoed more bills then any of his predecessors with 93 vetoes during the 41st through 44th Congresses. 45 were regular vetoes, and 48 of them were pocket vetoes. Grant had 4 vetoes overridden by Congress.^[171]

Government agencies instituted

Department of Justice (1870)
Office of the Solicitor General (1870)
"Advisory Board on Civil Service" (1871); expired in 1873
Office of the Surgeon General (1871)
Army Weather Bureau (currently known as the National Weather Service) (1870)

Presidential reputation

Grant was the first President since Andrew Jackson to hold two consecutive terms in office. The 40 years that separated their administrations marks the longest time span between presidents without one serving two terms. The legacy of President Grant is one of American civil rights, international diplomacy, scandals, and a boom-and-bust national economy. In terms of civil rights, Grant had urged the passing of the 15th Amendment and signed into law the Civil Rights Bill of 1875 that gave all citizens access to places of public enterprise. Grant defeated the Klan by sending in the Justice Department, backed by the Army. Grant's 1868 Presidential campaign slogan "Let us have peace" rang true when his State Department resolved crises with Britain and Spain, implementing the new concept of International Arbitration.^[172]

The scandals revealed that Grant reacted too readily to protect his team, to coverup misdeeds, and to get rid of whistle blowers and reformers. It was impossible for Grant, who had neither the temperament nor training to be President, to morally check all of the corruption generated from the socioeconomic forces of a costly American Civil War, rapid industrialization, and Westward expansionism.^[101] His acceptance of gifts from wealthy associates showed poor judgment. He distrusted reformers as busybodies who were interfering with party patronage. He was reluctant to prosecute cabinet members and appointees viewed as "honest" friends, and those who were convicted were set free with presidential pardons after serving a brief time in prison. His associations with these scandals have tarnished his personal reputation while President and afterward. Despite the scandals, by the end of Grant's second term the corruption in the Departments of Interior (1875), Treasury (1874), and Justice (1875) were cleaned up by his new cabinet members.^[173] The State Departement under Secretary Hamilton Fish was run efficiently and virtually free from scandal for Grant's two terms in office. The Postal Service was cleaned up by reformer Post Master Marshall Jewell (1875), who aided Benjamin Bristow shut down the Whiskey Ring. The Department of War was cleaned up by Secretary Alphonso Taft, after the resignation of Secretary William Belknap in 1876. Grant's personal Secretary Orville Babcock was out of the White House by 1876. The Department of Navy, under Secretary George Robeson, remained unreformed, however, Robeson did implement U.S. Naval resurgence after the Virginius Incident in 1873.

Grant's generous treatment of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox helped give him popularity in the South. Although he kept civil rights on the political agenda, the Republican party at the end of Grant's second term shifted to pursuing conservative fiscal policies. His weak response to the Panic of 1873 hurt the economy and seriously damaged his party, which lost heavily in 1874. His personal will often strayed from normal Presidential orthodoxy, and his administration defied the American tradition of a government run without political corruption and favortism. Grant's financial policies favored Wall Street, but his term ended with the nation mired in a deep economic depression that Grant could not comprehend or deal with.^[174] Revisionist historians during the first half of the Twentieth Century have tended to prop up a romantic view of the Confederacy and the Lost Cause at the expense of downgrading the Union cause and Grant's Presidency as a corrupt despot.^[175] Modern scholars are individually evaluating Grant's Presidency rather than relying on traditional Presidential polls that have given Grant low rankings.^[176]

Civil rights record

Grant proactively used military and Justice Department enforcement of civil rights laws and the protection of African Americans more than any other President. He used his full powers to destroy the Ku Klux Klan, reducing violence and intimidation in the South. He appointed James Milton Turner as the first African American minister to a foreign nation.^[145] Grant's relationship with Charles Sumner, the leader in promoting civil rights, was shattered by the Senator's opposition to Grant's plan to acquire Santo Domingo treaty. Grant retaliated, firing men Sumner had recommended and having allies strip Sumner of his chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee. Sumner joined the Liberal Republican movement in 1872 to fight Grant's reelection.^[177]

Grant's presidency was committed to treat Native Americans as individual wards of the state under a "peace" policy and encouraged their citizenship. Native Americans were eventually given full U.S. citizenship in 1924 under the Indian Citizenship Act signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge. Grant signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875. In his sixth message to Congress, he summed up his own views, "While I remain Executive all the laws of Congress and the provisions of the Constitution ... will be enforced with rigor ... Treat the Negro as a citizen and a voter, as he is and must remain ... Then we shall have no complaint of sectional interference."^[34] In the pursued equal justice for all category from the 2009 CSPAN Presidential rating survey Grant scored a 9 getting into the top ten.^[178]

Notes

^ There was no official act of Congress to end Reconstruction. President Elect Rutherford B. Hayes met Democratic political leaders at the Wormley Hotel on February 26, 1877. No record was kept at this meeting, however, Hayes pledged to withdraw troops from Reconstruction states; withhold federal support from Republican governments in South Carolina and Louisiana; and allow Democrats to resume control of these states. This was known as the Compromise of 1877. Although President Grant did not attend the meeting, he ordered troops removed from Florida before Hayes was inaugurated on March 4, 1877.
^ From the years 1850 to 1890, the Trans-Mississippi West was in a state of constant turmoil. The West was a place of violence; during this time period there were 675 recorded battles between American Indian tribes, federal forces, and settlers.^[44] American Indian casualties were 69% versus 31% for military personnel and settlers combined.^[45] Statistical analysis revealed of these 675 battles American Indians had 201 wins, the federal militia and civilian forces had 419 wins, while 55 battles were draws.^[46]
^ During the peace negotiations between Brig. Gen. Edward Canby and the Modoc tribal leaders, there were more Indians in the tent then had been agreed upon. As the Indians grew more hostile, Captain Jack, said "I talk no more." and shouted "All ready." Captain Jack drew his revolver and fired directly into the head of Gen Canby. Brig. Gen Canby was the highest ranking officer to be killed during the Indian Wars that took place from 1850 to 1890. Alfred Meacham, who survived the massacre, defended the Modocs who were put on trial.^[123]

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^ "Who's Buried in the History Books?" by Sean Wilentz, The New York Times, March 14, 2010
^ McFeely (1981), Grant, pp. 380, 381
^ McFeely Woodward (1974) pp. 147-148.
^ Nevins 1936, p. 132.
^ ^a ^b Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 596–605
^ Nevins (1957) Hamilton Fish: The Inner History of the Grant Administration Vol. 2, pp 638–639
^ Smith 2001, pp. 536–541, 586–587.
^ ^a ^b ^c Brown 1970, pp. 264–271.
^ ^a ^b Pierson 1880, pp. 343–345.
^ Wilentz (January 25, 2010), The Return of Ulysses, pp. 1-2
^ C-SPAN 2009 Historians Presidential Leadership Survey
^ Weisburger (November, 1995), The Item And "fight ‘em" Veto, American Heritage
^ Etcheson 2009, pp. 236–242.
^ Trelease 1971, ch. 24–25.
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^ Unger 1964.
^ Oberholtzer 1926.
^ Hesseltine (1935), Ulysses S. Grant: Politician, pp 134–135
^ Hesseltine (1935), Ulysses S. Grant: Politician, pp 150–156
^ Nevins (1957), Hamilton Fish: The Inner History of the Grant Administration. Volume: 2, page 567
^ (1990), Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters, p. 1146; Duncan 1986, pp. 9–10; Etcheson 2009.
^ ^a ^b McFeely (1981), Grant: a biography, pp. 356–359
^ Hesseltine 1935, ch. 11.
^ McPherson 1880 p. 545.
^ Smith 2001, pp. 542–547.
^ ^a ^b Williams (1996), The Great South Carolina Ku Klux Klan Trials, 1871-1872, p. 123
^ Boldger (2003), Background History of the United States Naturalization Process
^ ^a ^b ^c Scaturro 2006.
^ ^a ^b Smith (2001), p. 346
^ (1990), Grant Memoirs and Selected Letters pp. 1146, 1147; McFeely (2002), Grant: A Biography, pp. 368–369
^ Trelease 1971, ch. 22–25.
^ McFeely (2002), Grant: A Biography, pp. 368–369
^ National Governors Association.
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^ The New York Times 1872, "Amnesty & Civil Rights".
^ Bunting 2004, pp. 117–118.
^ Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 534–539
^ Michno (2003), p. 1
^ Michno (2003), p. 353
^ Michno, (2003), p. 356
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Michno (2003), p. 362.
^ Mitchno (2003), p. 362
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Smith 2001.
^ Olson 1965, p. 103.
^ Sim 2008, pp. 241–268.
^ ^a ^b Utley 1984a, pp. 127–133.
^ Prucha 1984, pp. 501–503.
^ Utley (1973), Frontier Regulars: the United States Army and the Indian, 1866–1891, page 190; Wooster (1988), The Military and United States Indian Policy, 1865–1903, page 151
^ Michno (2003), pp. 248, 249
^ Michno (2003), pp. 250, 251
^ Utley and Mackintosh, 1989.
^ ^a ^b Smith 2001, pp. 593–596.
^ McFeely 2002, pp. 375–376.
^ New York Times (August 23, 1873), The Military Academy Report of the Board of West Point Visitors
^ Art of the Possible Online (July 3, 2009), James Webster Smith and Henry O. Flipper
^ McFeely (1981), p. 379
^ Reading Eagle, Armies First Black Cadet Gets Bars 123 Years Later, p. A13
^ Ertman (2010), Race Treason: The Untold Story of America's Ban on Polygamy, pg. 301.
^ "The Mormons Arming and Drilling" (PDF). The New York Times. May 2, 1870. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
^ "The Fourth In Utah" (PDF). The New York Times. July 6, 1871. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Utah's Territorial Governors (1850–1896) (2011)
^ The Boston Globe (October 30, 1871), The Mormon Trials.
^ "The Mormon Trials" (pdf). New York Times. November 22, 1871. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
^ Ertman (2010), Race Treason: The Untold Story of America's Ban on Polygamy, pg. 294
^ Various Presidents on Polygamy (July 05, 2011)
^ Carpenter 2001, pp. 84–85.
^ Howe (1935), p. 48, 295
^ Smith 2001, pp. 587–589.
^ Young 1880, p. 126.
^ Nevins 1957, p. 710.
^ Smith 2001 pp. 587–589.
^ Smith 2001, pp. 480–481.
^ Grant (1869), Respecting Wages of labor, Executive Order
^ The New York Times 1872, "The Conduct of the Finances".
^ Boutwell 2008, pp. 131–133.
^ Shotwell (1910), pp. 651–653
^ Smith 2001, pp. 499–502; (1990), Ulysses S. Grant Memoirs and Selected Letters, Chronology pp. 1145–1147
^ ^a ^b (1990), Ulysses S. Grant Memoirs and Selected Letters, Chronology pp. 1145–1147
^ David Donald, Charles Sumner and the Rights of Man (1970) p 442-43
^ Simon (1995), The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, p. xxi
^ McFeely (1981), pg. 344
^ Chamberlain (1902), pp. 7, 8
^ David Donald, Charles Sumner and the Rights of Man (1970) p 446-47; Smith 2001, pp. 503–505; Nevins 1957, ch. 12; McFeely (2002), Grant: a biography, pp. 343–345;(1990), Ulysses S. Grant Memoirs and Selected Letters, Chronology pp. 1145–1147
^ McFeely (1981), p. 337
^ McFeely (2002), Grant: A Biography, pp. 337–345
^ ^a ^b ^c Corning 1918, pp. 49–54.
^ Smith 2001, pp. 495–499.
^ Hackett 1911, pp. 45–50.
^ ^a ^b Corning 1918, pp. 59–84;(1990), Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters, p. 1146
^ ^a ^b (1990), Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters, p. 1148
^ Nevins 1957, ch. 22–23.
^ ^a ^b Miller 2003, pp. 146–147.
^ Chang 2003.
^ ^a ^b ^c Rives 2000.
^ ^a ^b Woodward 1957.
^ Smith 2001, pp. 481–490.
^ Grossman 2003, pp. 308–309.
^ "The New York Custom House". New York Times. August 5, 1872. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
^ Smith 2001, p. 553.
^ ^a ^b Rhodes 1906, v. 7.
^ Smith (2001), Grant, p. 550; Stauffer (2008), Giants, pp. 308, 309
^ Trelease 1971, ch. 25.
^ Keith 2007, p. 100.
^ Lane 2008, p. 124.
^ Johnson 1908, pp. 122–168.
^ Woodward 1971, pp. 315–336.
^ Nevins, 1957, pp. 758–760.
^ ^a ^b Rhodes 1906, v. 7, pp. 167–168.
^ ^a ^b Hutton 2009, pp. 262–266.
^ Zuczek 2006, p. 413.
^ ^a ^b Zuczek 1996, pp. 159–165, 170–172, 174, 176.
^ Smith (2001), pp. 538
^ Michno (2003), pp. 295, 296, 363.
^ Michno (2003), p. 368.
^ Utley 1984b, p. 206.
^ Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 534–536
^ Michno (2003), p. 265
^ Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 536–538; Brister (2000).
^ Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 536–538; Brister (2000); Northern Vindicator (12-07-1872), Slaughter of the Buffalo, p. 2.
^ Smith 2001, p. 526.
^ Michno (2003), p. 296
^ Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 538–540
^ Gray (1976), pp. 260–263
^ The New York Times 1875, pp. 1–2.
^ Various Presidents on Polygamy (July 05, 2011)
^ ^a ^b Ulysses S. Grant (December 7, 1875), Seventh Annual Message
^ Smith (2001), pp. 569–570
^ Smith (2000) 575-82
^ Oberholtzer, A History of the United States Since the Civil War (1926) 3:79–122
^ Unger 1964, ch. 8.
^ Unger 1964, ch. 9.
^ Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 555–557
^ Delony, Context for World Heritage Bridges
^ Rhodes 1906, ch. 7, pp. 126–127; Nevins (1957), Hamilton Fish: The Inner History of the Grant Administration. Volume: 2, pp. 706–708 711–714
^ Smith 2001, pp. 581–582.
^ Unger 1964, ch. 11.
^ Bradford 1980.
^ Doenecke (1981), p. 177
^ ^a ^b Kremer 1991, pp. 82–87.
^ Hinsdale 1911, pp. 212–213.
^ McFeeley 1981, pp.430–431
^ Pierson 1880, pp.343–345
^ Rhodes 1906, p. 187.
^ McFeely 2002, pp. 406–416.
^ Garland 1898, p. 438.
^ Gray (1976), pp. 67–71
^ Kennedy 2001.
^ Muench 2006, p. 74.
^ McFeely 2002, p. 432.
^ ^a ^b The New York Times 1876
^ Hinsdale 1911, p. 212.
^ Nevins 1957, p. 367.
^ Smith 2001 pp. 468–473.
^ Boutwell 2008, pp. 120–123.
^ McFeely (2002), Grant: A Biography, p. 369
^ Trelease 1971.
^ PoliticalCorruption.net
^ Rhodes 1912, pp. 182–185.
^ Smith 2001, p. 585.
^ Leonard 1920.
^ Nevins 1957, p. 139.
^ The American Presidency Project (2010)
^ Shearer (2004), The Uniting States: Alabama to Kentucky, p. 186
^ Shearer (2004), The Uniting States: Alabama to Kentucky, p. 186
^ Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
^ Nevins 1957, pp. 563–564.
^ Nevins 1957, p. 833.
^ Simon 1997, pp. 258–259.
^ Skidmore, pp. 150-151
^ Skidmore, p. 151
^ David Herbert Donald, Charles Sumner and the Rights of Man (1970) ch 12
^ C-SPAN.org 2009.

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Garland, Hamlin (1898). Ulysses S. Grant: His Life and Character. New York City: Doubleday and McClure Company. p. 438. ISBN 0-548-13253-4. OCLC 11394591.
Gray, John S. (1976). Centennial Campaign The Sioux War of 1876. University of Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2152-1.
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Hinsdale, Mary Louise (1911). A History of the President's Cabinet (Ph.D. thesis for the faculty of the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts of the University of Michigan). Ann Arbor, Michigan: George Wehr. ISBN 978-1-4366-5553-8. ISSN 0002-8762. OCLC 484433457. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
Howe, George Frederick (1935). Chester A. Arthur A Quarter-Century of Machine Politics. New York, New York: Frederick Unger Publishing Co.
Hutton, Paul Andrew, Ph.D. (2009) [First published 1985]. "Chapter 12: Reconstructing Louisiana: 'To Charge upon the Liberties of His Fellow-Citizens'". Phil Sheridan and his Army. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 262–266. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/978-0-8061-3188-8 |978-0-8061-3188-8 [[Category:Articles with invalid ISBNs]]]]. OCLC 10694656. Retrieved February 25, 2010. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Johnson, Benjamin S. (1908). John Hugh Reynolds (ed.). "The Brooks-Baxter War". Publications of the Arkansas Historical Association. 2. Little Rock, Arkansas: Arkansas Historical Association: 122–168. OCLC 13681571. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
Keith, LeeAnna (2007). "Chapter 7: Battle of the Colfax Courthouse". The Colfax Massacre: The Untold Story of Black Power, White Terror, & The Death of Reconstruction. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-19-531026-9. OCLC 145145411. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
Kennedy, Robert C. (2001). "George M. Robeson". Dvrbs.com. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
Kinley, David (1910). "Chapter VIII – Treasury Relief in Crises, 1873 to 1890". The Independent Treasury of the United States and its Relations to the Banks of its Country. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Monetary Commission, United States Senate. pp. 225–235. OCLC 474950853. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
Kremer, Gary R. (1991). "Chapter V: The Preservation of a Noble Experiment". James Milton Turner and the Promise of America – The Public Life of a Post-Civil War Black Leader. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. p. 81. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/978-0-8262-0780-4 |978-0-8262-0780-4 [[Category:Articles with invalid ISBNs]]]]. OCLC 23144878. Retrieved January 30, 2010. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
Lane, Charles (2008). "Chapter Six: Black-Letter Law". The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction. New York City: Henry Holt and Company. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-8050-8922-6. OCLC 172984718.
Leonard, Lewis Alexander (1920). Life of Alphonso Taft. New York City: Hawke Publishing Company. OCLC 60738535. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
McFeely, William S. (2002) [First published 1981]. Grant: A Biography. New York City: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-01372-6. OCLC 6889578. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help), Pulitzer prize, but hostile to Grant
Michno, Gregory F. (2003). Encyclopedia of Indian Wars. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87842-468-7.
Miller, Nathan (1997) [First published 1977]. "Chapter 6: The Naval Renaissance". The U.S. Navy: A History (3rd ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 146–147. ISBN 978-1-55750-595-8. OCLC 37211290. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
Morris, Charles R. (2005). "Chapter 5: Mega-Machine". The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan Invented the American Super Economy. New York City: Times Books. pp. 137–138. ISBN 978-0-8050-7599-1. OCLC 58431867. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
Muench, James F. (2006). Five Stars: Missouri's Most Famous Generals. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-8262-1656-4. OCLC 191943891. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
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Oberholtzer, Ellis Paxson (1922). "Chapter XI: The Campaign of 1868". A history of the United States since the Civil War. Vol. 2. New York City: Macmillan. ISBN 0-8371-2642-8. OCLC 1535877. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
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Pierson, Arthur Tappen (1880). "Zachariah Chandler: An Outline Sketch of his Life and Public Services". Detroit Post and Tribune. pp. 343–345. OCLC 300744189.
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Sim, David (2008). "The Peace Policy of Ulysses S. Grant". American Nineteenth Century History. 9 (3): 241–268. doi:10.1080/14664650802408476. ISSN 1466-4658. OCLC 262551023. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Simon, John Y. (1997). Ulysses S. Grant. pp. 258–259. ISBN 0-8093-0637-9.
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Trelease, Allen W. (April 1995) [First published 1971]. White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-06-131731-6. OCLC 4194613.
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Utley, Robert M. (1984) [First published 1973]. Frontier Regulars: the United States Army and the Indian, 1866–1891. New York City: Macmillan. p. 206. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/978-0-8032-9551-0 |978-0-8032-9551-0 [[Category:Articles with invalid ISBNs]]]]. OCLC 867414. Retrieved April 13, 2010. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
Utley, Robert M. (1984). "Chapter 5: Grant's Peace Policy: 1869–1876". The Indian frontier of the American West, 1846–1890. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 127–133. ISBN 978-0-8263-0715-6. OCLC 9685353. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
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By title (anonymous)

"C-SPAN 2009 Historians Presidential Leadership Survey". C-SPAN.org. 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
"Crédit Mobilier – Credit Mobilier of America". Encyclopedia Americana. Vol. 8. Encyclopedia Americana Corp. 1918. p. 173. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
"Henry Wilson, 18th Vice President (1873–1875)". United States Senate. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
"Presidential Vetoes (1789 to present)". Washington, D.C.: Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
"South Carolina Governor Robert Kingston Scott". National Governors Association. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (March 11, 2009). "Ulysses S. Grant is Remembered as a Champion of Civil Rights". Moline (Illinois) Dispatch/Rock Island Argus. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
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"The Whiskey Ring". PoliticalCorruption.net. February 9, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
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Ulysses S. Grant Memoirs and Selected Letters. The Library of America. 1990. ISBN 0-940450-58-5. The source information was taken from the Chronology section in the book.

Newspaper articles

"Amnesty and Civil Rights" (PDF). The New York Times. Manhattan. May 23, 1872. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
"The Civil Rights Bill" (PDF). The New York Times. March 2, 1875. pp. 1–2. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
"The Conduct of the Finances". The New York Times. Manhattan. July 17, 1872.
"The Emma Mine Scandal" (PDF). The New York Times. March 4, 1876. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
"The Safe Burglary Case: Columbus Alexander and Major Richards of the Washington Police Examined". The New York Times. Manhattan. September 23, 1876. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
"The Safe Burglary Case: Preparing for the trial – Witnesses for the defense summoned". The New York Times. Manhattan. September 8, 1876. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
"Slaughter of the Buffalo". Northern Vindicator. Vol. 4, no. 32. Estherville, Emmet County, Iowa. Dec. 7, 1872. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
E.G.D. (October 9, 1893). "The Pantaloon of the Senate: A Reminiscence of the Emma Mine Scandal" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2010.

External links

Media related to Ulysses S. Grant at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related to Ulysses S. Grant at Wikiquote
Works related to Ulysses S. Grant at Wikisource
Extensive essay on Ulysses S. Grant and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet from the Miller Center of Public Affairs, U. of Virginia

[8] There was no official act of Congress to end Reconstruction. President Elect Rutherford B. Hayes met Democratic political leaders at the Wormley Hotel on February 26, 1877. No record was kept at this meeting, however, Hayes pledged to withdraw troops from Reconstruction states; withhold federal support from Republican governments in South Carolina and Louisiana; and allow Democrats to resume control of these states. This was known as the Compromise of 1877. Although President Grant did not attend the meeting, he ordered troops removed from Florida before Hayes was inaugurated on March 4, 1877.

[48] From the years 1850 to 1890, the Trans-Mississippi West was in a state of constant turmoil. The West was a place of violence; during this time period there were 675 recorded battles between American Indian tribes, federal forces, and settlers.^[44] American Indian casualties were 69% versus 31% for military personnel and settlers combined.^[45] Statistical analysis revealed of these 675 battles American Indians had 201 wins, the federal militia and civilian forces had 419 wins, while 55 battles were draws.^[46]

[126] During the peace negotiations between Brig. Gen. Edward Canby and the Modoc tribal leaders, there were more Indians in the tent then had been agreed upon. As the Indians grew more hostile, Captain Jack, said "I talk no more." and shouted "All ready." Captain Jack drew his revolver and fired directly into the head of Gen Canby. Brig. Gen Canby was the highest ranking officer to be killed during the Indian Wars that took place from 1850 to 1890. Alfred Meacham, who survived the massacre, defended the Modocs who were put on trial.^[123]

[1] "The financial panic of 1873". Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[2] Smith (2001), pp. 544–545

[Wilentz-3] "Who's Buried in the History Books?" by Sean Wilentz, The New York Times, March 14, 2010

[4] McFeely (1981), Grant, pp. 380, 381

[McFeely_Woodward_pp._147-148.-5] McFeely Woodward (1974) pp. 147-148.

[6] Nevins 1936, p. 132.

[Smith_2001_pp._596-605-7] Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 596–605

[9] Nevins (1957) Hamilton Fish: The Inner History of the Grant Administration Vol. 2, pp 638–639

[10] Smith 2001, pp. 536–541, 586–587.

[Brown_1970,_pp._264–271-11] Brown 1970, pp. 264–271.

[Pierson_1880,_pp._343–345-12] Pierson 1880, pp. 343–345.

[Wpp1-2-13] Wilentz (January 25, 2010), The Return of Ulysses, pp. 1-2

[14] C-SPAN 2009 Historians Presidential Leadership Survey

[15] Weisburger (November, 1995), The Item And "fight ‘em" Veto, American Heritage

[16] Etcheson 2009, pp. 236–242.

[17] Trelease 1971, ch. 24–25.

[Lawrence_M._Salinger_2005_374–375-18] Salinger 2005, pp. 374–375. Cite error: The named reference "Lawrence M. Salinger 2005 374–375" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

[19] Sumner 1872.

[20] Hinsdale 1911, p. 207.

[21] Smith 2001, pp. 481, 491.

[22] New York State Legislature 1894.

[23] Unger 1964.

[24] Oberholtzer 1926.

[25] Hesseltine (1935), Ulysses S. Grant: Politician, pp 134–135

[26] Hesseltine (1935), Ulysses S. Grant: Politician, pp 150–156

[27] Nevins (1957), Hamilton Fish: The Inner History of the Grant Administration. Volume: 2, page 567

[28] (1990), Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters, p. 1146; Duncan 1986, pp. 9–10; Etcheson 2009.

[McFeely_1981_pp._356-359-29] McFeely (1981), Grant: a biography, pp. 356–359

[30] Hesseltine 1935, ch. 11.

[31] McPherson 1880 p. 545.

[32] Smith 2001, pp. 542–547.

[Willams_p123-33] Williams (1996), The Great South Carolina Ku Klux Klan Trials, 1871-1872, p. 123

[34] Boldger (2003), Background History of the United States Naturalization Process

[Frank_Scaturro-35] Scaturro 2006.

[Smith_2001,_p._346-36] Smith (2001), p. 346

[37] (1990), Grant Memoirs and Selected Letters pp. 1146, 1147; McFeely (2002), Grant: A Biography, pp. 368–369

[38] Trelease 1971, ch. 22–25.

[39] McFeely (2002), Grant: A Biography, pp. 368–369

[40] National Governors Association.

[41] U.S. Constitution Online.

[42] The New York Times 1872, "Amnesty & Civil Rights".

[43] Bunting 2004, pp. 117–118.

[44] Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 534–539

[45] Michno (2003), p. 1

[46] Michno (2003), p. 353

[47] Michno, (2003), p. 356

[Michno,_p._362.-49] Michno (2003), p. 362.

[50] Mitchno (2003), p. 362

[Smith_2001-51] Smith 2001.

[52] Olson 1965, p. 103.

[53] Sim 2008, pp. 241–268.

[Utley-54] Utley 1984a, pp. 127–133.

[55] Prucha 1984, pp. 501–503.

[56] Utley (1973), Frontier Regulars: the United States Army and the Indian, 1866–1891, page 190; Wooster (1988), The Military and United States Indian Policy, 1865–1903, page 151

[57] Michno (2003), pp. 248, 249

[58] Michno (2003), pp. 250, 251

[59] Utley and Mackintosh, 1989.

[Smith_2001,_pp._593–596-60] Smith 2001, pp. 593–596.

[61] McFeely 2002, pp. 375–376.

[NYT08_23_1873-62] New York Times (August 23, 1873), The Military Academy Report of the Board of West Point Visitors

[JWSAHOP04_03_2009-63] Art of the Possible Online (July 3, 2009), James Webster Smith and Henry O. Flipper

[Mp379-64] McFeely (1981), p. 379

[REpA13-65] Reading Eagle, Armies First Black Cadet Gets Bars 123 Years Later, p. A13

[66] Ertman (2010), Race Treason: The Untold Story of America's Ban on Polygamy, pg. 301.

[67] "The Mormons Arming and Drilling" (PDF). The New York Times. May 2, 1870. Retrieved August 16, 2011.

[68] "The Fourth In Utah" (PDF). The New York Times. July 6, 1871. Retrieved August 16, 2011.

[ilovehistory.utah.gov-69] Utah's Territorial Governors (1850–1896) (2011)

[70] The Boston Globe (October 30, 1871), The Mormon Trials.

[71] "The Mormon Trials" (pdf). New York Times. November 22, 1871. Retrieved August 16, 2011.

[72] Ertman (2010), Race Treason: The Untold Story of America's Ban on Polygamy, pg. 294

[73] Various Presidents on Polygamy (July 05, 2011)

[74] Carpenter 2001, pp. 84–85.

[75] Howe (1935), p. 48, 295

[76] Smith 2001, pp. 587–589.

[77] Young 1880, p. 126.

[78] Nevins 1957, p. 710.

[79] Smith 2001 pp. 587–589.

[80] Smith 2001, pp. 480–481.

[81] Grant (1869), Respecting Wages of labor, Executive Order

[82] The New York Times 1872, "The Conduct of the Finances".

[83] Boutwell 2008, pp. 131–133.

[84] Shotwell (1910), pp. 651–653

[85] Smith 2001, pp. 499–502; (1990), Ulysses S. Grant Memoirs and Selected Letters, Chronology pp. 1145–1147

[ReferenceA-86] (1990), Ulysses S. Grant Memoirs and Selected Letters, Chronology pp. 1145–1147

[87] David Donald, Charles Sumner and the Rights of Man (1970) p 442-43

[88] Simon (1995), The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, p. xxi

[89] McFeely (1981), pg. 344

[90] Chamberlain (1902), pp. 7, 8

[91] David Donald, Charles Sumner and the Rights of Man (1970) p 446-47; Smith 2001, pp. 503–505; Nevins 1957, ch. 12; McFeely (2002), Grant: a biography, pp. 343–345;(1990), Ulysses S. Grant Memoirs and Selected Letters, Chronology pp. 1145–1147

[92] McFeely (1981), p. 337

[93] McFeely (2002), Grant: A Biography, pp. 337–345

[ReferenceC-94] Corning 1918, pp. 49–54.

[95] Smith 2001, pp. 495–499.

[96] Hackett 1911, pp. 45–50.

[Corning_1918_59–84-97] Corning 1918, pp. 59–84;(1990), Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters, p. 1146

[ReferenceB-98] (1990), Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters, p. 1148

[99] Nevins 1957, ch. 22–23.

[Miller-100] Miller 2003, pp. 146–147.

[101] Chang 2003.

[Rives-102] Rives 2000.

[Woodward_1957-103] Woodward 1957.

[104] Smith 2001, pp. 481–490.

[105] Grossman 2003, pp. 308–309.

[106] "The New York Custom House". New York Times. August 5, 1872. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)

[107] Smith 2001, p. 553.

[Rhodes7-108] Rhodes 1906, v. 7.

[109] Smith (2001), Grant, p. 550; Stauffer (2008), Giants, pp. 308, 309

[110] Trelease 1971, ch. 25.

[111] Keith 2007, p. 100.

[112] Lane 2008, p. 124.

[books.google.com-113] Johnson 1908, pp. 122–168.

[114] Woodward 1971, pp. 315–336.

[115] Nevins, 1957, pp. 758–760.

[Rhodes7–1-116] Rhodes 1906, v. 7, pp. 167–168.

[Hutton_2009_262–266-117] Hutton 2009, pp. 262–266.

[118] Zuczek 2006, p. 413.

[Zuczek_1996_159–165,170–172,174,176-119] Zuczek 1996, pp. 159–165, 170–172, 174, 176.

[120] Smith (2001), pp. 538

[121] Michno (2003), pp. 295, 296, 363.

[122] Michno (2003), p. 368.

[123] Utley 1984b, p. 206.

[124] Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 534–536

[125] Michno (2003), p. 265

[127] Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 536–538; Brister (2000).

[128] Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 536–538; Brister (2000); Northern Vindicator (12-07-1872), Slaughter of the Buffalo, p. 2.

[129] Smith 2001, p. 526.

[130] Michno (2003), p. 296

[131] Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 538–540

[132] Gray (1976), pp. 260–263

[133] The New York Times 1875, pp. 1–2.

[134] Various Presidents on Polygamy (July 05, 2011)

[Ulysses_S._Grant_1875-135] Ulysses S. Grant (December 7, 1875), Seventh Annual Message

[136] Smith (2001), pp. 569–570

[137] Smith (2000) 575-82

[138] Oberholtzer, A History of the United States Since the Civil War (1926) 3:79–122

[139] Unger 1964, ch. 8.

[140] Unger 1964, ch. 9.

[141] Smith (2001), Grant, pp. 555–557

[142] Delony, Context for World Heritage Bridges

[143] Rhodes 1906, ch. 7, pp. 126–127; Nevins (1957), Hamilton Fish: The Inner History of the Grant Administration. Volume: 2, pp. 706–708 711–714

[144] Smith 2001, pp. 581–582.

[145] Unger 1964, ch. 11.

[146] Bradford 1980.

[147] Doenecke (1981), p. 177

[Kremer-148] Kremer 1991, pp. 82–87.

[149] Hinsdale 1911, pp. 212–213.

[McFeeley430-431-150] McFeeley 1981, pp.430–431

[Pierson343-345-151] Pierson 1880, pp.343–345

[152] Rhodes 1906, p. 187.

[153] McFeely 2002, pp. 406–416.

[154] Garland 1898, p. 438.

[155] Gray (1976), pp. 67–71

[156] Kennedy 2001.

[157] Muench 2006, p. 74.

[158] McFeely 2002, p. 432.

[The_New_York_Times_1876-159] The New York Times 1876

[160] Hinsdale 1911, p. 212.

[161] Nevins 1957, p. 367.

[162] Smith 2001 pp. 468–473.

[163] Boutwell 2008, pp. 120–123.

[164] McFeely (2002), Grant: A Biography, p. 369

[165] Trelease 1971.

[politicalcorruption.net-166] PoliticalCorruption.net

[Rhodes_1912_182–185-167] Rhodes 1912, pp. 182–185.

[168] Smith 2001, p. 585.

[169] Leonard 1920.

[170] Nevins 1957, p. 139.

[171] The American Presidency Project (2010)

[172] Shearer (2004), The Uniting States: Alabama to Kentucky, p. 186

[173] Shearer (2004), The Uniting States: Alabama to Kentucky, p. 186

[174] Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.

[175] Nevins 1957, pp. 563–564.

[176] Nevins 1957, p. 833.

[177] Simon 1997, pp. 258–259.

[Skidmorepp150-151-178] Skidmore, pp. 150-151

[Skidmorep151-179] Skidmore, p. 151

[180] David Herbert Donald, Charles Sumner and the Rights of Man (1970) ch 12

[181] C-SPAN.org 2009.

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v t e Presidents of the United States
Presidents and presidencies	George Washington (1789–1797) John Adams (1797–1801) Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) James Madison (1809–1817) James Monroe (1817–1825) John Quincy Adams (1825–1829) Andrew Jackson (1829–1837) Martin Van Buren (1837–1841) William Henry Harrison (1841) John Tyler (1841–1845) James K. Polk (1845–1849) Zachary Taylor (1849–1850) Millard Fillmore (1850–1853) Franklin Pierce (1853–1857) James Buchanan (1857–1861) Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865) Andrew Johnson (1865–1869) Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877) Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881) James A. Garfield (1881) Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885) Grover Cleveland (1885–1889) Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893) Grover Cleveland (1893–1897) William McKinley (1897–1901) Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909) William Howard Taft (1909–1913) Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) Warren G. Harding (1921–1923) Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929) Herbert Hoover (1929–1933) Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) Richard Nixon (1969–1974) Gerald Ford (1974–1977) Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) Bill Clinton (1993–2001) George W. Bush (2001–2009) Barack Obama (2009–2017) Donald Trump (2017–2021) Joe Biden (2021–present)
Presidency timelines	Washington McKinley T. Roosevelt Taft Wilson Harding Coolidge Hoover F. D. Roosevelt Truman Eisenhower Kennedy L. B. Johnson Nixon Ford Carter Reagan G. H. W. Bush Clinton G. W. Bush Obama Trump Biden
Category List

v t e Cabinet of President Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877)
Secretary of State	Elihu B. Washburne (1869) Hamilton Fish (1869–1877)
Secretary of the Treasury	George S. Boutwell (1869–1873) William Adams Richardson (1873–1874) Benjamin Bristow (1874–1876) Lot M. Morrill (1876–1877)
Secretary of War	John Aaron Rawlins (1869) William W. Belknap (1869–1876) Alphonso Taft (1876) J. Donald Cameron (1876–1877)
Attorney General	Ebenezer R. Hoar (1869–1870) Amos T. Akerman (1870–1871) George Henry Williams (1871–1875) Edwards Pierrepont (1875–1876) Alphonso Taft (1876–1877)
Postmaster General	John Creswell (1869–1874) James William Marshall (1874) Marshall Jewell (1874–1876) James Noble Tyner (1876–1877)
Secretary of the Navy	Adolph E. Borie (1869) George M. Robeson (1869–1877)
Secretary of the Interior	Jacob Dolson Cox (1869–1870) Columbus Delano (1870–1875) Zachariah Chandler (1875–1877)