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The famous Union Civil War General Ulysses
S. Grant was considered a great general but
a terrible president. He consistently ranks
near the bottom of the historian's poll. In
the military he had a reputation for putting
the most qualified people in charge, and political
reformers believed this would hold true in the
White House as well. As Grant became accustomed
to party politics, however, he fully embraced
partisanship, and many of the people he put
in charge were corrupt. By the time he took
office in 1869, most of the Confederate states
had been restored to the Union with Republicans
in control. The Fourteenth Amendment had been
ratified, and the Fifteenth was making its way
around the states.
Issue: The Economy
Following the Civil War, the economies of
the Southern and Western states were in shambles.
Many Americans believed the government should
redeem the war-era paper currency (known as
"greenbacks") for money coined with
precious metals (known as specie). The specie
issue would remain an central political issue
until nearly the end of the century). The funds
necessary to redeem the |
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greenbacks would have
to come from increased trade tariffs, and those depended on increased and stable trade. Grant, however,
employed a hands-off approach to the economy. He gave
approval for the Treasury Department to reduce the
national debt and to gradually resume specie currency.
Six months into his first term, market speculators
James Fisk and Jay Gould saw in Grant's lack of direct
action an opportunity to corner the gold market (buy
enough to be able to control the price for it). Their
plan would only work if Grant continued to do nothing.
They were relying on the influence of Grant's brother-in-law
to convince the president not to sell government gold.
On September 24, known as "black Friday,"
the price of gold soared, threatening many banks with
ruin. Finally, Grant ordered Treasury Secretary George
Boutwell to sell government gold reserves. With increased
supply, the market recovered, but the episode undermined
people's confidence in the Grant administration.
Issue: Civil Service Reform
Another major issue of the post Civil War era was
reforming the Civil Service system. The term "Civil
Service" was coined in 1872. It refers to any
government position (in all three branches of government)
that is an appointed position rather than an elected
one. The system was often referred to as the "spoils
system" because the winning candidate would use
these positions as rewards for those who were loyal
to him and helped him win the election. These people
were rarely the most qualified, which resulted in
massive incompetence. Civil Service reformers wanted
a merit system, whereby test scores determine a person's
qualifications for government positions. This would
ensure that many of the employees working for the
government would be good at their jobs. Grant applied
his hands-off approach to this issue as well, allowing
each cabinet member to set his own rules. Some experimented
with examinations, while others kept traditional spoils
system. The lack of a single policy set by the party
leader (the president) strained the Republican party
and caused a split between more traditional Republican
regulars and more liberal reform-minded Republicans.
Issue: Republican Party Split
Former Confederate states were now politically controlled
by the Republican Party because of the Black vote.
These state governments often engaged in activist
politics, increasing taxes on White-owned properties.
This did not sit well with ex-Confederate Democrats.
Many reform-minded Republicans also didn't like that
their party was reliant on the Black vote, and they
sought better relations with the ex-Confederates (despite
the racism and violence these Southerners
promoted) in order to get the Republican |
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regulars
removed from state and local Southern office.
Grant's refusal to set policy now angered both
the regulars and the reformers. After the regulars
started losing elections in the South to Republican
liberals (in elections often marred by violence
against Black voters), they demanded Grant do
something. The regulars then expressed their frustration
with Grant by rejecting his nomination a Supreme
Court nomination. This prompted the reformers
to push even harder for reform, and for a moment
it looked like Grant was heading in that direction.
Then, however, the reformers opposed a treaty
that would have annexed the island of Santo Domingo
(now the Dominican Republic). Grant wanted the
island as a site for a naval base. Now Grant took
action. He ousted reformers from his cabinet and
openly sided with regulars in the Senate. Grant
then embraced the spoils system, handing out positions
to party regulars. By 1872 it was the regulars
who supported Grant for a second term, while the
Republican liberals worked with the Democrats
to seek another candidate. With the economy showing
signs of improvement, Grant easily won a second
term over the liberal Republican candidate In
the 1872 election,
Grant easily defeated liberal Republican Horace
Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune,
who ran as a Democrat. [1873
Inaugural Address] |
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Issue: Reconstruction
The reconstruction agenda was most vigorously
opposed by the Ku Klux Klan, an organization
created in 1866 by veterans of the Confederate
Army. It focused on intimidating "carpetbaggers,"
"scalawags," and freed slaves. The
KKK quickly adopted violent methods, reacting
in a quick reaction and a decline in the Klan's
membership and power beginning in 1868. In his 1869 Inaugural
Address, Grant spoke of ensuring the right
to vote regardless of "race, color or previous
condition of servitude." He worked hard
his first year in office to get the Fifteenth
Amendment passed, which guaranteed the right
to vote for black men. Grant's efforts sought
and achieved for a short time meaningful social
gains for black Americans. Grant knew that the
central test of his newfound will was the suppression
of Southern violence against Blacks. In 1871
he signed the Civil Rights Act, also known as
the Ku Klux Klan Act, authorizing him to declare
martial law. The Klan was disrupted and Republican
regulars carried most of the Southern states.
After the 1872 election, however, Grant reached
out to Southern Democrats, hoping for some measure
of reconciliation. The differences between them,
however, were too great. Most Southern Democrats
were deeply racist. In |
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against the use of tax money to provide state
services for poor blacks. In response to Grant's efforts at making
peace with them, Southern Democrats formed White leagues
that used violence to keep blacks from voting. Reformer
Republicans, now against Grant, were upset at reports
of widespread regular Republican corruption in the South,
and used their power to block Grant's efforts at stopping
the violence and punishing ex-Confederates who were
committing the violent acts. In the meantime, Northern
voters were growing weary of the use of the military
to protect Southern blacks and of corruption within
the Republican party. By 1875 and 1876, Southern Democrats
were able to retake control of their state governments. In the
meantime, a series of scandals continued to undermine
Grant's political capital. Then a depression in
Europe spread to the US, and Grant's inability |
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to appoint qualified men became more and more
apparent. Though Grant was interested in serving
a third term, his party stuck to the tradition
of a two-term maximum. In 1876, the Republicans
nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, and Grant's political
life was over. After leaving office, Grant lent
his name to a brokerage firm that ended up cheating
Grant and their clients of all their money. Grant
was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1884. He began
writing his memoirs in the hope that the royalties
would provide financial security for his family.
Terminally ill with throat cancer, he struggled
to finish the manuscript, finishing it only a
month before his death. The book was a huge success,
selling over 300,000 copies and earning his family
nearly a half million dollars (in 1880's currency).
Grant died on July 23, 1885. |
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