Grant, Ulysses (Administration)

HIRAM ULYSSES GRANT was born the son of a tanner in Ohio on April 27, 1822. He joined the military so that he could receive a free education at West Point (where he changed his name to Ulysses S. Grant). After exemplary service in the Mexican War, he resigned his commission and began several failed attempts at farming and business.

When the Civil War began, Grant received a state appointment as colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry. His abilities quickly led to his promotion. Successes in the western theater eventually led President Abraham Lincoln to put Grant in charge of the Army of the Potomac. His successful efforts led to the surrender of General Robert E. Lee on April 9, 1865, effectively ending the Civil War. Grant remained commander of the army after the war. He briefly served as secretary of war under President Andrew Johnson, but resigned that commission because of congressional objection to the president's firing of his predecessor.

Despite never having held elective office and having almost no political experience, Grant received the Republican nomination and was easily elected. Unfortunately, his lack of experience quickly showed. Grant was generally content to let the leaders of the Radical Republican Congress set policy. He appointed friends and financial contributors to most appointed offices.

The Grant administration is probably most remembered for its many scandals. One of the largest was the Whiskey Ring Scandal in which numerous officials skimmed federal taxes on liquor for personal benefit. Another major scandal in Congress during this time was Credit Mobilier, in which members of Congress benefited personally from railroad contracts. Other scandals involved retroactive pay raises for top officials and misuse of Native American funds for personal benefit. Grant was not directly implicated in any of the scandals, but his refusal to maintain oversight and his continued support of some of those implicated encouraged corrupt practices.

The main issue during the Grant administration was reconstruction of the former Confederacy. Initially Grant had seemed to favor the policies of Lincoln and Johnson to bring the south back into the Union quickly and try to heal old wounds. But by the time he became president, Grant had allied himself with the Radical Republicans, supporting greater military occupation and protections for the freed slaves. The Grant administration enforced the newly passed Fifteenth Amendment guaranteeing voting rights to former slaves by passing several voting rights laws. It also enacted laws designed to suppress the Ku Klux Klan and other groups hoping to suppress minority rights. Weak enforcement of those laws, however, led to most freed slaves being denied the right to vote and other basic rights.

The administration also oversaw the postwar western expansion. More railroad lines to bring people west assisted with commerce between the east and west and fueled much of the expansion. Government subsidies to railroads greatly encouraged the movement. Westward expansion also led to greater disputes with the Native Americans living in the territories. The Indian Appropriation Act of 1871 nullified treaties with many of the tribes and made natives impoverished wards of the federal government. White settlers were free to receive [Page 440]homestead land while natives were placed on reservations under the care of the U.S. Army in an attempt to “civilize” and ultimately integrate Native Americans into the American mainstream. Native refusal to comply led to the Indian Wars, which continued until the 1890s.

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