Grant, Ulysses S.

views updated

Ulysses S. Grant

Born April 27, 1822
Point Pleasant, Ohio

Died July 23, 1885
Mount McGregor, New York

U.S. president, Civil War general

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

Ulysses S. Grant was president for eight of the twelve years of the Reconstruction era (1865–77). The popular Civil War general hoped to help reunify North and South and accepted the Republican nomination for president in 1868 with the statement "Let us have peace," which became his campaign theme. As president, however, Grant became upset at how slow respect for the civil rights of African Americans came, and pursued aggressive action against Black Codes (laws intended to limit the rights of African Americans) and violence in Southern states. Meanwhile, the Grant administration was riddled by several scandals—none of which involved the president, but all of which showed Grant's poor judgment in selecting officials for his administration. A weak economy also plagued the Grant years.

Expert on horses

Grant was born with the name Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822. Most often called Ulysses by his family, he was the oldest of six children of Jesse Grant and Hannah Simpson Grant. The family soon moved to a farm in Georgetown, Ohio, to be nearer to the raw materials Grant's father needed for his tanning business. (A tanner produces leather from the hides of horses.) Growing up around horses, Grant quickly learned how to handle and care for them and to appraise their health and value.

Grant attended school in Georgetown and then moved on to the Maysville Academy across the Ohio River in Maysville, Kentucky, when he was fourteen. He studied at the Academy from 1836 to 1837, and the following year he attended the Presbyterian Academy in Ripley, Ohio. As Grant was completing his schooling, his father asked the local U.S. representative, Thomas L. Hamer (1800–1846), to help secure an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy for his son. Hamer agreed and filled out the necessary paperwork. However, Hamer wrote in Grant's first name on the paperwork as Ulysses (instead of Hiram) and his middle name as Simpson (the maiden name of Grant's mother). Grant kept the name change and left for the Military Academy at West Point in 1839.

Although Grant was an average student at West Point, he performed especially well in mathematics and finished first in his class in horsemanship. After graduating in 1843, Grant was assigned to the infantry (where he was trained to fight on foot) and stationed near St. Louis, Missouri. His roommate at West Point, Frederick Tracy Dent (1821–1892), lived near St. Louis and invited Grant to his family's home. Grant met Dent's sister, Julia, during those visits. She shared his love for horseback riding.

The couple was riding in a horse and buggy one day to attend a wedding when they came to a bridge that was nearly flooded over. Julia grabbed hold of Grant's arm and said, "I'll cling to you no matter what happens." After they passed safely over the bridge, Grant proposed to her. He began by saying, "I wonder if you would cling to me all of my life." The couple became engaged in 1844, but did not marry until 1848 because Grant left to fight in the Mexican-American War (1846–48). They would have four children: Frederick, Ulysses Jr., Ellen, and Jesse.

From military hero to hard-luck farmer

Shortly after Grant became engaged, he was sent to serve in Louisiana. When a dispute about the location of the border between Mexico and Texas led to war, Grant served in the Mexican-American War under two distinguished commanders, Zachary Taylor (1784–1850), who would be elected president in 1848, and Winfield Scott (1786–1866), who would lose the presidential election of 1852. Grant fought with distinction and earned several citations for bravery.

After the war, Grant returned to St. Louis and married. Julia Grant joined him on assignments in New York and Michigan. The couple returned to St. Louis in 1850, where their first child was born. Grant was returned to duty in New York in 1851 before being transferred to Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Territory in 1852. (The Oregon Territory comprised the present-day states of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.) Grant was unhappy in the Northwest and resigned from the army in 1854.

As a civilian, Grant endured a series of failures over the next few years. He tried to make a living as a farmer, but met with poor crop yields on the farm he called "Hardscrabble." He lost the farm altogether in 1857. He was not successful as a real estate agent, either. Finally, in need of money and a job to support his family, Grant began working in his father's store and moved his family to Galena, Illinois, in 1860. He had only ever been professionally successful as a soldier. Grant returned to the military after forces of the Confederate States of America (CSA) fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on April 18, 1861, and the Civil War (1861–65) began.

Civil War leader

As the man with the most military training and experience in Galena, Grant chaired a town meeting to discuss enlistment, then began training recruits. He was appointed colonel and charged with commanding the Twenty-first Volunteer Infantry Regiment by Illinois governor Richard Yates (1815–1873). When President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865; served 1861–65) expanded the Union army in August 1861, Grant was promoted to brigadier general. His command encompassed Missouri and Illinois, with a base in Cairo, Illinois, a town on the Mississippi River.

While the Union army was performing poorly during the early part of the war, Grant led his troops in successful campaigns in Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. In April 1862, Grant regrouped his troops to hold their line in the major and bloody battle of Shiloh, Virginia. Some military leaders questioned Grant's preparedness for the battle, but Grant was supported by President Lincoln. Later that summer and early autumn, Grant's forces won battles in Mississippi. Grant was then instructed to overtake the Mississippi town of Vicksburg, the Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River.

After failing to take Vicksburg during December 1862, Grant moved his forces through back country in the spring of 1863 and took control of Jackson, Mississippi, before laying siege on Vicksburg. After almost two months of fighting, Grant accepted the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. That same day, Union forces won a major battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The two victories helped turn the tide of the war in favor of the Union.

President Lincoln had changed his commanding generals several times during the war, wanting a leader who was aggressive. In March 1864, Lincoln appointed Grant the supreme commander of Union forces. Grant led the Wilderness Campaign, a large offensive to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, which left nearly thirty thousand dead and ended in a stalemate. More heavy casualties occurred in the Battle of the Bloody Angle as the Union offensive continued from the summer of 1864 to the winter of 1865. Union forces won many battles throughout Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, while Grant besieged the forces of Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807–1870; see Confederate Leaders entry). Finally, on April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War.

Political battles begin

Grant's triumphs during the war made him the most popular man in the United States. He was commissioned by Congress as General of the Army, a position that only former president George Washington (1732–1799; served 1789–97) had held previously. With the approval of President Lincoln, Grant had allowed lenient terms of surrender for the Confederacy. After Lincoln was assassinated days after the end of the war, Congress planned a stricter and more punitive policy toward the Southern states that had seceded. Congress became embroiled in a power struggle with Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; served 1865–69; see entry), who succeeded Lincoln as president and proposed an even more lenient program of Reconstruction than Lincoln.

Grant became involved in a tense political battle between the president and Congress. He agreed to serve as secretary of war after President Johnson had fired Edwin M. Stanton (1814–1869; see entry) from the position. Congress demanded the right to vote on the removal, and when the president refused, Congress voted to impeach Johnson. Meanwhile, after completing his assignment as secretary of war, Grant decided against continuing in the position, claiming he had only planned to hold it on a temporary basis. Johnson felt betrayed, and Grant began to show his support for powerful Republican leaders in Congress—the so-called Radical Reconstructionists who opposed Johnson and wanted a harsher Reconstruction policy.

In 1868, Republicans nominated Grant as their candidate for president. He easily defeated former New York governor Horatio Seymour (1810–1886) in the November election. In his inaugural address, Grant called for an end to regional conflict, but he would have a troubled administration. The end of the Civil War did not end racial oppression (persecution); the Republican majority in Congress exerted great federal power over the Southern states as they reentered the union; and Grant showed poor judgment in his selection of officials for his administration.

Problems of the Reconstruction

Just prior to Grant's inauguration, Congress proposed the Fifteenth Amendment, which declared that the right to vote could not be denied "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Within a year, the amendment was accepted by state legislatures and became law. Grant contributed to the passage of the amendment by requesting that Nebraska governor David Butler (1829–1891) call a special session of the state's legislature to quickly debate the amendment.

However, racial problems persisted, and Grant responded to incidents of violence, intimidation, and disorder in the South. The Enforcement Act of 1870 empowered him to use federal troops to protect the voting rights of African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 was directed specifically toward a white supremacist group that organized violence against African Americans. The law empowered Grant to impose martial law (military control over an area). Despite several uses of federal force, however, little improvement was made in race relations.

During his second term, in 1874, Grant sent federal troops to Vicksburg, following a mass murder of African Americans. Grant supported the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which prohibited racial segregation (separation) in public housing and transportation. The act was later declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1883. The Court ruled that the federal government could not force states and local communities to act against segregation.

Grant faced economic crises after taking office in March 1869. During the Civil War, the government had printed money, called "greenbacks," to help farmers and workers pay for the necessities of life. Unlike coins, green-backs were not backed by gold reserves (valuable gold the government held to represent the value of money it minted) and their value became unstable—sometimes a greenback was equal to a dollar, sometimes two greenbacks equaled a dollar. Grant delayed in addressing the problem.

Meanwhile, two wealthy men, Jay Gould (1836–1892) and Jim Fisk (1834–1872), bought large amounts of gold, making the precious metal even more valuable and making greenbacks even less valuable. The gold purchase created a financial crisis in the stock market. The market closed on September 24, 1869, a day called "Black Friday." Grant acted quickly to authorize the U.S. government to sell some of its gold reserves—making more gold available on the market and helping reduce its value.

Fisk and Gould had wanted to involve the president in their scheme. They were assisted by Abel Rathbone Corbin, who was married to Grant's sister. Corbin provided the financiers with access to the president. Grant not only turned away Fisk and Gould, he quickly and effectively acted against them, but the relationship became the subject of a congressional investigation and some public embarrassment for Grant.

Nevertheless, Grant was a popular president. Economic conditions were improving in 1872, lower taxes on imported goods kept prices downs, and repeal of an income tax that had been instituted during the Civil War all contributed to his easy reelection that year.

The Grant family prospered, meanwhile, while Grant was president. Fred Grant, the couple's oldest son, graduated from West Point; Ulysses Jr. graduated from Harvard and became a presidential secretary; and daughter Nellie enjoyed a lavish, well-publicized White House wedding in 1874.

In foreign affairs, the Grant administration was led by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish (1801–1893) (see box). Fish inherited the controversy over the Alabama, a cruiser purchased by the Confederacy in Great Britain and used during the Civil War. The purchase violated British neutrality during the war and contributed to a group in rebellion against the United States. Fish negotiated the Treaty of Washington, signed by Grant in 1871, where Great Britain acknowledged violations and agreed to arbitration over monetary settlement (in arbitration, two parties in conflict submit claims to an impartial third party that decides on a settlement). The arbitration commission awarded the United States $15.5 million in damages.

Grant became interested in annexing (claiming as U.S. territory) Santo Domingo, a nation in the Caribbean Ocean that had won independence from Spain. Representatives aligned with Santo Domingo president Bonaventura Báez approached Secretary of State Fish with an offer to sell the country to the United States. A treaty of annexation was negotiated. Because all treaties negotiated by the president are subject to approval by the U.S. Senate by a two-thirds majority, the annexation proposal went to a vote; it failed. Grant continued to press for annexation of Santo Domingo after the annexation treaty was rejected in 1871, despite no sign of additional support. At the very end of his second term, Grant raised the issue again in his last message to Congress.

Troubled second term

The economy took a downturn in 1873. The poor business conditions affected financier Jay Cooke (1821–1905; see entry), whose system of banks had made loans to the Northern Pacific Railroad, which was building a cross-country line from Duluth, Minnesota, to Tacoma, Washington. Cooke could not make money through investments to support the loans he had provided and could not compensate customers who had deposited their money with Cooke's banks. The collapse on September 18, 1873, of Jay Cooke and Company started a large-scale financial recession called the Panic of 1873. Stocks quickly lost value. Beginning on September 20, 1873, the New York Stock Exchange closed for ten days.

During the first year of Grant's second term, Congress completed an investigation of the Crédit Mobilier scandal that implicated Schuyler Colfax (1823–1885), vice president during Grant's first term, and Henry Wilson (1812–1875), vice president from 1873 to his death in 1875 during Grant's second term. Grant's secretary of the treasury, William A. Richardson (1821–1896), was implicated in a tax fraud scheme. Pressured to remove Richardson from office, Grant

Hamilton Fish

In an administration riddled by scandal, Hamilton Fish served with distinction as secretary of state under President Ulysses S. Grant. Fish was born on August 3, 1808, in New York City. His father, a politician, named his son after his friend, the late statesman Alexander Hamilton (1757–1804). Fish studied at a private school before going to Columbia College, from which he graduated in 1827. After three years of studying in a law office, Fish formed a law partnership with William B. Lawrence. Fish married Julia Kean on December 15, 1836, and the couple had eight children.

After becoming involved in New York politics, Fish won a seat in Congress in 1842. He was not reelected, but in 1848 he was elected governor of New York. His administration helped establish free public schools throughout the state. From 1851 to 1857, Fish served in the U.S. Senate. As a member of the Whig Party, which existed from the mid-1830s to the mid-1850s, he was against the expansion of slavery. Fish joined the Republican Party after it was formed in 1854. The Party was comprised of former Whig Party members as well as former Democrats who were against slavery.

Fish and his family traveled in Europe for two years before returning to the United States in 1860. Fish began campaigning for Abraham Lincoln, the Republican nominee for president. During the Civil War, Fish served on the Union defense committee of New York and as a commissioner of the federal government for the relief of prisoners, contributing to the negotiations for an agreement on exchanges of prisoners between the warring sides.

After being elected president in 1868, Ulysses S. Grant wanted Fish in his administration. When Grant offered him the position of secretary of state, Fish refused, but later decided to take the post. Fish was involved in three major foreign policy areas for the Grant administration: the attempt to annex Santo Domingo; the pursuit of war reparations (compensation) from Great Britain for having aided the Confederacy during the Civil War; and tense relations with Spain over its colony of Cuba.

Santo Domingo had won independence from Spain, but a small group wanted to reunify with Spain. Some Grant administration officials envisioned an American naval base in Santo Domingo as a means for more power in the region. Santo Domingo government officials approached Fish with an offer to sell the country to the United States. Fish negotiated a treaty of annexation as a first option and an agreement for a naval station as a second option. But when the proposal was taken to a vote, the U.S. Senate failed to approve the treaty. Previous to the vote, it was revealed that Orville E. Babcock (1835–1884), a secretary to Grant, had offered $100,000 and weapons to assist Santo Domingo president Bonaventura Báez with opposition in his country. Fish was not involved in the situation, which brought embarrassment to the Grant administration.

Fish's most notable achievement as secretary of state was settling a controversy with Great Britain. During the Civil War, Britain had equipped or supplied Confederate boats in British ports, a violation of Britain's neutrality. The boats caused damage to commercial and military vessels of the North. Americans demanded huge reparations and some wanted Great Britain to cede (give) Canada, then a part of the British empire, to the United States. Fish successfully negotiated the Treaty of Washington (1871), which provided for arbitration of U.S. claims. An arbitrator set the amount of damages paid to the United States at $15.5 million.

Fish's other major foreign concern was the Spanish colony of Cuba. A rebellion in Cuba was put down by Spain, and in the process some Americans were injured. In addition to seeking reparations for the injuries, the United States demanded reform in the ways Spain governed the island. Tensions were easing until, in 1873, a ship called the Virginius registered as American and, with a mainly American crew, was captured and taken into a Cuban port because the vessel belonged to a Cuban revolutionary group based in New York. Spanish authorities murdered the captain and fifty-three of the crew and passengers. Amid cries for retribution and war with Spain, Fish negotiated a settlement that included reparations for families of the deceased Americans.

After Grant's second term as president ended in 1877, Fish retired to private life in New York. He was sixty-eight at the time. He stayed active in the development of Columbia College (now Columbia University), from which he had graduated in 1827. Fish died in New York on September 6, 1893.

fired him from his cabinet post and then appointed Richardson as a judge on the U.S. Court of Claims.

Benjamin H. Bristow (1832–1896) replaced Richardson and began an investigation of a conspiracy involving taxes paid on whiskey. More than two hundred people were involved in what became known as the Whiskey Ring. Grant's private secretary, Orville E. Babcock (1835–1884), was among those implicated for misuse of tax collection on the sale of whiskey. Meanwhile, Grant's secretary of war, William W. Belknap (1829–1890), was discovered to have illegally taken money the government earned from sales of forts and trading posts to the public.

Grant entered office in 1869 hoping for improvement in relations with Native Americans. However, Americans continued moving westward and inevitably ran into conflicts over land with Native Americans. Chief Joseph (1840–1904), the famous Native American leader of the Nez Perce, helped convince Grant to issue an Executive Order in 1873 that recognized the Wallowa Valley of Oregon as Nez Perce territory. Two years later, however, Grant rescinded the order after pressure by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to permit the building of a wagon road that would bring more settlers into the valley. In 1876, Native Americans surprised and defeated the forces of General George A. Custer (1839–1876) at the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana.

Despite scandals, none of which involved Grant directly, economic hardships, and ongoing sectional and racial problems, Grant remained a popular president. Many Republicans wanted Grant to run for an unprecedented third term, but Grant had enough of the presidency. Instead, the Grant family went on a world tour. Grant was an honored guest at ceremonies in several nations. After visiting Europe, Africa, and Asia, the Grants settled in New York City. In 1880, Republicans again wanted Grant to run for president, but after early support at the party's convention, Grant was passed over.

Grant remained active, serving as president of the Mexican Southern Railroad Company beginning in 1881 (at the age of fifty-nine). He helped negotiate a trade treaty agreement between the United States and Mexico in 1883. However, Grant went bankrupt in 1884. He had invested his life savings in his son's investment firm, but financial scandals drove the firm out of business.

To make some money, Grant contributed articles on his Civil War experiences to Century magazine. Grant's friend, writer Mark Twain (1835–1910), urged him to expand his articles into memoirs. For close to a year and in ill health, Grant wrote his autobiography, which was published as PersonalMemoirs of U. S. Grant in 1885. He died a few days after completing his memoirs, which went on to be a best-seller.

A crowd of mourners estimated at over one million people lined the streets of New York City to witness Grant's funeral procession. His body was laid in a temporary cemetery until Grant's Tomb was completed in 1897. The tomb bears the inscription, "Let us have peace."