Ulysses S. Grant Do More Harm Than Good

Zack Evangelista
Mrs. Constanzo
U.S. History Per. 7
2 November 2014
Ulysses S. Grant The president I picked for my presidents report was Ulysses S. Grant. Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th president of the United States. He was a hero of the Civil war who fought for the Union. He was two presidents after Lincoln which meant he would be president during post-war reconstruction. Grant was also the youngest president at that time to be elected. Grant may have been a war hero but he might not have been the best president. He had some good and bad sides of his term. But I see that Grant’s presidency was more negative than positive. He became president at a critical time which made his term even harder. What were the positives of Grant’s term? As
I said Grant became president during a hard time of reconstruction after the Civil War. The southern states that seceded were brought back into the union. Grant had to have the North and South get a long and Grant even supported some of the southern leaders of the civil war. Grant signed legislations which established the Department of Justice, the Weather Bureau and Yellowstone National park. With little success also tried to improve conditions for Native Americans. Grant made a peace policy which is known as the Quaker policy which aimed to replace entrepreneurs serving as Indian agents with missionaries. Grant also signed a bill which established a Board of Indian Commissioners to oversee spending. Grant tried his hand in foreign affairs. American politicians wanted control over the Caribbean islands. He renewed to annex the Dominican Republic. He believed that the expansion of the U.S. would allow for new economic opportunities for African Americans. Grant also made efforts with the foreign policy by negotiating the treaty of Washington which settled U.S. claims against England during the Civil War. This resulted in better relations with England and America. But Grant’s greatest success was he tried to protect the rights of the slaves. Grant also tried to limit the Ku Klux Klan who used violence to terrorize the African Americans. But most importantly he urged congress to pass the 15th amendment. The 15th amendment stated that no one could be prevented from voting based on race. There were also some negatives of his term.
Grant may have been a military genius he wasn’t the best politician. His inexperience did not help the tough time of reconstruction. A big thing that critics had on Grant was that he stationed troops in the south to maintain law and order. This obviously angered some saying that this violated state rights. But Grant’s greatest failure and what defines his presidency was the corruption and scandal he let happen. Grant may not have participated in deeds that happened but he did let them happen. Grant became associated with James Fisk and Jay Gould who tried to manipulate the government and gold market. The failure of these two men resulted in a financial disaster known as Black Friday. Another major event was known as the Whiskey Ring. This involved many distributors and public officials who wanted to defraud the government of millions of liquor tax revenue. Grant’s private secretary was part of this scandal and Grant defended him. This is what really defines his presidency because overall he didn’t do a lot of positives for the country. Another economic disaster was the Panic of 1873 during his second term which was when the New York Stock Exchange was suspended trading for ten days. With little finance experience Grant tried to fix it by instructing the Treasury Secretary to buy government bonds putting money into the system. This created what’s called the Long Depression which made many railroads become
bankrupt. Grant’s presidency was not successful. Grant tried to make the country better but what he did wrong outweighs what he did right. Grant did make some good things happen like the 15th amendment. Grant really pushed for equality for African Americans and Native Americans. He even helped the relationship between England become well. But those do not outweigh the consequences the negatives. The scandals are what are most remembered about Grant’s presidency. I personally would have voted for Grant for his first term because of his popularity from the civil war. But I wouldn’t have voted for him a second term because he didn’t do anything to benefit the country. His popularity from the civil war is what gave him the two terms of presidency but he became known as one of the worst presidents.