![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The Whiskey Ring was paying some officials a regular salary to keep them from talking. MacDonald kept some of the money while some of it went to the Republican Party. government out of millions of dollars a year. In return for bribes, whisky distillers paid taxes only on a small portion of the whiskey they produced. Grant had appointed an army friend John MacDonald as an Internal Revenue Service supervisor for the St. The Whiskey Ring was the largest scandal and involved widespread fraud. Grant's Secretary of the Treasury had to resign after being caught in a fraud scheme involving taxpayer kickbacks. They started a number of congregational investigations. Mid-term, the Democrats won a majority of votes in the House. Republicans were getting a bad reputation in the press. The press attacked him for it calling it a money grab. Also in 1873, Grant signed a bill that gave himself and congressmen a pay raise. ![]() The bibes had taken place before Grant was president, but the news came out during his presidency making it seem even more corrupt. They had collected large bribes to give large federal grants to the railroads. In 1873, Republicans in Congress were caught in a bribery scandal by newspapers. Very soon into Grant's second term the Panic of 1873 started a depression in the United States that spread to Europe. Greeley wanted Civil Service reform and amnesty for all former Confederates. In 1872, Republican reformers split the party and nominated Horace Greeley to be president. Second term (1873–1877)ġ872 political cartoon showing Grant as a despotic king and Greeley as lovable and kind In 1872 Grant put these recommendations into effect but Congress refused to pass any laws making these changes permanent. People would get government jobs based on their qualifications not on who they knew or who owed them a favor. For the first time, a Civil Service Commission was appointed which made recommendations for reform. Grant also publicly took steps to reform the system of patronage in use at the time. Grant sent Federal troops to the South to fight against the Ku Klux Klan, whose ranks had been filled with Southerners bitter over blacks being able to vote and hold public office. All former Confederate states were re-admitted to the Union. The national debt from the Civil War was reduced. But worse scandals were to follow.ĭuring his first term, Grant did have some modest success. This caused the price of gold to go down and almost bankrupted Fisk and Gould. When the president learned what was going on, he ordered the sale of $4 million in gold held by the Federal government. Actually, Grant knew nothing about this and Corbin was just trying to get in on the illegal profits that could be made. They were aided by Grant's brother-in-law Abel Corbin, who convinced them the president would go along with their scheme to control gold prices. Shortly after his election, Wall Street dealers James Fisk and Jay Gould tried to cornering the market in gold. This in turn caused much of his administration to be remembered for its corruption even though Grant himself was honest. But he delegated much of his power to his aides. Johnson himself only narrowly escaped being removed from office by a single vote. When he accepted the nomination for president by the Republican Party, Grant proclaimed "Let there be peace." The previous administration of Andrew Johnson had been full of debate. He became the top general in the Union Army from 1864 to 1865, and fought several battles against Robert E. He served as head of the Army of Tennessee and won victories at Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga. He fought in the Mexican War and became a general at the start of the American Civil War. Pre-presidencyīefore becoming the president, Grant was an officer in the Union Army (North). If Hiram Ulysses Grant wanted to attend West Point, he would have to change his name. He was told that it didn't matter what he or his parents thought his name was, the official government application said his name was "Ulysses S." and that application could not be changed. Grant, he tried to get the error corrected. When Grant arrived at West Point and discovered that the Academy had him registered under the wrong name as Ulysses S. When he graduated, he was placed in the infantry. He was not the best student though he was good at math. In 1839 he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 1838 he attended the Presbyterian Academy in Ripley, Ohio. Young Grant worked for his father in the tannery but hated the work. It was hard smelly work but he made a good living at it. He was the oldest of six children born to Jesse and Hannah Grant. Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. ![]()
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