[April 27th will mark the 200th birthday of Ulysses S. Grant, one of the more influential but also more misunderstood 19th century Americans. So this week I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of contexts for our 18th president who was also so much more!]
[Gonna start the
series by resharing this 2019 150th anniversary post, as it makes
clear what I mean by misunderstood.]
On the 150th
anniversary of his inauguration, the inescapable truths about President Grant,
and how to move beyond them.
On March
4th, 1869 Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated as President of
the United States. Grant was replacing the truly odious
Andrew Johnson, one of the worst presidents (and most
tragic and destructive mistakes) in American history, and so he was bound
to look pretty good in comparison. And his measured and thoughtful inaugural address indicated
the possibility of an impressive and influential presidency to come: in his
adamant support
for the 15th Amendment and African American suffrage in
particular; but also for example in his argument in favor of “the proper
treatment of the original occupants of this land,” including advocacy
for Native American citizenship. At this pivotal moment in American
history, with so much of the post-war era yet to be decided and shaped, this
former general with no prior governing experience seemed to be poised to help
guide the nation in progressive and productive directions.
Unfortunately,
that “no prior governing experience” part ended up influencing Grant’s
presidency far more fully and disastrously than his impressive ideas. Grant brought
a number of friends and allies with him to his administration, both as
Cabinet members and as appointees to other positions, and trustingly
delegated authority to them (as perhaps any president has to, of course). When
time and again a shockingly high
percentage of these administration members were revealed to be taking
part in corrupt schemes, Grant tended to stand by them, at least initially;
while as far as historians can tell he neither knew about nor profited from any
of those schemes, his friendship with and support for these scandalous figures
inevitably and unquestionably sullied his
own image and reputation. As much as I’d like to argue (and partly will in
a moment) that the scandals didn’t define Grant’s presidency, the simple truth
is that his was one of the most scandal-ridden in American history (perhaps the
most so until, I dunno, right
now), and will always be associated with that corruption.
If we can’t
change the events of the past, however, we can and should think about
collective memories, about what we most fully and centrally remember about
historical events. And without denying the factual realities of the Grant
Administration scandals, I would nonetheless argue that the historical emphasis
on them is related to the triumph of neo-Confederate narratives
of Reconstruction, the Civil War, race,
and much
else in the late
19th century (and ever
since). That is, frustratingly bad as Grant was at managing his corrupt
friends, he was in other ways the progressive president foreshadowed by his
inaugural address: helping gain passage
of the 15th Amendment, opposing the Ku
Klux Klan, and, perhaps most influentially, founding
the Justice Department primarily to advocate for African American rights;
and appointing his friend and Civil
War comrade (and amazing American) Ely Parker as the first Native American
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and working toward a very different and more peaceful
relationship between the federal government and Native American tribes. If
Grant’s corrupt administration contributed to the failure of some of these
initiatives (and I’m sure it did, although white supremacist opposition
contributed even more), that’s no reason for us to forget or minimize their
existence as we celebrate the sesquicentennial of this presidency.
Next
GrantStudying tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you think?
Other Grant histories or contexts you’d highlight?
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