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Date of Birth: April 27, 1822 Date of Death July 23, 1885 Terms of Presidency 1869-1877 Republican Vice Presidents: Schuyler Colfax and Henry Wilson Rating: C
 * Ulysses S. Grant**


 * Culture**

When Ulysses S. Grant took office, America was in the middle of reconstruction. The south was being rebuilt and blacks were earning civil rights. The rise of the KKK churned parts of the deep south in to a confederate loving racist nest of hatred towards blacks. That and westward expansion gave America some of it's key figures in gaining the gritty hard working American lifestyle. The culture of the time was changing for the best. The worlds view of the U.S. was important and it gave the country new respect, much like what was found from the Monroe Doctrine.


 * Thesis**

Throughout his presidency Grant was involved in many scandals including the exposure of the Crédit Moblier and the Whiskey Ring. Some good also came out balancing out the corrupt politics of his terms. Civil right advances swept through out the country as Klan leaders were prosecuted and blacks gain basic rights such as voting. Grant was a C worthy president due to corruptness in politics of the time, little effort to throw the country ahead of the rest of the western world and pushing for annexing of Dominican Republic which was unnecessary in a time after the larger war fought on U.S. soil.


 * Goals**

In Grant's inaugural address he explained how he was to rid the country of hate, prejudice and sectional pride. This was one of the first goals stated and one of the most achieved. He started to attack this problem with the 15th Amendment to the constitution. This allowed for all men to vote regardless of their race. This was a major advancement in the civil rights after the civil war. After that came the Naturalization act of 1870 which sealed the deal with blacks. It allowed for any black, even former slaves, to become citizens of the United States. That settled the equal rights but that didn't stop people such as members of the KKK from harassing blacks in the South. Grant took notice of this and called for the Force Act of 1871 which allowed for prosecution of KKK members. This attempt was strong willed and started the end the racism in the U.S. but would not be achieved for over 80 more years.


 * Administration**

The most successful department under Grants terms was by not doubt the Justice Department. That department enforces laws that are made by the federal government. This had the biggest impact because of all the new laws regarding to civil rights. Parts of the South did not want to follow them so they stepped in and enforced. He used this department more than any other president which is what sent his rating up from an F to a C. One holding him down to that C was the Secretary of the Treasury. He was involved in scandals and criminal activity which is not what you want at the highest level of government. This part did not help evade the Panic of 1873 and the man himself became bankrupt after leaving office which is irrelevant to the rating but shows what type of person he was. This administration overall did not do it's job when it should have and failed to better the country.


 * Decision**

The most important decision made my Grant was the Fifteenth Amendment. This effected everyone all over the country and every president to come. This effected the people because it gave blacks more equal rights and society slowly started to accept it. It effected the presidents because it opened up a whole new group of voters that could sway elections one way or the other. Everyone had to think differently about everything. Blacks were not just slaves at this point. A war was just fought to free them and then a set of laws including this one came along. This started a whole new nation that developed a new culture and put it ahead of the rest.


 * Conclusion**

The country it's self was better off at the end of the country than before. The war had just ended and it needed a leader to help them through the rough reconstruction process. The low rating of a C has to do with the president himself. All the scandals that happened throughout both his terms were not good and needed to be stopped. The amount of corruptness was higher than any previous president and that an overall bad practice. That gives Grant the rating of a C. Parts of his presidency were handled well such as civil rights but the cheating of the system did not boost his rating. He was C worthy because of the bad ethics of corruptness, annexing and not throwing it the country further ahead.


 * Sources**

"Grant Homepage." //Index of ///. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. < [|__http://www.empirenet.com/~ulysses/__] >.

"Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. < [|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Ulysses_S._Grant__] >.

"United States Secretary of the Treasury." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. < [|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_the_Treasury__] >.

"Ulysses S. Grant." //The White House//. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. < [|__http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/ulyssessgrant__] >. = =