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President Ulysses S. Grant BORN: April 27, 1822 DIED: July 23, 1885 POLITICAL PARTY: Republican VICE PRESIDENTS: Schuyler Colfax (1869-1873), Henry Wilson (1873-1875) TERMS: Two ( 1869-1875)

Ulysses S. Grant and his administration deserve a C for their presidency. They deserve this grade because scandal surrounded Grant's presidency, but his intentions were good. Grant began his presidency following Andrew Johnson and the Civil War. The nation was burdened with debt. One of his goals was to get the country out of debt through the Gold Standard, every dollar would be backed up by gold. Another goal of his ,stated in his First Inaugural Address,was to ratify the 15th amendment. This would give African American's the right to vote. Lastly, Grant's foreign policy was to respect other nations and demand the same respect back. For Grants first goal to bring the country out of debt by using the Gold Standard, he partially succeeded ,but he mostly failed. He was able to introduce the Gold Standard when he signed the Public Credit Act, but this did not fix the problem. Scandals dealing with economy filled his presidency, this led to some of the problems with the economy. These scandals included The Black Friday Scandal, The Whiskey Ring Affair, frauds in the U.S. tresurary and the Credit Mobilier scandal. There was also a large depression after the 1872 election, which led to a huge amount of unemployment and bankruptcy.His goal to ratify the 15th amendment was one that he succeeded in, February 3, 1870 the amendment was ratified, which gave African- American's the right to vote. This was not fully put into effect for decades, though, because states were able to find loopholes. He succeeded greatly in foreign affairs with the advisement of Hamilton Fish. When the issue of Civil War payment for damages to Birtish war ships came up Grant was able to improve relations between the two countries. Ulysses had a good relationship with Congress during his first term because many republicans began to form the same radical ideas towards reconstruction as he did. He passed laws having to do with Reconstruction such as the Force Acts of 1870 and 1871, and ratifying the 15th amendment. His second term was a different story. After the split of the Republican party, and the formation of the Liberal Republicans, a result of the scandals and other disagreements; Democrats claimed majority in Congress during Grant's second term. Economically he swayed toward Republican congress shown through his signing of the Public Credit Act, a controversial issue. The country was divided between "hard" and "cheap" money people. Ulysses went with the "Hard Money". He vetoed a bill to increase the amount of greenback dollars.Majority Democratic Congress came back and passed the Resumption Act that allowed the gradual cashing in of greenback money for gold. The action most positive coming from Ulysses S Grant were his efforts towards Reconstruction. In the South there were major problems with violence and the Klu Klux Klan. Grant did all that he could through the Force Acts of 1870 and 1871, to solve these problems. He also helped secure African- Americans the right to vote, though it was not extremely effective. Andrew Johnson went against most of what we fought for in the Civil War and Grant helped to correct this. The actions most defective towards our country were his involvement in scandals. Although I recognize the fact that he sometimes just fell prey to people he trusted; his administration was involved in the Whiskey Ring Scandal. I also feel that, as president, it is your job to make positive you are not involved in something that will hurt the country. These scandals did this and they had very negative effects, it also led to the splitting of the Republican party and a large amount of controversy. The decisions made during his presidency that most effected future generations were his ones involving Reconstruction. This was a pivotal time for the country, especially African- Americans. Without Grant things may have swung a different direction and today African-Americans still may not have had the rights that they deserved. Violence could have gotten out of hand with the Klu Klux Klan and resulted in extreme sectionalism once again. The country was better off before the presidency, but only by a small amount. Grant had good attributes through Reconstruction and Foreign Policy. He also attributed in a negative way though, he put the country through some very trying times economically, the Republican party split, and there were so many scandals. That is why Grant deserves a C for his presidency.

"The End of Reconstruction." __Hippocampus.org__. Hippocampus. 13 Nov. 2008 ."Grant, Ulysses S." __Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia__. __Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia__. 13 Nov. 2008 <http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0124750-0&templatename=/article/article.htmlGrant, Ulysses S. "Ulysess S. Grant's First Innagural Address." First Innagural Address. Washington, D.C "Ulysses S. Grant," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008