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=Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822-July 23, 1855)= Republican 1869-1873 1873-1877 Vice President 1st term: Schulyer Colfax Vice President 2nd term: Henry Wilson (died in 1875) No vice president after Wilson's death

"Let us keep peace" was president Ulysses S. Grant's goal for our nation. Grant was successful in maintaining this motto, however his presidency was full of scandals and corruption which also led to a major depression in 1873. Grant deserves a C- for his presidency because he did not have control of the nation during this time but did however pass important laws and amendments.

The goals for president Grant was to keep the nation united and to maintain radical reconstruction both in the North and South. Grant used armed forces in the South to make sure that blacks were given a chance to vote. Also, because of the Ku Klux Klan, Grant set aside habeas corpus and authorized mass arrests to those who were harrassing blacks. Along with this, Grant passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 which allowed "full and equal enjoyment of the accomodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement." However, this Act was voted unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1883. Grant also created the fifteenth amendment in 1870 that gave everyone the right to vote no matter what race, color, or condition a person is in.

During Grant's presidency, both House and Senate had a majority of Republicans until 1875 when it switched parties. Congress and Grant had a good relationship and together they passed the 15th amendment and Civil Rights Act which would benefit the blacks both in the South and North. Grant tried to keep our country together and united and tried to accomidate every group in America, especially the African Americans.

Throughout Grant's presidency, he was faced with many challenges and had to solve the main issue of the rights of blacks. Grant allowed the passing of the fifteenth amendment which ultimately gave blacks the right to vote. During this time however, the nation was never completely accepting to African Americans and many were still treated unfairly. But with the fifteenth amendment, many African Americans felt like they could now voice their opinion and have a right to be a part of our nation and politics. This was Grant's best decision during his presidency. His worst decision was how he handled the scandals throughout the time. Grant was faced with many scandals that affected both him and his cabinet. The major scandal, Black Friday, was when two men, James Fisk and Jay Gould tried to corner the gold market by increasing the price. Fisk and Gould realized that they would only benefit if the federal treasury did not sell gold. Both men tried to involve Grant himself and his brother in law by paying $25,000 for him to go along with the plan. In the Whiskey Ring, many people were accused of taking millions of dollars from liquor sales and putting that money in their own pocket. When Grant heard about this scandal, he said "Let no guilty man escape." However, when his own secretary Orville E. Babcock was suspected, Grant allowed him to be dismissed.

The most important decision that Grant made that influenced future generations was the passing of the fifteenth amendment. Although in the future there was still major controversy with the treatment of African Americans which can be seen in the Civil Rights Movement, the passing of this amendment brought our nation together with the attempt to accept all minorities and races and allow African Americans the right to vote in which they were never allowed to participate in.

I think our country was better off without Grant as a president because he did not benefit our country in any way other than passing the fifteenth amendment, which could have and most likely would have been done by any other president. Grant never had control over the numerous scandals that took place during his presidency, and ultimately led our country to the depression of 1873 when he passed the Resumption of Specie Act of 1875 when all gold was redeemed by greenbacks which was a major cause of the economic problem. Grant deserves a grade of a C- because of his poor and uncontrolled management of the nation.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/UlyssesSGrant/ http://www.essortment.com/all/ulyssessgrant_rssg.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant DeGregorio, WIlliam A. __The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents.__