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​ Ulysses S. Grant Term: 1869-1877 Political Party: Republican Vice President: Schuyler Colfax(1869-1873), Henry Wilson(1873-1875), None(1875-1877)

Ulysses Grant was not the best president and he was also not the worst. Many issues that went on during his presidency he did not really have much control over, like the Panic of 1873. it is things like this that make others think that he was a worse president than he actually was. Also the many scandles that he was involved with did not really help his reputation. Neither did the choices that he chose for his cabinet. However he did help fix the relationship with the British by making the Treaty of Washington in 1871. He also did many things to help out the African Americans. With all this grant deserves a C for his presidency.

One of the goals of grant was to get civil rights for African Americans. he wanted to protect the newly freed slaves from people in the South who were still completely against blacks having any type of say or freedom. Grant also wanted to keep the Republican party alive in the South. However that was not possible without black votes. Not many people living in the South wanted to go back to the Union. Therefore they did not like what the Republicans were pushing for, which was restoring the Union. grant did not want there to be zero republicans in the South for obvious reasons. So, Grant wanted civil rights for blacks so that the party could stay alive in the South.

During his presidency most of Congress was republicans, however they did not have the best relationship. Grant never really asked the opinion of Congress and what they thought he should do. Mostly he went off what he thought was best or what his cabinet thought was best. This really upset Congress and they no longer really supported him. Without Congress's support many bills went through Congress that Grant never wanted. Grant then had to veto an extreme amount of bills that Congress wanted to push for. This also then hurt the relationship.

The most postitve outcome from Grant's presidency was The Treaty of Washington in 1871. The main thing this treaty wanted to settle was the damages done to the merhcants by three Confederate ships. This damage cost a lot of money and they felt they deserved to be paid to fix the damages. It also helped settle border disputes with the British part of Canada. This greatly improved relations with Britain without having to fight for what they wanted.

The most negative outcome of his presidency was his choices for his cabinet. For his cabinet he chose people he knew he could trust like the poeple he was with during the war. Unfortuantely none of these people really had much politcal experience. Grant also chose to listen to his inexperienced cabinet over Congress. Tensions were high, and Grant ended up not really making the best choices for this country. Chosing a cabinet with more experience, and not just his friends, would have been a much better choice.

The most influential decision made by Grant was ratifying the 15th Amendment. This gave any man no matter race or religion, the right to vote. This was a very big step into the future where anyone can vote, when 18 or older. This was also one of the frist civil rights given to blacks which helped move them up in the social society. This amendment also brought on the idea of wome being able to vote. Even though women voting did not happen for many years it started the idea of it. This amendment really changed the course of history.

As stated above Grant was not the best or the worst president. He made many decisions that changed the country for the good like the Treaty of Washington and ratifying the 15th Amendment. However he also made wrong decisions like his choices for cabinet and the multiple scandals that went on. The country was better off after his presidency but not that much. Because of that and all the many facts Ulysses S. Grant deserves a C for his term.

"Ulysses S. Grant." The White House. 08 Apr. 2010. []

"American President: Ulysses Simpson Grant." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. Web. 08 Apr. 2010. 