Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This looks at events of 1876 - a trying year for the White House. The Seventh Cavalry was wiped out by the Sioux, and Ulysees Grant's peace process lay in tatters as a result. Scandals diverted Grant's attention from larger policy questions. A series ofprosecutions culminated in the February trial of Orville Babcock, Grant's private secretary.
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant January 1 October 31 1876 written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On May 10, 1876, Ulysses S. Grant pulled a lever to start the mighty 1,400-horsepower Corliss Steam Engine, powering acres of machinery for the nation's Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Grant summed up a century of American progress by saying, "Whilst proud of what we have done, we regret that we have not done more. Our achievements have been great enough however to make it easy for our people to acknowledge superior merit wheresoever found." That summer, Fourth of July celebrations coincided with early reports that Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and his Seventh Cavalry had been wiped out by Sioux. Grant resisted the subsequent clamor for volunteers to crush the Sioux, but his peace policy lay in shambles, and he later criticized Custer's unnecessary "sacrifice of troops." Soldiers sent to subdue Indians meant fewer available to help ensure a fair election in November. Grant's correspondents described a pattern of physical and economic intimidation throughout the South, as Democrats sought to keep blacks from the polls. After whites massacred black militia in South Carolina, Grant warned that unchecked persecution would lead to "bloody revolution." As violence spread, Grant struggled to position limited forces where they could do the most good. Scandals diverted Grant's attention from larger policy questions. A series of Whiskey Ring prosecutions culminated in the February trial of Orville E. Babcock, Grant's private secretary. A new scandal erupted in March when Secretary of War William W. Belknap resigned, hoping in vain to avoid impeachment for selling post traderships. Grant drew fire for having accepted the resignation, a move that ultimately led to Belknap's acquittal by the Senate. An investigation also linked Grant's brother Orvil to the scandal. Grant battled a Democratic House of Representatives until late that summer over issues as vital as the budget and as symbolic as the president's absences from the capital. He welcomed Rutherford B. Hayes as the Republican choice for his successor, despite private irritation at Hayes's pointed pledge to serve only one term. As his presidency waned, Grant planned a trip to Europe when he left office. Investments would finance his travels, and he staked his fortunes on western mining stocks. In June, a granddaughter born at the White House brought the family joy in an otherwise trying year.
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 525 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant July 1 1868 October 31 1869 written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, [1967-c1995 .. This book was released on 1967 with total page 680 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume carries Ulysses S. Grant through a brief period of welcome calm to the storms of the White House. Seemingly resigned to becoming president, Grant detached himself from military routine in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 1868 to tour the Great Plains. He then settled in Galena to escape the clamor of the presidential campaign. Grant reveled in his respite from official duties, writing to his father, "I have enjoyed my summers vacation very much and look forward with dread to my return to Washington." Grant's residence in Galena shielded him from public scrutiny. "Whilst I remain here I shall avoid all engagements to go any place at any stated time. The turn out of people is immense when they hear of my coming." Grant remained in or near his prewar hometown until the election forced him back to Washington. Grant publicly said that he accepted presidential responsibilities "without fear" but privately lacked eagerness for the office. Even before his electoral victory, he wrote disapprovingly of "the Army of office seekers" and "begging letters" from potential appointees. Never enamored with the "pulling and hauling" so much a part of politics, Grant tried to minimize importunities by withholding names of his cabinet selections until after his inauguration and keeping his policy pronouncements spare and noncontroversial. His earnest desire as president was simply to inspire every citizen to work for "a happy Union."
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These papers cover Grant's post-presidential tour and his comments on the war and his presidency.
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant October 1 1880 December 31 1882 written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the final weeks of the 1880 campaign, Ulysses S. Grant left Galena and headed east to stump for the Republican ticket. At rallies in New England, upstate New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York City, sometimes several times a day, the reticent Grant warmed to his role. Sounding a familiar postwar theme, he repeatedly condemned voter harassment in the South, asserting the right of "our fellow-citizens of African descent, ... to go to the polls, even though they are in the minority, and put in their ballot without being burned out of their homes, and without being threatened or intimidated." James A. Garfield won a narrow victory over Major General Winfield S. Hancock and welcomed Grant's advice on matters ranging from cabinet choices to foreign policy. Rootless since their White House days, unsatisfied with backwater Galena, the Grants now decided to settle in New York City and took rooms at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. In January, 1881, Grant accepted the presidency of the 1883 World's Fair Commission, charged with bringing an exposition to New York City. Initial enthusiasm soon gave way to rancor, as factions split over where to place the fair. Grant favored Central Park, but public sentiment intervened, and funding evaporated. By March, Grant resigned. A friend told a reporter, "Grant and I had a long talk over the matter across the way in his son's office, and we both arrived at the conclusion that the people of New-York don't want a World's Fair." Grant's business interests reflected the international stage he now occupied. Competing plans for an isthmian canal through Panama, Mexico, and Nicaragua jockeyed for support, and Grant had his favorite. "The only feasible route for a canal across from the Atlantic to the Pacific is by the Nicaragua route. I have been all over the routes myself, besides having examined all the reports made regarding each of them carefully, and that is my firm conviction." Grant published an article championing Nicaragua even as momentum swung behind Panama. But Grant's attention was drawn more to railroads and to Mexico. When his friend Matías Romero promoted a new line through Oaxaca, Grant jumped on board. A speech to American capitalists in November, 1880, led a few months later to the incorporation of the Mexican Southern Railroad, with Grant as president. By April, 1881, he was in Mexico City, where he told lawmakers: "I predict, with the building of these roads, a development of the country will take place such as has never been witnessed in any country before. . . . There is nothing, in my opinion, to stand in the way of Mexican progress and grandeur, and wealth, but the people themselves." In June, Grant returned from Mexico with a new charter in hand. But his mind was on Garfield and Secretary of State James G. Blaine, two men who had thwarted him at the Republican convention one year earlier. Grant supported his Stalwart ally, Roscoe Conkling, in a power struggle with Garfield and Blaine. From New Orleans to New York City, Grant spoke candidly. "If you want to know what I think of the manner in which Mr. Conkling has been treated by the President and his colleagues in the Senate, I will tell you without any hesitation. I think it is most outrageous." The feud ended after Garfield was shot on July 2. When he died in September, Grant wept with the nation. Fitz John Porter had sought restoration to the army since his dismissal after the Second Battle of Bull Run. Grant had previously rebuffed Porter but now reversed course. "I believe I have heretofore done you an injustice, both in thought & speach." Taking up a case that divided former commanders now in Congress, Grant forcefully argued for Porter's vindication. Grant and wife Julia bought a home just off Fifth Avenue in New York City. In the summer, he commuted from his seaside cottage at Long Branch, New Jersey, to his office on Wall Street, where he greeted a steady stream of admirers and influence-seekers. A silent partner in the brokerage firm his son Ulysses, Jr., formed with Ferdinand Ward, Grant left finances in Ward's hands. Surveys for the Mexican Southern proceeded. Banquets and parties filled many evenings. The Grants settled into Manhattan society.
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Amiable Scoundrel written by Paul Kahan and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2016-07-01 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From abject poverty to undisputed political boss of Pennsylvania, Lincoln’s secretary of war, senator, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and a founder of the Republican Party, Simon Cameron (1799–1889) was one of the nineteenth century’s most prominent political figures. In his wake, however, he left a series of questionable political and business dealings and, at the age of eighty, even a sex scandal. Far more than a biography of Cameron, Amiable Scoundrel is also a portrait of an era that allowed—indeed, encouraged—a man such as Cameron to seize political control. The political changes of the early nineteenth century enabled him not only to improve his status but also to exert real political authority. The changes caused by the Civil War, in turn, allowed Cameron to consolidate his political authority into a successful, well-oiled political machine. A key figure in designing and implementing the Union’s military strategy during the Civil War’s crucial first year, Cameron played an essential role in pushing Abraham Lincoln to permit the enlistment of African Americans into the U.S. Army, a stance that eventually led to his forced resignation. Yet his legacy has languished, nearly forgotten save for the fact that his name has become shorthand for corruption, even though no evidence has ever been presented to prove that Cameron was corrupt. Amiable Scoundrel puts Cameron’s actions into a larger historical context by demonstrating that many politicians of the time, including Abraham Lincoln, used similar tactics to win elections and advance their careers. This study is the fascinating story of Cameron’s life and an illuminating portrait of his times.
Download or read book Papers of Ulysses S Grant written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant November 1 1876 September 30 1878 written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his eighth and final annual message to Congress, Ulysses S. Grant reminded the nation that it was his "fortune or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training." The electoral crisis that dominated Grant's last months in office left little room for political error. On November 7, 1876, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote, but Republican Rutherford B. Hayes could claim the presidency by a single electoral vote if he captured all disputed electors from Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon. Uncertainty gave way to deadlock as the crisis deepened. Grant's mail included a steady trickle of anonymous threats. In late January 1877, Grant signed a bill creating an electoral commission to end the dispute. Hayes won all disputed electors and succeeded Grant without incident. Out of the White House, without a settled home, the Grants spent two months visiting family and friends before embarking on their long-planned European tour. On May 17, Grant left Philadelphia aboard the steamer Indiana. When he arrived at Liverpool, crowds thronged the docks and streets to give him a hero's welcome, and Londoners welcomed Grant with similar enthusiasm. In July, the Grants crossed to Belgium, traveled through Germany, and summered in the Swiss Alps and the lakes of northern Italy. Back in Great Britain, they toured Scotland and northern England, then visited daughter Ellen Grant Sartoris at Warsash, the Sartoris country home near Southampton. Grant spent November in Paris, later writing "no American would stay in Paris if he found himself the only one of his countrymen there." The Grants wintered in the Mediterranean, sailing down the Italian coast to Sicily, where they spent Christmas, then to Alexandria, and a long trip up the Nile. The party toured the Holy Land, visited Constantinople and Athens, and spent a month in Italy. After another month in Paris, the Grants were off to Holland, Germany, Scandinavia, Russia, Austria, and Switzerland, exploring the Alps again before returning to Paris in September, 1878, to ponder their next move. Abroad and out of office, Grant freely talked about the war and his presidency. Several interviews stirred controversy in America and stoked talk of a third term in 1880, despite Grant's own protestation: "I never wanted to get out of a place as much as I did to get out of the Presidency." The Grants had seen Europe. Now they faced a choice between home and a journey to distant Asia.
Download or read book John McDonald and the Whiskey Ring written by Edward S. Cooper and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-10-28 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most flamboyant, consistently dishonest racketeer was Supervisor of Internal Revenue John McDonald, whose organization defrauded the federal government of millions of dollars. When President Grant was asked why he appointed McDonald supervisor of internal revenue he responded, “I was aware that he was not an educated man, but he was a man that had seen a great deal of the world and of people, and I would not call him ignorant exactly, he was illiterate.” McDonald organized and ran the Whiskey Ring but he always credited Grant with the initiation of the Ring declaring that the president “actually stood god-father at its christening.” The demise of the Ring rivals anything that the real or fictional Elliot Ness and his “Untouchables” ever accomplished during the prohibition era in America.
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant November 1 1869 October 31 1870 written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, [1967-c1995 .. This book was released on 1967 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume 20 is the first in this acclaimed series to cover the months when Ulysses S. Grant held no military commission. As president, however, Grant's significance grew rather than diminished. His leadership and decisions touched directly or indirectly most people in the United States and many more around the globe. Grant spoke sincerely when he said that "I have done all I could to advance the best interests of the citizens of our country, without regard to color, and I shall endeavor to do in the future what I have done in the past." He urged adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment and rejoiced in its ratification, expressing his belief that it was "the realization of the Declaration of Independence." Grant acknowledged that government had treated Indians badly in the past. In the short run, he recommitted his administration to the experiment of employing Quakers and humanitarians as Indian advisers and agents, trusting in eventual "great success." In the long run, however, Grant thought placing Indians on large reservations and encouraging them "to take their lands in severalty" and "to set up territorial governments for their own protection" the best course. In foreign affairs, Grant became fixed on the annexation of Santo Domingo, gave this issue an inordinate degree of attention, and squandered political capital in confrontations with Congress. Senate foreign affairs committee chairman Charles Sumner emerged as the villain preventing Grant from achieving his desire, and Grant displayed his animosity toward the Massachusetts senator in private as well as in the very public removal of Sumner's friend John L. Motley as minister to England. Developments such as growing tensions among European powers, Spanish-Cuban relations, and the Alabama Claims negotiations received relatively little attention. Grant, in fact, admitted shortly after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, "I had no idea that such an event was even threatening."
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant October 1 1861 January 7 1862 written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, [1967-c1995 .. This book was released on 1970 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grant's career in the closing months of 1861 has been obscured by the success which came to him on the battlefield early in the following year, beginning with the victory at Fort Donelson in February 1862.Hence, Volume 3 of this definitive edition will be especially valuable to historians of the presidency as well as the Civil War for the clear, comprehensive insight itprovides into Grant's attitudes and motives on the eve of his military victories. The fourteen-week period covered by this volume has been exhaustively researched, and includes a great store of previously unpublished material, which has been combined with already available Grant documents--many of them now printed from the original manuscripts. All the correspondence has been placed in context and annotated. As in previous volumes of the Papers, a deepening portrait of Grant emerges. Here is the key to his future actions and policies and a guide to the thought of generations who looked to him for military and political leadership.
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant February 1 December 31 1872 written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grant deals with criticism as parties squabble and inflation threatens.
Download or read book The Papers of Ulysses S Grant written by Ulysses Simpson Grant and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
