President Grant is a tragic figure. Thanks to NeoConfederate lies and their success at rewriting History, “The Lost Cause” bullshit, they also got millions, including me, to believe he was a drunk in office. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some asshole in the Klan probably made it up and found a way to make it stick.
As president, Grant believed in protecting the rights of the recently freed slaves. He did this by sending the Army after the KKK. It worked. Therefore, the shitty compromise to settle the 1876 election to make Hayes the winner; the South got the forces removed and two years later, Congress passed the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878; paving the way for more subtle racism, oppression and Confederate convicts to regain public office.
Not all the ratfucking came from the South, his own party did its share. Grant was the first standing president who chose to run for a third term (not FDR). Many Republicans in the wings were hoping he’d stick with the tradition started by Washington, even the demagogic Jackson said eight years was enough. We could speculate until the sun burns out on the specifics but I’m willing to go with two possible motives. The first involved Reconstruction. It wasn’t finished by any stretch of the imagination, yet most Republicans were more interested in getting rich after being the unchallenged majority for 16 years. This is when they officially admitted to being the Party of Bullies and Rich People. The second was worse, Grant had no future income because he forfeited his Army pension by resigning in 1868 to be the GOP candidate. Keep in mind, a post-presidency becoming the gateway to becoming a millionaire shitbag class doesn’t happen until Eisenhower. Whatever savings Grant had were lost in the 1873 Recession. If the man had a fault, it was having too much trust in friends and allies, many of them screwed him over alongside the American public. Ergo, the NeoConfederates found the perfect narrative to distort into the a century-long lie about the man who does have the right to be on the 50 dollar bill more than the asshole on the 20.
I’m super behind schedule on my plan to read a biography about every president. Jefferson’s has become a chore and life keeps distracting me. I do look forward to checking out Ron Chernow’s take on Grant, the other Republican worthy of respect alongside Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.