Why Was Ulysses S. Grant A Failure?

The Ku Klux Act gave the president great power to intervene with southern states affected by the Klan’s violent acts. Federal officials eventually arrested hundreds of people suspected to have been involved in the Klan and the violence then subsided. However, by this time, the Ku Klux Klan had achieved its main goals in the majority of the southern states and the white supremacist governments were then in firm control. Consequently, a variety of legal measures could be taken to suppress the blacks’ voting and civil rights.

After taking charge Ulysses S. Grant became really mad he went crazy he was going take over and destroy the south. ‘’Grant then opened up the cracker line, to bring supplies to the beleaguered army of the Cumberland.’’ Grant went crazy he was ready to launch an attack.’’ On November 24, Grant launched an attack on lookout mountainn and then captured it after six hours of fighting!’’ The battles went on and on. Grant wanted this battle over fast so the nexted day he ordered Sherman to attack tunnel hill. But the last time Sherman was ordered to lead the troops in an initial attack was a failure.’’ A second attack managed to completely break the center of the confederate line. After that victory it was grants third in three days. Then, all of a sudden it opened the Deep South to a union invasion. At the end with the success of Grants victories it also led the union to a great victory (Civilwar.org).

Thomas A bailey said,”Grant was an ignorant and confused President, and his eight long years of blunderland are generally regarded as a national disgrace.” Clearly, Bailey was not looking at Grant's accomplishments in the economic arena when writing this statement. C.Van Woodward described the years in which Grant was the president as “the all-time low point in statesmanship and political morality in our history.” Woodward must have forgotten about how Grant held the country together after the Civil War. Not only that but Arthur Schlesinger placed grant among the failures in his 1948 and 1962 presidential ratings.Historians should judge people in the context of their times, not before nor after. All of these three historians missjudged Grant, because they judged him by how president are now not how they used to be.All that grant was doing was putting the people and the country first to help evolutionate

Often times he seemed bewildered, looking to Congress for direction. As one visitor to the White House said he possessed, “a puzzled a pathos, as of a man with a problem before him of which he does not understand the terms.” Though quite honest, Grant had a knack of appointing people who were not morally sound. Although he was successful in pushing through the 15th Amendment, Ulysses S. Grant’s double-term was dominated by scandals and dishonor.

Ulysses S. Grant is generally showed as bad president by having mostly red and couple orange blocks on the graph in Wiki. His presidency is marked by him not being a political man and seemed ineffective enforcing the civil rights laws. He was involved in some scandals. He led the United States during a depression from Europe which affected the United States jobs. Ulysses also was dealing with a few scandals and he also passed the 15 amendment. Ulysses was not a political man, so he deserves what he is ranked at.

As a country, America has gone through many political changes. Leaders have come and gone, all of them having different objectives and plans for the future. One period of time in which leaders sought change was 1865 which was the time period known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a time period of many different leaders, different goals and different accomplishments. Many debate whether Reconstruction was a success or failure. Success is an event which accomplishes its intended purpose, which Reconstruction did, but during this process of accomplishment, evil came about. There was many good things that came from the Reconstruction era which leads me to believe that it was a success, these accomplishments were; Reunification of the Union , more laws came about along with the protection of African Americans and the Enforcement acts, the Freedmen's Bureau was created along with an education system, and the Compromise of 1877.

The election of Ulysses S. Grant to President in 1868, was out of a need to for Radical Republicans to have a like-minded president in office unlike that of President Johnson who had been impeached, but not fired by Congress. This was a political power play that the Republicans needed to maintain control and to continue their version of Reconstruction upon the South. During his presidency his ability to wage war and place the correct people in charge did not transition well into the civilian role as President. President Grant’s terms would be plagued by indecision that nearly destroyed the nation’s economy, took advantage of the spoils of his position, and failed to maintain a platform which to politically stand on. President Grant may have been an excellent military General, but he was unable to let go the military man that he was and

This proved to be a very important act passed. The passing of the voting to African Americans was strongly not wanted. The Ku Klux Klan along with other hate groups tried to prevent the 15th Amendment from being in place by violence and intimidation. In view of that fact the practical question immediately is, whether that situation of things could be changed by legislation. And if it could, if the protection of those whom the Ku-Klux keeps from the polls by terror would prevent the national government falling into the hands of the Ku-Klux party, ought they not to be protected and the government saved”, The Ku Klux 1871. “Two decisions in 1876 by the Supreme Court narrowed the scope of enforcement under the Enforcement Act and the Force Act, and together with the end of Reconstruction marked by the removal of federal troops after the Hayes-Tilden Compromise of 1877, resulted in a climate in which violence could be used to depress black voter turnout and fraud could be used to undo the effect of lawfully cast votes”, Before the Voting Rights Act.

As commander of the army, Grant soon became trapped in the struggles between President Andrew Johnson and Congress. Because of the president's clear Pro-Southern tendencies, the general gradually moved closer to the radicals and cooperated with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton in carrying out the congressional Reconstruction plan for the South. Grant accepted appointment as secretary ad interim after Johnson's dismissal of Stanton, but clashed violently with the president when the Senate ordered Stanton reinstated. Then, as the country's best-known military leader, he became the Republican candidate for president in 1868 and defeated his Democratic rival, Horatio Seymour.

7. How did the scandals of the Grant Administration undermine the goals of Reconstruction ? In order to impeach President Johnson at a quicker pace, Republicans nominated General Ulysses S. Grant. Despite the fact that he didn't have any political experience and his popularity at the North, he gathered 300,000 votes more than his democratic opponent ( with thanks to 500,000 black).

The 1883 Pendleton Act was just what America need to get away from machine politics. The act instituted a merit based system of competitive exams, requiring that civil servants prove their skills in order to be hired to a government office (Cashman 4). The Pendleton Act did not cover all government jobs.

The corruption in Grant’s administration was also a reason why people turned their backs on the Reconstruction (Doc. C 1). The administration was so unfocused on the Reconstruction, that the populace began to turn their backs on the Reconstruction. “Even the staunchly pro-Grant and pro-Freedman Boston Evening Transcript ran a letter… arguing that “the blacks as a people, are unfitted for the proper exercise of political duties” (Doc. D

The Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868 granted African Americans citizenship and equal protection under the law, and the Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 granted African Americans the right to vote. These amendments were passed in an effort to combat racism and reshape public perception of blacks, however, these laws were hard to enforce and Southern states developed their own laws like the Black Codes to control the newly freed slaves. Jim Crow-era laws in the South like the poll tax and literacy tests prevented many blacks in the South from voting. Anyone who tried to break Southern traditions was subject to violence and intimidation from the Ku Klux Klan.

The past twenty years many scholars have called for a reevaluation of Ulysses S. Grant’s administration. Brooks D. Simpson’s article “Another Look at the Grant Presidency” provides an argument for scholars to reevaluate Grant’s administration. Simpson asserts “It is time to break away from the practice of citing the criticisms made by Grant’s opponents as if they were objective and detached observations about the eighteenth president. Such practices make for poor scholarship, scholarship which amounts to no more than a paraphrase of partisan rhetoric.” He contends that interpretations on the administrations of Abraham Lincoln or Franklin D. Roosevelt who relied exclusively upon sources critical of the president “would be rejected by the historical community as biased and unfair.”

The first cabinet officer in American history to be convicted of a crime while in office, Albert B. Fall also was the only government appointee of the Harding administration whose criminal acts were punished to the full extent of the American law (Faue). This showcased how sometimes, government officials overuse their political power and wind up damaging the country. Fall’s actions negatively affected Native Americans, major oil companies, and the entire executive branch of American government. Fall also made President Harding look foolish for being oblivious to the crimes occurring right in front of his eyes, which brought national shame to the United States. Albert B. Fall’s also set a precedent for future politicians that showed it was okay to abuse your power to a certain extent, which is damaging to the country. The Teapot Dome Scandal and others that occurred during the Harding Administration negatively reflected the United States