Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant served as the 18th President of the United States from March 4, 1869 to March 4, 1877. A Republican, Grant took office after winning the 1868 election, and secured a second term in 1872. He presided over the Reconstruction Era and the 1876 U.S. Centennial.

By 1870, all former Confederate states had been readmitted into the United States and were represented in Congress. However, Democrats and former slave owners refused to accept that freedmen had been granted citizenship by the Fourteenth Amendment and suffrage by the Fifteenth Amendment. This prompted Congress to pass three Force Acts to allow the federal government to intervene when states failed to protect former slaves' rights. The Ku Klux Klan, formed in 1865, caused widespread violence throughout the Southern United States against African Americans. President Grant and his Attorney General Amos T. Akerman, who headed the newly created Department of Justice, prosecuted Klan members after an escalation of Klan activity in the late 1860s. Grant was succeeded by Rutherford B. Hayes, who won the election of 1876.

Grant's cabinet choices were generally mixed, but he did have a few notable appointments, such as Secretary of State Hamilton Fish, U.S. Attorney General Amos T. Akerman, and Seneca Indian Eli Parker, who served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. However, Grant's two administrations were plagued by numerous scandals, allegations of corruption, bribery, fraud, and cronyism. At times, Grant responded to corruption charges by appointing reformers to prosecute the notorious Whiskey Ring. Additionally, Grant advanced the cause of civil service reform more than any president before him, creating America's first Civil Service Commission. In 1872, Grant signed into law an Act of Congress that established Yellowstone National Park, the world's first national park.

The United States was at peace with the world throughout Grant's eight years in office, but his handling of foreign policy was uneven. Tensions with Native American tribes in the West continued. Under Secretary of State Hamilton Fish, the Treaty of Washington restored relations with Britain and resolved the contentious Alabama Claims, while the Virginius Affair with Spain was settled peacefully. Grant attempted to annex the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo, but powerful Senator Charles Sumner blocked the annexation. Grant's presidential reputation improved during the 21st century, largely due to his enforcement of civil rights for African Americans. In 1880, Grant's bid for the Republican presidential nomination was unsuccessful.