Worst Presidents: Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
At No. 7, Ulysses S. Grant has risen from No. 2 on the 1948 Schlesinger list probably because of the same revisionist take on Reconstruction that lowered Johnson in the eyes of historians.
Although there is no way to overlook the widespread graft and corruption that occurred on his presidential watch —it was at the time unprecedented in scope— he was in no way a beneficiary of it.
"My failures have been errors of judgment," the popular former Civil War general admitted, "not of intent."
More important, the 18th president now receives plaudits for his aggressive prosecution of the radical reform agenda in the South. His attempts to quash the Ku Klux Klan (suspending habeas corpus in South Carolina and ordering mass arrests) and his support for the Civil Rights Act of 1875 were controversial and may have produced only short-lived gains for African-Americans, but Grant's intentions were laudable and brave. He also worked for the good of American Indians, instituting the reservation system as an imperfect, last-ditch effort to protect them from extinction.
Grant's reputation may continue to rise as a result of sympathetic biographies and studies—and because of a renewed appreciation of his own excellent memoir, considered to be the best ever produced by a former president.
Reader Comments
US Grant
I am very surprised to see Grant on a list of the poorest presidents. He was probably the most popular American of the 19th century. While inexperience in politics may have contributed to the graft and corruption, his overall programs, concerning reconstruction and Indian policy were far more important. If his reconstruction policies had been continued for a few more years much of the racism and injustice of the Jim Crow era might well have been avoided.
Ulysses S Grant
For a man who had, ironically, no taste for war, nor aspirations to the presidency, to have fought so determinedly to keep the "union" intact, to have ingeiously conquered Vicksburg (and so the "war"), to have so faithfully honored the dream of Lincoln and become, arguably far more popular than his predecessor, to have delt with his inherited "reconstruction"as he did (look what Johnson did, in comparison!), to have fought for the rights of all men despite public and/or separatist opinion (the 15th Amendment), to have contrived against the extinction of the Indians in the face of "manifest destiny", to have established our first National Park (Yellowstone), to have quelled the "Panic of 1873" without printing money from out the basement, to have been honest enough to admit mistakes, to be naive enough not to have said "NO" when he should have and suffered financial ruin for it, to have been honored upon death by Northern and Southern Generals and an estimated crowd of over one million mourners, are only some reasons why it is preposterous to have Grant ranked anywhere near the bottom ten Presidents.
U S. Grant
I dont understand why he's on this list. He didnt cause the corruption in the south. He came into his first term after the Civil war. This corruption and caos was not created by him.
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