rubber soul

15. JAMES BUCHANAN (I feel pretty, so pretty, and gay)





Born: April 23, 1791, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania
Died: June 1, 1868, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Term: March 4, 1857- March 4, 1861
Political Party: Democrat

Vice President: John Breckinridge

First Lady: Harriet Lane (niece)

Before the Presidency: James Buchanan grew up in rural Pennsylvania. Th son of a merchant, he was pushed by his mother who was an advocate of education. As such, he entered Dickinson College where he was something of a troublemaker, nearly being expelled on two occasions. Nevertheless, he graduated with honors in 1813 and went on to study law. He also served in the War of 1812 but saw no action.

At the age of 23, Buchanan’s political career began in earnest with an election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing the Federalist Party.

Meanwhile, he fell in love with a local socialite. It wasn’t meant to be, however, as her family did not like Buchanan who they saw as a money grabber. After accusations of having an affair with another woman, his engagement was broken off and his fiancée died a few days later. As a result, Buchanan swore he would remain a bachelor and, in fact, would be the only bachelor President in American History.

Back to politics, Buchanan ran for a US House seat and won in 1820. He would serve in the House for ten years where he excelled on Constitutional matters, serving on the House Judiciary Committee. It was during this period when he switched to the Democrat Party. The Federalists were all but dead and Buchanan came to be an admirer of Andrew Jackson. Buchanan subsequently became the head of the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania. It wasn’t all roses, however. Jackson thought that Buchanan was part of the corrupt bargain that cost him the 1824 election. Despite this, Buchanan continued to support Jackson and worked for his election in 1828. In the end, he was awarded with an Ambassadorship to Russia in 1832.

As Minister to Russia, Buchanan proved to be a much capable diplomat as he was able to negotiate a trade treaty that seemed impossible before Buchanan’s arrival.

On his return to the US, Buchanan was elected to the Senate. By now the slavery issue was on the front burner. As a northerner, he basically opposed slavery, but he seemed to oppose the abolitionists more as he saw them as a bigger threat to the Union than slavery itself. He thought that the Constitution gave Southerners the right to own slaves and felt it was America’s duty to protect slavery in the South.

In time, Buchanan was one of the most powerful Senators in Congress and he began to have Presidential aspirations by the 1840s. He made a bid for the Democratic nomination in 1844 but the party instead went with Polk. Polk subsequently named Buchanan as his Secretary of State. He opposed Polk’s stand on the Oregon territory, nevertheless he prepared the brief backing Polk’s claim and engineered a compromise that was palatable to both sides. Buchanan also waffled a bit on the Mexican-American war, but in the end, he would support the inevitable land grab. The Mexican-American War also created two national heroes and that pretty much nixed a Presidential bid for Buchanan in 1848.

After the 1848 election, Buchanan returned to Pennsylvania in hopes of gaining the 1852 nomination. This time, he would be a frontrunner along with Stephen Douglas. It was a bitter battle, and no one could decide on either candidate. Ultimately, the nomination went to Franklin Pierce.

It wasn’t all bad however as Pierce wanted Buchanan in his administration somehow and he ended up as the Minister to England. It proved to be a lucky break for Buchanan as he was able to distance himself from what would prove to be a disastrous Pierce administration as well as the conflict that rose from the Kansas- Nebraska Act.

He did err on one score however when he signed on to the Ostend Manifesto which called for an invasion of Cuba so the US could use slaves. This, of course, angered the North. It, however, endeared him to the South and the die was cast for the 1856 nomination.

Summary of offices held:

1814-1819; Pennsylvania House of Representatives

1821-1831: US House of Representatives

1829-1831: House Chairman of the Judiciary Committee

1832-1833: US Minister to Russia

1834-1845: US Senator

1845-1849: Secretary of State

1853-1856: US Minister to the United Kingdom


What was going on: Slavery revolts, Panic of 1857, Dred Scott case, Bleeding Kansas

Scandals within the administration: none that we know of

Why he was a good President: I’m sorry but he just wasn’t. I guess the best thing I can say is that he at least tried to be.

Why he was a bad President: He meddled in affairs siding with slavery. He influenced the Supreme Court to go against Dred Scott. He also meddled in the affairs of the Kansas Constitution ignoring that the vast majority opposed slavery. And, of course, he made the cardinal mistake of trying to please everybody and ended up pleasing no one, in fact angering most of them. Then, to add on, he all but ignored an ongoing recession and some hostilities along the Mexican border, well, I think you get the picture


What could have saved his Presidency: A stronger hand on the slavery issue. Maybe if he was less busy with trying to be a pleaser and been more Presidential. Perhaps he could have been more aggressive in trying to stop secession, even if it meant using force. Maybe if he had fortified Fort Sumter like Lincoln would do, perhaps the South Carolina militia would have had second thoughts. When Lincoln did just that, it was tragically too late.

And, of course, he could have just said slavery is wrong, suck on it.

What could have destroyed his Presidency: Read why he was a bad President.

Election of 1856: The consequences of the Kansas- Nebraska act all but poisoned the well for the Democrats and especially for President Pierce who somehow thought he’d be entitled to a re-nomination. Of course, others had something to say about that including one Stephen Douglas, possibly the favorite but still very unpopular in the North (can’t imagine why).

But Buchanan, able to stay away from the rancor that surrounded the slavery issue, came in as the true favorite. Like Pierce before him, he seemed reasonably unoffensive, he was a Northerner.

And he was a doughboy, which was slang for a Northerner who supported slavery. So, what could possibly go wrong?

The Whigs, meanwhile, we’re on their death throes and they divided into two new parties, Millard Fillmore’s Know Nothings, and a new Republican party who would nominate a relatively unknown Senator from California named John Fremont.

Buchanan became the nominee for the Democrats after making a deal with the Douglas forces promising he would be the man in 1860 (and, true to their word, he was)

And so, it was. You had Fremont, the Republican, now a party of former Whigs and disaffected Northern Democrats, The Know Nothings, known for their anti-Catholic and immigrant leanings (It’s safe to guess who got the bigot vote).

And, then there was the Democrat Buchanan. And it could get nasty at time. While Buchanan and Fremont more or less sat on the sidelines, the mudslinging from both of their supporters was pretty much par for the course. Fremont was called a “Black Republican” as well as having to take flak for allegedly being born out of wedlock. Perhaps his biggest sin, however, were courtesy of the Know Nothings, who labeled Fremont as a (gasp) Catholic. That hurt Fremont’s chances more than anything else. Ever wonder why the United States can be such an ugly country?

Buchanan wasn’t immune from personal attacks either. He was a confirmed bachelor, so it was to no surprise that they went after that. There were even rumors that he was a bit of a dandy (read: gay). More on that later. He also made an amazingly stupid gaffe when he said that a ten cents a day wage for manual laborers was fair. As a result, he now had to carry on with the moniker, Ten Cent Jimmy.

In the end, Buchanan would win with just 45% of the popular vote in a three way race. Even in the electoral college he won just four of the fourteen Northern States as he clearly dominated the South.

And it was obvious that in a nation all but torn apart by slavery, Buchanan would come in with no mandate.

First term: President Buchanan got off to a roaring start to say the least as the Supreme Court would rule on the infamous Dred Scott case just two days into his Presidency. Dred Scott was a slave who lived in a free state. He was returned to Missouri by his owner and Scott, along with his wife, filed suit for their freedom on the basis that they had lived in a free state. In the end, a pro-slavery court led by Roger Taney (another Marylander I’m embarrassed by- they named a town after him too), not only declared slaves non-citizens, it enabled slavery in any territory, and it called the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, on what logic they used to do that, I have no idea.

Kansas remained in the news, meanwhile, as it voted to be a free state. Needless to say, the pro slavery forces in the state couldn’t accept that (sound familiar?) and engineered a referendum that proclaimed Kansas as a slave state. Buchanan supported the ploy but Stephen Douglas, incredibly enough, saw the fraud that was involved and joined with the Northern Democrats and Republicans to refuse Kansas’ admittance as a slave state.

The slavery issue, and now the threat of Southern succession, hit a high point in 1859. This was the year of John Brown’s famous raid at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). President Buchanan sent Colonel Robert E. Lee to quell the violence that the Brown raid, which didn’t go as planned, had generated. In the end, sixteen people were dead, and Brown was captured and sent to Virginia to face treason charges.

In the North, Brown was hailed as a hero while in the South, it was seen as an evil intent by Northerners to abolish slavery and, thus, their way of life.

By 1860, talk of secession became more than just a casual thought, it was becoming real. Buchanan, of course, opposed secession and did what he could to persuade cooler heads to prevail but, as we pretty much know, that didn’t happen.

Instead, Buchanan would go into history as arguably the worst President in history.


Post Presidency: Buchanan, who never wanted a second term and didn’t even try for one, retired to Pennsylvania. He was more or less blamed for the Civil War, a war that would greatly affect his state. Despite his pro slavery stance, he remained loyal to the Union cause but he was still seen as an appeaser (probably true) and a lover of slavery. He wrote a book in 1866 to try to explain his side of things, then was never really heard of again. He died in his Pennsylvania home in 1868.

Odd notes: Buchanan was rumored to have a relationship with politician Rufus King, but it was never made public

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/...james-buchanan

Buchanan was the first President to wear blue jeans in the Oval Office

https://funfactsaboutjamesbuchanan.webs.com/


Final Summary: So, I guess the real question here is, is James Buchanan the worst President of all time? Well, historians seem to think so for the most part (Andrew Johnson and Harding though certainly give him a run for his money). I, like I suspect some of you here, would disagree simply because of recent events if you know what I mean. I mean, come on, the historians don’t rate Trump last? What, are they afraid the MAGA army is going to descend upon them?

Speaking of the MAGA crowd, I suspect they would have loved Buchanan. Though he wasn’t as racist on the surface as maybe Jackson and that other Andrew, who we’ll cover later, he certainly was incredibly insensitive. And he ignored the issues that had little to do with slavery like, for example, the economy, stupid?

Yes, I do think he wanted to be a good President, but let’s face it, he had no idea what the hell he was doing. Even as he was smart enough to see the writing on the wall on the subject of secession, he didn’t do an awful lot to prevent the inevitable except trying to please the South. Maybe if he had promised to allow public beatings in the town square that would have worked.

No, I don’t think very highly of Southern plantation owners.

Overall rating: D-

https://millercenter.org/president/buchanan

__________________

music_collector

Imagine that, a president who wanted but one term. That type of politico is almost extinct these days.

rubber soul

Biden could decide on one term given his age and unpopularity but I'd hope he'd refrain from endorsing anybody (i.e. Kamala Harris who has her own baggage). But I guess we'll wait and see.

__________________

rubber soul

16. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (My Mama Told Me I Was Great)




Born: February 12, 1809, Hodgenville, Kentucky
Died: April 15, 1865, Washington, DC (assassinated)

Term: March 4, 1861- April 15, 1865
Political Party: Republican

Vice President(s): Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson

First Lady: Mary Todd Lincoln

Before the Presidency: As the stories say, Abraham Lincoln was indeed born in a log cabin and, unlike most of the previous Presidents, he really did come from humble means. His struggling family moved from Kentucky to Indiana when Lincoln was young, his beloved mother died when he was nine, but he lucked out when his father remarried a woman who took to young Abe, encouraging him on matters such as his education.

Lincoln was a self-educated man. He also learned the values of hard work while growing up on the farm. And, while, he argued constantly with his father, there was no doubt the love was there.

So, while poor, but with the love of family, young Lincoln was ready for the world at age seventeen, he worked on a ferryboat. This enabled Lincoln to build his own flatboat and transported produce to New Orleans.

Meanwhile, his family, and Abe, moved near Decatur, Illinois. Later, Abe would run his independent flatboat business, then move to New Salem, Illinois. This is where his political career would begin.

Many of the stories, perhaps even myths, originated from New Salem. Lincoln started modestly enough as a general store clerk, took on the town bully, and amazed the town with not only his ability at splitting rails, but with his intelligence and wit. People admired the young Lincoln for his reading and writing abilities not to mention his easygoing personality.

It led Lincoln to embark on a political career and he ran for the State Legislature. The Black Hawk war interceded, however, and he joined in the fight against the Indians. He was named as a temporary Captain which he later felt was a bigger honor than the Presidency itself. Still, even as he served three short stints, the last one as a Private where he attempted to spy on Chief Black Hawk himself, he ended up having seen no action, and his political career was put on hold.

So, Lincoln happily accepted his lot in life and embarked on a law career. He passed the bar in 1836 and was quite successful at arguing cases on behalf of the less fortunate. He became active in the Whig Party, serving as secretary at local meetings.

Even though Lincoln was a Whig, he attracted the attention of some National figures including Democratic President Andrew Jackson. Jackson appointed Lincoln as Postmaster of New Salem. No Democrat wanted the job and Lincoln was a noted non-partisan, so he was perfect for the job.

The non-partisan ship didn’t last for long, though I’m sure he tried. In 1834, he did get elected to the Illinois State Legislature where he was one of the many who took a stand on a bill that condemned abolitionists. Lincoln was one of the legislators to oppose the bill and, for the first time, that would make him some enemies.

But it made him even more friends. He spoke against violence when a mob killed an abolitionist trying to defend his printing press.

Still, Lincoln hadn’t quite evolved. Sensing the racist attitudes of his state overall, Lincoln, as a supporter of William Henry Harrison, blasted President Van Buren of having supported the vote of free blacks in his home state of New York. Though an opponent of slavery himself, Lincoln did not support citizenship for blacks in general.

Lincoln served four terms as a State Legislator and then took some time off, but in 1846, ran for the US House of Representatives and won. Abe Lincoln was going to Washington.

And his tenure in the House started with a bang. He spoke against the Mexican-American War. In the end, he only served one term, knowing that as a Whig, he had no chance at being either a Senator or Governor.

But Lincoln kept coming back like a bad penny (or was it a bad five dollar bill?). Anyway, he campaigned for Zachary Taylor in 1848. After a few more years as a lawyer, he returned to the state legislature in 1854 but lost his bid for the US Senate soon after.

With the Whig party now crumbling. Lincoln joined the fledgling Republican Party, and he instantly became a major player. He agreed with the party’s stands against slavery, support of the repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska act, supported the admission of Kansas as a free state, and condemning the Ostend Manifesto.

Lincoln was nominated as a favorite son candidate for Vice- President in 1856. Of course, he didn’t win, but he would stump for the Republican candidate, John Fremont.

Lincoln would also lose his bid to become Senator in 1858, but he was about to hit the national stage like never before.

For this was the year of the famous Lincoln- Douglas debate and it became something of a national sensation. Here was little giant Douglas, touting the pro-slavery line and a major player of the Compromise of 1850. Then you had the tall, lanky, but underdog Lincoln, while, not a true abolitionist, vehemently opposing slavery, going as far as to call it immoral. Lincoln also advocated for the preservation of the Union, and it was here where he gave his house divided cannot stand speech.

But it was on the slavery issue where Lincoln really shined. While other anti-slavery advocates had shown eloquence on the matter, no one had dared to call slavery out and out immoral. And while Lincoln accepted that slavery would have to exist where it was legal, he wouldn’t accept any expansion of it in the Western territories. To Lincoln, and while he didn’t see blacks as actual equals (very few whites, even Republicans, did), he did see slavery itself as a matter of right and wrong. In other words, even if he didn’t quite agree with black voting rights and such, he did believe in their right to exist as free people.

Lincoln’s moral stand against slavery was provocative to say the least, and while it may have cost him a chance at the Senate, it most likely improved his chances at the biggest prize of all.

Summary of offices held:

1832-1834: Postmaster, New Salem, Illinois

1834-1842: Illinois House of Representatives

1847-1849: US House of Representatives


What was going on: the Civil war in a nutshell,

Scandals within the administration: Cameron corruption scandal

Why he was a good President: Well, he freed the slaves, didn’t he?

Why he was a bad President: In his determination to restore the Union, he pushed through a controversial conscription act and, worse, suspended the writ of habeas corpus making it easier to arrest war critics, and more than 600,000 people died on his watch.

What could have saved his Presidency: Well, let’s see, he freed the slaves, he kept the Union together at great cost to his own mental health, and he strengthened the economy, one of the perks of having a war, I guess. Gee, I don’t know what could have possibly saved his Presidency. Oh, yeah, how about a better Secret Service?

What could have destroyed his Presidency: Losing the Civil War obviously. Also, if he had stuck to his original intent of simply not expanding slavery, he certainly would not have become the folk hero we know of today. Fortunately, though, this was a man of great conscience and I’m pretty sure his intent on freeing all the slaves was genuine.

Election of 1860: After losing out to Douglas for the Senate seat, Lincoln actively campaigned for numerous Republican candidates and would find himself a major face in party politics. It would be to no one’s surprise that he would be a viable candidate for President.

Not that he was the favorite for the nomination, for that belonged to one William Seward. Like Lincoln, he was an unabashed foe of slavery and, also like Lincoln, took a moral stand against the practice.

But Seward also had his baggage, mainly in the form of his friendship of Boss Thurlow Weed (remember him?). Weed, no doubt, had a lot to do with Seward’s success as he was a former Governor and still a sitting Senator. Some Republicans weren’t exactly very crazy about this chummy relationship. The midwestern Republicans feared the stain of political corruption, and that would indeed become an issue in the post-Civil War years. Seward’s support for Irish Immigrants didn’t help him with the anti-immigrant wing of his party either (though I’ll peg him up a notch in my book).

Seward entered as the favorite at the Chicago convention, but he almost instantly had to contend with a stop Seward movement. Lincoln supplied the opposition and Seward led after the first ballot, but, oh, that pesky two thirds rule. Lincoln’s campaign managers were told that he would “authorize no bargains nor would he be bound by one.” The delegates rounded support anyway, and Lincoln would end up nominated on the third ballot, Hannibal Hamlin being picked as Lincoln’s running mate.

On the Democratic side, they would ultimately decide on Stephen Douglas, he of the now famous Lincoln-Douglas debate. He had alienated Southern Democrats when he went against the Kansas slavery overthrow tactic (No wiggle room with these guys). If you think there was a divide between North and South, just look at the Democrats of 1860. With their own two thirds rule, the South had hoped to vote in a bloc and deny Douglas the nomination. But Douglas knew if he acquiesced and endorsed a federal slave code for the territories, he would lose the Northern delegates. So, the plank failed, and fifty Southern delegates walked out. The convention was postponed until June, and they would convene again in Baltimore.

In Baltimore, the convention was again divided, Douglas won on two counts, he won over which delegation from Charleston would be recognized and he again was able to defeat the radical slavery code plank. This time, he would be nominated on the second ballot over Vice President Breckenridge. Herschel Johnson would be nominated as Vice President as he supported both states’ rights and unionism (he would later become a Confederate Senator, so much for being a Unionist).

The split seemed irreversible as Southern Democrats formed their own party and nominated John Breckenridge for President. The former Whigs, not to be outdone, nominated their own candidate, one John Bell of Tennessee, a former Speaker of the House.

The general campaign started out quietly enough. Three of the candidates went with tradition and let their delegates speak for them. Douglas, on the other hand, actively campaigned, but he may have regretted it. For, the burning question for his audiences was what would happen should Lincoln get elected.

And indeed, that was the burning issue, because many of the Southern states were threatening to secede and, if Lincoln were elected, secession would be likely a foregone conclusion. But Lincoln and the Republicans stuck to their moral values, and even though no Southern State had Lincoln even on the ballot, he would take all but one of the Northern states. Douglas, though second in the popular vote, would take only one state, Missouri, John Breckenridge turning out to be Lincoln’s biggest competitor.

So, Lincoln won but the die was cast, and Southern states began to secede one by one.

First term: South Carolina was the first to secede. They were quickly followed by Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama. Eventually, eleven states in all left the Union and, a month before Lincoln took office, formed the Confederate States of America. Lincoln responded by promising not to end slavery where it existed but would respond to violence with force.

But the Confederates responded with a Constitution of their own with an edit that outlawed the outlawing of slavery. Oh, these guys were good.

And, a month later, as Lincoln ordered the resupply of Fort Sumter, a post off the coast of South Carolina, the Confederate Army launched an attack, thus, starting the American Civil War.

President Lincoln was now a wartime President, and he immediately took the controls as Commander-in- Chief. His main goal was initially just to preserve the Union, but as time went on, he realized that he had to accomplish more than just that. In essence, he would have to free the slaves.

Of course, they knew this in the South, and it resulted in the bloodiest war in American history. When it was finally over in 1865, six hundred thousand soldiers on both sides would lay dead.

The final states would secede to form the Confederate states. Thanks to some political maneuvering, five border states that had been also slave states stayed in the Union and two of the states, Maryland and Delaware, would ultimately align with the more liberal North as time went on. Virginia, meanwhile, would break in two, as Unionists formed the state of West Virginia.

As the war dragged on, Lincoln would name George McClellan as Commander of the Union Army. He would be known for his indecisiveness and frustrate the President to no end. The Confederates, in the meantime, named Robert E Lee as their commander. He had sworn to side with the Confederates out of loyalty to his state of Virginia. It was certainly the Union’s loss as he proved to be quite the tactical General and he successfully led the Confederate Army all the way into Pennsylvania.

The battle of Antietam proved to be the bloodiest battle of the war. McClellan was successful at preventing Lee’s goal of isolating Washington, but Lincoln was angry that McClellan wouldn’t pursue Lee’s men in retreat. As such, Lincoln would replace McClellan with George Meade.

In the meantime, President Lincoln gave the Confederacy an ultimatum, stop the rebellion or he’d free the slaves.

And, since the rebellion didn’t stop, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation which, well, technically anyway, freed all slaves in the rebellious territories but not in the border slave states that stayed in the Union or in Union occupied Louisiana or Tennessee. Not quite the benevolent charter it is alleged to be, but certainly a first step in the eradication of the sin of slavery.

But Lincoln was still growing and, during his campaign in 1864, he would pledge to push an amendment to eradicate slavery by way of the Constitution- everywhere.

There would be one more interesting moment in Lincoln’s first term. There was the bloody battle of Gettysburg. Here, Lee would be repelled for good but again, he wouldn’t be pursued. Lincoln replaced Meade with General Ulysses S. Grant.

Gettysburg is especially important, not just for the bloody battle, but as the backdrop for Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address.

So, up until now, Lincoln was quite adept as his role as Commander-in- Chief, even if he was a bit impatient.

But he wasn’t perfect. He signed a conscription act which caused quite a bit of rioting in the North. It was also quite controversial as it allowed someone (i.e., someone with money) to pay some poor sucker to fight in the war in his place.

There was also the controversial suspension of Habeas Corpus, which basically meant anyone could be arrested for just about anything without due process or, more to the point, rabble rousing against the war. This wasn’t quite the same as John Adams’ Alien and Sedition Acts, journalists were still allowed to criticize. But protests on the streets in a time of war was a big no-no.

So, with the war going on and with way too many dying, Lincoln’s chances at re-election seemed dim, especially since, by the end of 1863, it seemed as if the Union was losing the war.


Election of 1864: As it turned out, Lincoln did one smart thing in 1863. He dumped George Meade and appointed Ulysses S. Grant as his field general. It would change the face of the war though it wasn’t that evident as 1864 began.

And it was something of a marvel that there could be an election at all. Lincoln no doubt could have easily called it off or at least postponed it, but he believed in the continuance of the work of the nation no matter what. He let the election happen even when it seemed obvious he was going to lose.

And Lincoln wasn’t guaranteed a free ride by even his Republicans. The radical wing distrusted his intents when it came to the slavery issue even as Lincoln was known to have opposed it from a moral standpoint. Still, he won nomination on the first ballot. They would switch back to Lincoln when their own attempt at a political party failed.

As for the Democrats, they declared the Civil War a failure (and, in the summer of 1864, it did appear headed for a stalemate). They called for negotiations with the Confederacy in hopes of restoring the Union (naïve little buggers, weren’t they?). And they responded to Lincoln the best way they knew how, by nominating the fired General, George McClellan.

The campaign from the Democrat side criticized Lincoln not only for his censoring of the wartime press (arguable), the arrest of war critics (true), and the permission to enlist black slaves into the army (oh, for shame). Needless to say, they were in for a big surprise when they found out the North had no problem with the third accusation.

Anyway, even Lincoln didn’t expect to win the election. People were of course weary of the war. But what he didn’t realize was that the campaign slogan of not changing horses at midstream was actually a winner. And, indeed, the Americans knew their monster. What would happen if McClellan became President? A majority of Americans decided they didn’t want to know that answer.

And General Grant proved to be a stroke of genius for President Lincoln. By the time Election Day came around, the tide had turned in favor of the Union. Grant and his Generals, notably General William Sherman, he of the famous Sherman’s March to the Sea, were now doing what McClellan and Meade wouldn’t do, pursue the retreating Confederates.

And, armed with a vow to end slavery forever, Lincoln won in a landslide.

Second Term: As it turned out, in the 1864 campaign, the Republicans pulled one major, devastating mistake though they couldn’t have known it at the time. In an attempt to balance the ticket, and looking ahead to Southern Reconstruction, they nominated a Democrat, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, not ever dreaming that he would become President.

In the meantime, Ulysses Grant laid one final blow to General Lee and the latter surrendered at Appomattox. The Civil War was over. Now President Lincoln could concentrate on healing the nation. As promised, the 13th amendment was introduced which abolished slavery entirely. As for reconstruction, he wanted to give newly freed blacks a chance of a life that whites took for granted while being merciful with the Southerners who likely still opposed him. We’ll never really known what would have happened in a second Lincoln term, but there was absolutely no reason to believe that the future looked bleak, especially if you happened to have been a black slave in the South.

Some actor’s idiot brother had something to say about that though.

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rubber soul

ABRAHAM LINCOLN- Part II

Assassination: On April 3, 1865, President Lincoln arrived in Richmond Virginia, as the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, fled. He arrived to a throng of newly freed blacks shouting that he was the messiah. Indeed, to this day, blacks look at Lincoln as their national hero.

Six days later, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox and the war was over. It was a time for both celebration and reflection.

And, on April 14, President Lincoln decided on a night out with his wife at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. He had also invited General Grant with whom he now had a personal friendship with, but Grant’s wife didn’t like the high strung Mary Todd Lincoln and Grant didn’t really feel like going anyway.

As it turned out, that decision might not only have saved Grant’s life, it also saved what could have been an even worse period than what was about to befall the nation. For, there was a plot not only to kill the President, but also the Vice-President, the Secretary of State, and General Grant. As it was, Seward was stabbed was in bed but would survive and purchase Alaska. Johnson’s would be assassin, meanwhile, chickened out.

John Wilkes Booth (another Marylander to be ashamed of, hey, at least we gave you Frank Zappa), the ringleader of this motley crew, would be charged with the assassination attempt of Grant and the assassination of the President himself. Well, as already mentioned, Grant wasn’t at Ford Theatre, as Booth somehow knew that’s where the President would be, but President Lincoln was.

And Booth, as an actor himself, knew what he was doing. He timed the assassination to take place after one of the funnier lines of the play. Indeed, there was laughter from the Presidential box when Booth fired his fatal shot at close range, hitting Lincoln in the head.

After a struggle with Henry Rathbone, the President’s guard, Booth jumped from the balcony, breaking his leg in the process, and screamed Sic Semper Tyrannis which proved at least he knew some Latin.

Our friendly Confederate sympathizer got away, only to be killed twelve days later. His other conspirators would be captured, and some would be executed.

As for Lincoln, he was taken back to the White House where he would die a day later.

Odd notes: John Wilkes Booth attended Lincoln’s second inauguration

Lincoln and Mary Todd held seances at the White House

https://constitutioncenter.org/media...coln_facts.pdf

https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-abraham-lincoln/



Final Summary: To say that Abraham Lincoln paid a dear price for his convictions would be an understatement. The death toll of the Civil War would gnaw at him, and he suffered from major bouts of depression. And the freeing of the slaves most likely cost him his life.

Like George Washington, Lincoln seems to be held high on a pedestal. Like Washington, there are stories of mythical proportions surrounding the man.

But, of course, Lincoln, like anyone else, was merely a human being and as such, he was flawed. The imposition of Habeas Corpus in particular kind of bugs me. I get that you have to take certain precautions during wartime, especially one on your own land, but to lessen anyone’s freedom simply for disagreeing seems to be counter to the ideals of Democracy.

On the other hand, Lincoln grew along with the Presidency. When he began, he was more than willing to sacrifice the blacks to slavery if it meant preserving the Union. But, as he saw the humanity in black people, and certainly after meeting black abolitionist Frederick Douglass (Finally, a Marylander I can be proud of), he changed his views on blacks. I don’t know if he died seeing them as equals quite yet (the 1860s were pretty ugly times), but he was certainly heading to that conclusion.

And, of course, it is hard to find another President with the honesty and integrity this man had. And a majority of historians (I think) rate him as the greatest President in American History.

But do I think Abraham Lincoln is the greatest President in American History, well, not really.

But he comes pretty darn close.

Overall rating: A

https://millercenter.org/president/lincoln

__________________

rubber soul

17. ANDREW JOHNSON (Please Impeach Me)



Born: December 29, 1808, Raleigh, North Carolina
Died: July 31, 1875, Carter’s Station, Tennessee

Term: April 15, 1865- March 4, 1869
Political Party: Democrat

Vice President(s): none

First Lady: Eliza McArdle Johnson

Before the Presidency: Andrew Johnson as born in poverty in North Carolina. His father died when he was three, leaving his mother to work as a weaver/spinner to feed Andrew and his brother. She remarried, but the fortunes didn’t improve. Andrew and his brother were sold as apprentices to a tailor. That didn’t work out so well and the two boys ran away. After two years on the run, Andrew reunited with his mother and step-father before moving west to Greenville, Tennessee.

Now a tailor, Andrew tried to teach himself to read and write but had some difficulty until he met Eliza McArdle, who he would marry. Unlike Andrew, Eliza was well educated and had a yen for money. She taught Andrew to read and write and he was able to invest some money in real estate and farmlands.

His political career started early as he served as a local alderman as well as Mayor of Greenville by 1834. He considered himself a Jacksonian Democrat and his speeches that attracted the interests of the common man, Johnson found himself elected to the Tennessee State Legislature in 1834 and 1838. He then served in the State Senate in 1841.

Johnson served in the US House of Representatives from 1843 to 1853. He lost the seat as the result of gerrymandering, but Johnson would win the Governor’s Seat where he served from 1853 to 1857. He then served in the Senate again from 1857 to 1862. As the only Southern Senator not to abandon his seat, Johnson found himself appointed as Military Governor of Tennessee in 1862.

Johnson had Presidential admirations as he sought the 1860 Democratic nomination. At best, he was a longshot and his candidacy never really gained momentum. As a Southerner, he supported slavery, now having fourteen slaves himself. But he also opposed secession and won praise from the North when he was the only Southerner not to abandon his Senate seat when the Southern States seceded.

So, in 1864, Johnson seemed, on paper anyway, to be a viable candidate for the 1864 Democratic nomination.

But the Republicans had other ideas.


Summary of offices held:

1829-1834: Alderman, Greenville, Tennessee.

1834-1835: Mayor, Greenville, Tennessee

1835-1841: Tennessee State Legislature

1841-1843: State Senator, Tennessee

1843-1853: US House of Representatives

1853-1857: Governor of Tennessee

1857-1862: US Senator

1862-1865: Military Governor, Tennessee

1865: Vice President of the United States


What was going on: Reconstruction, purchase of Alaska,

Scandals within the administration: The Johnson impeachment

Why he was a good President: He more or less stuck to his convictions, warped as they may have been, and he weathered his impeachment with dignity. Then there was Seward’s Folly.

Why he was a bad President: Are you kidding me? He clearly had no desire to help the former slaves and had no problems with the state laws meant to guarantee that blacks would remain third class citizens. And he didn’t really tolerate cabinet members that didn’t always agree with him.

What could have saved his Presidency: If he had simply followed Lincoln’s moderate path by not allowing the Black Code laws and ensuring blacks had equal rights while being reasonably lenient to the South, he would have been fine. He didn’t have to be oppressive to the whites like the radicals wanted and, of course, he wasn’t, but he shouldn’t have enabled them to make life a living hell pretty much for the freed blacks either.

What could have destroyed his Presidency: Um, the guy was impeached. Need I say more?

How he became Vice- President: With the Civil War being drawn out, President Lincoln was nervous about his re-election chances. While his campaign slogan was Don’t change horses in midstream, that’s exactly what he did when he dumped Vice President Hannibal Hamlin and went with Democrat Andrew Johnson. It was felt that, as a war Democrat from the South, Johnson could balance the ticket as was known to be tough against the planter aristocracy. Of course, we know now that this was likely Lincoln’s biggest mistake.

Anyway, Johnson was the running mate and advocates played up to his strengths. Johnson proved attractive to Irish Catholics in the North (Johnson may have been a racist, more on that later, but he evidently stood up for the Catholics as Governor of Tennessee). And, though he wasn’t popular with the Radical Republicans, he scored well with moderates and, with the war turning in Lincoln’s favor, would be elected Vice-President in a landslide.

First term: Andrew Johnson was Vice President for just a little over a month when President Lincoln was assassinated. It’s safe to say he wasn’t ready to fill in the great President’s shoes and it became obvious rather quickly, that the new President did not share the same vision that Lincoln had, and he certainly didn’t have the same agenda the Radical Republicans did.

For the Radical Republicans were in a punitive mood. They wanted to impose martial law on the former Confederacy, something Lincoln may have not necessarily agreed with. They likely would have agreed on the laws that would help blacks adapt into white society such as the Freedmen’s Bureau and ensuring certain rights such as voting and even election to office.

The new President had different ideas. He offered amnesty called for new opportunities to help poor white people. Black Code laws were being enforced in some of the Southern states meant to limit the rights of these new free people.

1865 came and went without any incident, or at least following the assassination. President Johnson, as promised, offered amnesty to most Southerners who took a loyalty oath and appointed Provisional Governors throughout the South.

But things went sour in 1866. President Johnson vetoed an extension of the Freedmen’s Bureau which was meant to neutralize the Black Code laws that were popping up in the South. Johnson condemned the radicals as traitors, and a distasteful political war had begun.

A month later, Johnson would veto the Civil Rights Bill. This would be overridden. In fact, of Johnson’s 29 vetoes total, 15 of them would be overridden. Meanwhile, Congress would pass the fourteenth Amendment establishing citizenship for all born on American soil. It would be ratified two years later

Johnson would get a rude awakening come November when radical Republicans he was campaigning against won seats in Congress. This set the tide for one of the more tense years in Congress.

The Congress, and the House in particular, was set on kicking President Johnson out on his butt, so they passed a bill known as the Tenure of Office Act. This was a bill that forbade a President to fire someone in his own cabinet. And, not surprisingly, Johnson took the bait when he fired Edwin Stanton, the War Secretary.

Thus, began the first Impeachment hearings of a US President in history. Both Houses of Congress were loaded with Republicans and the majority of them wanted to see Johnson go. So, they voted to impeach Johnson in 1868.

Now in the United States, this is how impeachment works. A simple majority of the House is all that is needed to impeach. This is sort of like a grand jury that decides on whether to charge a person with something. If impeached, the Senate holds a trial presided over by the Chief Justice. A the end of the trial, the Senate votes on whether to remove the President but, unlike the House, a two thirds majority is needed for removal.

In Johnson’s case, the vote to convict fell by just one vote. John Kennedy (or maybe his ghostwriter) would single out one of the seven Republican Senators who voted against impeachment, Edmund Ross, in his book, Profiles in Courage.

So, President Johnson’s job was saved until the election anyway and not much happened for the rest of his term. He would leave with no real accomplishments save for Seward’s Folly, something I’m sure the Russians kicked themselves for in later years, especially during the Cold War.

Post Presidency: Johnson wouldn’t stay away from Politics. The former President would run for both the Senate and the House of Representatives, failing each time until 1874 when he finally won. Johnson felt vindicated after that particular election. Once in the Senate in 1875, he would speak out against corruption in the Grant Administration mainly.

His tenure in the Senate was short lived. In July 1875, Johnson suffered a stroke and died soon after.

Odd notes: As a tailor, Johnson made his own clothes.

He allegedly once suggested that God had Lincoln killed so he could become President

https://www.ducksters.com/biography/...n%20memorized.


Final Summary: Well, in some ways, Andrew Johnson was his own worst enemy. He really wasn’t prepared to be President, maybe he wasn’t even prepared to be Vice-President. He obviously could care less about the welfare of black people, and while he may have opposed secession, he nevertheless was maybe not as stern as he should have been with the South, particularly when it came to equal rights. Again, no one said he had to bring in the stormtroopers like a bunch of Fascists. But he could have enforced the rights of black citizens much like Dwight Eisenhower would do in the Little Rock school crisis in 1957, in other a words a show of force was all he needed to do, but he couldn’t even do that.

As for the impeachment, well, yeah, that was kind of politically motivated as Clinton's would be more than a century later. Some people might argue that Trump’s first impeachment could have been politically motivated too but that’s for later. Mind you, I’m not saying that Johnson shouldn’t have been spanked, and in a sense, he was when it was obvious he had no chance at keeping the Presidency in the upcoming election.

I’d give the guy an F, but he did do one wise thing by keeping Lincoln’s Secretary of State William Seward. Yeah, I know, I was talking about Seward’s Folly for a couple times during this bio.

But do you know what Seward’s Folly was? Well, lets put it this way, he was being ridiculed by the Congress for purchasing a large piece of land owned by Russia that was, in the eyes of most people in 1867, fairly barren.

That barren land happened to be Alaska.

So that alone saves Johnson from being the worst President ever.

But everything else, ugh!


Overall rating: D

https://millercenter.org/president/johnson

__________________

music_collector

He'd be a popular president today, wouldn't he?

rubber soul

Yeah, I'm still working on that particular one. Probably won't be on Concept's Christmas list after that one.

__________________

rubber soul

18. ULYSSES S. GRANT (I am the very model of a modern major general)




Born: April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio
Died: July 23, 1885, Mount McGregor, New York

Term: March 4, 1869- March 4, 1877
Political Party: Republican

Vice President(s): Schuyler Colfax, Henry Wilson

First Lady: Julia Dent Grant

Before the Presidency: The dominance of Ohio politicians would begin with this man. Grant grew up the son of a tanner in Ohio. They made a decent living, but it was hard work and Grant swore he wouldn’t follow in his father’s footsteps. He wasn’t necessarily the best student though he wasn’t a ruffian by any means. He did develop a great knack for horsemanship.

While Grant had no desire to become a tanner, his father encouraged the young Ulysses to try to improve his lot in life. There wasn’t a lot of money for college, but West Point Military Academy was offering a free college education in return for military service. Grant was reluctant at first, but his father encouraged Ulysses to go for it. While, at West Point, Ulysses struggled at first, particularly with his studies, but his skill with horses was impressive and it was thought he would go into the cavalry. As it turned out, he would go into the infantry instead, having graduated in the middle of the pack.

As it was, Grant would become quite happy with a military career. He was a Lieutenant in the Mexican- American War and was twice cited for bravery. He was appointed a quartermaster and would learn a lot about logistics during that stint. He was also an admirer of General Zachary Taylor. Having said that, Grant really wasn’t what you would call a warmonger. He mourned at the loss of life and hated the destruction that war created.

He went home to St. Louis to marry Julia Dent, then, as a career army man, was sent all over the country from Detroit and New York to Oregon and California. The traveling began to take a toll on the young officer, and it is rumored that he developed a drinking problem during this period. Finally, in 1854, he abruptly quit the Army.

For the next seven years, Grant lived as a private citizen, first on a farm in Missouri where he hired free blacks to tend to his piece of land. He also had a slave given to him by his father in law, but Grant freed the man, certainly proving the compassion that was in him. Later, he moved to Illinois to work at his younger brother’s shop. It was then when the Civil War broke out and the North was looking for experienced officers. Grant was back in the Army.

The Governor of Illinois appointed Grant to lead a regiment, a regiment that Grant had no problem disciplining into a solid unit. The men came to respect and even love Grant as he didn’t make a fuss over minor details. This respect would give Grant more responsibilities as he was quickly promoted as high as Brigadier General.

For much of the Civil War, Grant led his troops with little or no fanfare. Meanwhile, the North, despite having the advantage of being able to make more munitions, wasn’t exactly wiping the floor with the South when it came to the battlefield. The Union Generals seemed reluctant to aggressively pursue the Southern armies and it was something that frustrated President Lincoln to no end.

As for General Grant, he showed a willingness to fight the enemy early on. He knew that the Confederates feared the Union as much as the Union feared them. With that knowledge, and with the support of his troops, they captured two critical forts in Tennessee. Indeed, the Fort Donelson victory is seen as the Union’s first real victory of the war.

The good fortunes, at least in the PR department, were not to last, however. Grant lost many casualties at the battle of Shiloh and the press had a field day blaming Grant even though he managed a tactical victory.

There was one person that didn’t blame General Grant though, President Lincoln. Lincoln stuck by his tactical commander, and it was rewarded as Grant won the battle of Vicksburg in 1863. This was a huge pivotal victory in the Civil War and Lincoln was to say, “Grant is my man, and I am his.” And within months, Grant was running the Western theatre of the war.

After more successes at Chattanooga and Knoxville, President Lincoln appointed Grant Lieutenant General and commander of all Union forces. Grant brought his most dependable generals along with him including William Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and James McPherson. Grant was transferred to Washington to oversee the war effort and, after more victories, notably the burning of Richmond and Atlanta and Sherman’s march to the sea, Robert E Lee formally surrendered to Grant, now back in the military theatre himself, at Appomattox, Virginia, in April 1865.

In four short years, Grant went from an unknown leather-shop clerk, to probably the most popular person in the United States. In 1866, he was named General of all the armies and was no doubt as famous as Generals Jackson, Harrison, and Taylor before him.

Summary of offices held:

1839-1854: United States Army (Captain)

1861-1869: Union Army (Lieutenant General)

1864-1869: Commanding Genera of the US Army

1867-1868: Acting Secretary of War


What was going on: Reconstruction, the American Indian wars, Panic of 1873, Transcontinental railroad

Scandals within the administration: Credit Mobilier Scandal, Belknap bribery scandal, The Sanborn incident, the Salary Grab Act

Why he was a good President: He led the efforts at reconstruction with a steady hand. He was determined to give former slaves the same rights as any white American would take for granted, and, while not totally successful, was able to make some inroads to that goal. He was also a friend to Native Americans even though the Indian Wars more of less started on his watch.

Why he was a bad President: He could never really get out from under the various scandals. He laid too much trust in some of his aides, blind loyalty is never an admirable trait. He probably didn’t do such a great job with the Panic of 1873 either.

What could have saved his Presidency: If he had known more of what was going on during the Indian Wars, especially with General George Custer and his disastrous Battle of Little Big Horn (I’m assuming Trolls will elaborate on that in his American History thread). I don’t think he could have done more in the matter of reconstruction given the hostile resistance.

But of course, the real elephants in the room were the various political scandals. Maybe if he had taken the Trumanesque approach, said the buck stops here, and fired the little brats, well maybe he might have been regarded as a better than average President.

What could have destroyed his Presidency: Well, the scandals pretty much made his administration a living hell, obviously, but had the Panic of 1873 been worse wouldn’t have helped. Also, he could have easily done his best Sergeant Schultz impression and looked the other way at the terrorist activities against the blacks in the South. Very much to his credit, he didn’t.

Election of 1868: The political aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was a bit depressing to say the least. Reconstruction was having its problems, the Radical Republicans had more or less turned the South into an occupied totalitarian state, and the Southern whites weren’t doing themselves any favors with their own acts of oppression as lynchings were already becoming common. And going through an impeachment hearing didn’t help matters much either.

So, it was with this backdrop that the parties convened to nominate their candidates. And the Republicans all but drafted the reluctant Grant to run on their ticket. Grant had served under Johnson in an acting capacity. Grant disagreed with Johnson’s white supremacist policies and wouldn’t support him in his battles with Congress. In fact, his (Grant’s) views were tilting ever so slowly towards the radical Republicans’ viewpoint.

So, Grant was nominated unanimously, and the Republicans ran him with true radical Schuyler Colfax.

On the Democratic side, Former VP nominee George Pendleton was the favorite and led on the first fifteen ballots, but others began to enter the fray including the unpopular President Johnson. In the end, the Democrats went with Former Governor Horatio Seymour of New York, who was even more reluctant than Grant to run.

The main issue of the general campaign was on how to handle reconstruction. Seymour, hoping to stem the tide of vicious attacks against Grant, calmly suggested that reconstruction should be left to the states. Grant didn’t campaign at all, only going as far as to advocate peace, but his supporters certainly wanted the Federal Government’s fingerprints all over reconstruction.

In the end, the popular vote was surprisingly close, but Grant scored an easy victory in the Electoral College.

First term: President Grant’s first year was something of a mixed bag. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed that year but this new railroad industry, led by a group on men derisively known as robber barons, inadvertently would cause the Panic of 1869. Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr, speculated that if the Government refrained from buying gold, its value would increase and raise farm prices. Grant’s own Brother-in-law was involved in the scheme. Grant would foil their plans by selling $4 million worth of gold and it would lead to a stock market crash.

The market would recover as Gould and Fisk got off scott free. Grant, meanwhile, had other fish to fry. He would veto a series of relief bills. On the other hand, he pushed through the Fifteenth Amendment which gave all citizens (well, male citizens anyway) the right to vote, regardless of race, color, creed, or whether having had been a slave. He took a hands on approach to reconstruction using the military to enforce black emancipation and, in fact, to also give them some political power. He also hoped to improve the prospects of Republicanism in the South from a political standpoint. He signed a series of enforcement acts, one of which was the Ku Klux Klan act. By now, a white supremacist terrorist group known as the Ku Klux Klan, was terrorizing and intimidating black citizens in order to prevent them to vote. This didn’t go well with President Grant, obviously, and he would send troops to South Carolina in 1871 to enforce the act.

There were also some victories on the diplomatic front as well. The US signed a friendship treaty with Great Britain. As a result, the once former foes would enjoy a close diplomatic friendship to this day.

Other issues were also cropping up as there would be an investigation into corruption in New York City centered around one Boss William Tweed and his Tammany Hall. The Great Chicago fire (unrelated to the Grant Administration of course) also happened during this term.

Election of 1872: President Grant was hugely popular going into 1872. There were fractures within the Republican party over reconstruction as a group known as the Liberal Republicans, who were anything but liberal, opposed Grant’s policies on civil rights for blacks as well as Federal Intervention in the South. Though they wouldn’t say it outright, they were advocating a return to white rule in the South. In the end, though, it didn’t matter; Grant was re-nominated unanimously yet again. They did switch Vice Presidents though when they decided to go with Senator Henry Wilson from Massachusetts.

The Liberal Republicans, also upset at the alleged corruption within the Grant Administration, formed their own party and nominated eccentric journalist Horace Greely. The Democrats, meanwhile, couldn’t decide on a candidate so they decided to back the Liberal Party candidate, thus, Greely went from a third party gadfly to a major candidate.

The general election was a foregone conclusion. Greeley didn’t even bother to campaign and Grant remained hugely popular. In the end, Grant won in a landslide

Second Term: Speaking of corruption and just two months after the election, the Credit Mobilier scandal exploded. It involved the Union Pacific Railroad. In this, railroad directors used a dummy corporation known as the Credit Mobilier Corporation to pay themselves. This fraud would involve bribes that would tarnish various congressmen as well as thirteen Senators. This also trickled into the Grant Administration and involved not only the present Vice President, Schuyler Colfax, but also the incoming Henry Wilson.

It wouldn’t get better for President Grant. While more scandals were threatening Congress, the Panic of 1873 happened. This would be worse than the panic four years earlier and was the worst financial crisis since 1837. Grant’s response was to veto the Greenbacks bill and switch the US back to a gold standard. As such, the US went with a hard currency course for the rest of the century and established the Republican Party as the party of fiscal conservatism.

The worst moment of Grant’s administration occurred in 1875 when the Whiskey Ring scandal broke. Grant’s Treasury Secretary wanted to investigate distillers accused of defrauding federal agents. Grant encouraged Secretary Bristow and would find himself in the hot seat when it was discovered that the scandal, known as the Whiskey Ring, led right to his own administration, starting with his personal secretary, Oliver Babcock. Grant himself was not implicated and Babcock would be found innocent, though he would lose his job.

And something good came out of it. President Grant made Civil Service reform a priority as he formed the Civil Service Commission as a way to thwart the decades old spoils system. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much from Congress on that platform, however.

It seemed as if the various scandals that plagued the Grant Administration would all but destroy his Presidency and, indeed, it was the reason he had been ranked as one of the nation’s worst Presidents.

But he also wanted to assimilate the Native Americans into the American way of life, hoping to give them US citizenship, encouraging them to become farmers, and giving them their own lands on reservations. Unfortunately, the bigoted white settlers (and the cavalries, anyone hear of General Custer?) had something to say about that and the infamous Indian wars would explode during this second term.



Post Presidency: In 1876 there was an attempt by Congress to limit the President to two terms out of fear that Grant may try for a third run.

But Grant said early on that he didn’t plan to run (maybe he should have in retrospect, no fault of Hayes or Tilden). Instead, he helped to monitor the disputed election wanting to make sure the dispute was handled fairly with no favor to either party.

So, Grant left the office with the country in stable condition at least and he embarked on a two year trip around the world with his wife, Julia. He was greeted warmly by most of the world as he was seen as a hero who restored American Democracy. He would return to the United States with a renewed popularity as well and considered a run for the Presidency in 1880 as President Hayes refused to run for a second term. It wasn’t to be, however as there was too much of a stop Grant movement within the party.

The last years of Grant’s life were rather sad as he was hit with financial ruin. He had to rely on the kindness of friends to keep him afloat.

But he was far from a pathetic figure. He discovered he enjoyed writing and he wrote for Century Magazine about his Civil War experiences. This gave him some income. He also was befriended by a famous author that went by the name of Mark Twain.

And that would prove to be a boon for Grant’s family, for Grant was tragically diagnosed with throat cancer. He spent his last months working on his autobiography, which Twain would publish. He had hopes that this book would help to provide for his family when he was gone. He finished the book just days before his death and the book indeed would provide for his family and for the rest of their lives. He hit a home run right at the end.

Grant’s funeral was a spectacular one as the well loved hero would have one and a half million spectators to view the procession.

And, yes, Ulysses S. Grant is buried in Grant’s Tomb.

Odd notes: Grant was given a slave. He freed the slave a year later.


https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-ulysses-s-grant/

Grant was invited to attend Ford’s Theatre the night Lincoln was shot but he politely declined the offer (Julia Grant couldn’t stand Mary Todd Lincoln- not a lot of people could)

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/...-s-grant-facts




Final Summary: Let’s face it. Like most of the Generals before him, Grant was way over his head when he entered the Presidency and, as noted before, he never could really get out from under the various scandals that plagued his administration.

But Grant himself was an honest man and he did grow with the Presidency (Taylor really didn’t and Harrison never really had a chance). And there was no doubt this was a great man of decency. He did what he could to help blacks in the South. And people forget that it was he who forged the great friendship with England that we enjoy today.

And even if he wasn’t a great President so to speak, he tried to be a good one, much like many not so successful Presidents past and future. And he was no doubt one of the best loved Americans in history.

I also can’t forget he was the one who got the ball rolling with Civil Service reform. Hayes would also push for it and Garfield was ready to bring it home (And, after Garfield’s assassination, Arthur, in fact, did)

But, oh those scandals.

Overall rating: C+

https://millercenter.org/president/grant

__________________

rubber soul

19.RUTHERFORD B. HAYES (Goodbye to Wendell Gee)




Born: October 4, 1822, Delaware, Ohio
Died: January 17, 1893, Fremont, Ohio

Term: March 4, 1877- March 4, 1881
Political Party: Republican

Vice President: William Wheeler

First Lady: Lemonade Lucy Webb Hayes

Before the Presidency: Rutherford Hayes, or Rud for short, didn’t have the greatest start in life. His father died ten weeks before he was even born. Sickly as an infant, he would also lose his older brother in a drowning accident.

Still, despite the obvious hardships of being raised by a single mother, Rud was raised in a loving environment. He had an Uncle that served as a surrogate father figure. His independent widowed mother as well as his sister were huge influences in his education. His mother taught Rud how to read and write and his sister introduced him to the classics, such as Shakespeare. After a stint in public schools, his uncle funded Rud’s and his sister’s private education. Rud, like his sister, was quite bright, and he graduated as Valedictorian at Kenton College in 1842.

Hayes decided on a law career and started studying at a law office in Columbus before getting a law degree at Harvard in 1845. He passed the Ohio bar and opened a law office in Lower Sandusky, near his Uncle.

After a bout with tuberculosis, Hayes made a name for himself in criminal law in Cincinnati. He had compassion for the downtrodden and was known for saving his clients from the gallows or from jail altogether. He was socially popular and especially had an interest in literary gatherings. But, in the end, he would marry a girl from his hometown of Delaware, Lucy Webb.

Lucy would be quite the strong willed woman with opinions of her own. She was strongly anti-slavery and just as strongly supported temperance, the latter becoming a major factor when Hayes became President.

Though he saw abolitionists as way too radical, Hayes, nonetheless was moderately anti-slavery. Still, he was heavily influenced by Lucy, whose views were probably a little more radical for the time and started to defend runaway slaves who came to Ohio from Kentucky. A celebrated case was of a slave who had been brought to Ohio en route to Virginia with her owner. She was detained by anti-slavery activists and the owner asked what she wanted to do. When the slave chose freedom, he had her arrested as a runaway slave. Hayes, along with Senator Salmon Chase and Judge Timothy Walker, took on the case. As with these cases though, it was a little drawn out, but in the end, Hayes’ argument that the slave was not a runaway since her owner brought her to Ohio won out. The Commissioner hearing the case agreed and the slave was no longer a slave.

And as such, Hayes’ political career had begun in earnest. The Whigs by now had folded and Hayes helped form the Ohio Republican Party. He was a little disappointed that some of the old Whig values had been abandoned but nonetheless, enthusiastically supported John Fremont’s Presidential campaign in 1856.

In 1858, he was chosen to fill in for Cincinnati’s City Attorney, a post he kept until 1861.

He may have held that post a while longer except 1861 was the year the Civil War broke out. Hayes entered a local volunteer company at the age of 39 and might have stayed there, but once he realized the war could be a long drawn out affair, he declared his willingness to fight for the Union and was appointed as a Major in the 23rd Ohio Volunteers. He was well liked and respected by enlisted men and his superiors alike. He served in the regiment with another future President, William McKinley, and they would become close friends.

Hayes would be injured in the Battle of South Mountain at Antietam and Lucy would nurse him, and other injured soldiers as they convalesced at Middletown, Maryland. Hayes efforts at Antietam were considered quite brave and he would be promoted to Colonel. He would distinguish himself under General Phillip Sheridan as the Union Army drove into the Shenandoah region. In 1864, Hayes would suffer a head wound but, luckily for him, the bullet had passed through another soldier, and he ended up surviving in one piece.

Hayes mustered out of the Army as a Brigadier General after the war having distinguished himself in battle. He didn’t have the fame of a Ulysses Grant or William Sherman, but he certainly had a lot to be proud of by standing for his convictions.

He was a hero in Cincinnati though, and he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1864 despite his protests (he was still fighting a war). Still, he accepted election and took his seat after the war. He was a Radical Republican and supported their positions but wasn’t one to make a lot of speeches. He resigned in 1867 to run for Governor of Ohio.

It wasn’t an easy race. Though Hayes appealed to the anti- Catholic sentiments in the state, he also was pushing for voting rights for blacks and barely won the election. The Democrats won the State Legislature, and his hopes of black suffrage would be dashed. He did get the 14th and 15th Amendments ratified in Ohio however and he would be re-elected, serving as Governor until 1872. The political career seemed to end that year after Hayes lost a bid back to Congress while supporting President Grant’s re-election. He retired from politics and moved to what was now Fremont to help his ailing Uncle Sardis.





Summary of offices held:

1858-1861: City’s Attorney, Cincinnati, Ohio

1861-1865: US Union Army, Brigadier General

1865-1867: US House of Representatives

1868-1872: Governor of Ohio

1876-1877: Governor of Ohio


What was going on: End of reconstruction, The Railroad barons, The American Indian wars

Scandals within the administration: Ayers corruption scandal

Why he was a good President: He was a staunch advocate of Civil Service reform and while he couldn’t go all the way with it, he certainly had it going in the right direction. And indeed, even if some of his decisions were controversial from a historic standpoint, no one ever doubted his great integrity.

Why he was a bad President: Well, some of decisions were controversial. I won’t beat him up on ending Reconstruction because he was between a rock and a hard place there, but he could have been more empathetic to the Native American cause, at least politically (personally, I think he felt great guilt). And he definitely fouled up when he restricted Chinese Immigration.

What could have saved his Presidency: If he had been the one to pass the Civil Reform Act and not Chester Arthur, that certainly could have helped his legacy as a reformer. A stronger enforcement of black voting rights would have also secured his place in history.

What could have destroyed his Presidency: A few things really. Going back to the gold standard could have been a disaster (luckily for him, it wasn’t). If things had gone awry with the 1877 railroad strike (which he handled quite well), and if he had caved in to the South with their anti-voting legislation. Yes, that resistance would be short lived post Hayes, but at least he didn’t succumb to the pressure.

Election of 1876: Hayes thought he was retired but economic hard times and an unpopular Democratic Governor led to a draft Hayes movement in Ohio. He won a close election and started a third term as Governor.

And it turned Hayes into a major Presidential Candidate. The Republicans we’re in a disarray after the Grant scandals. Hayes was attractive as a favorite son candidate, and he was popular with both the regular and reform wings of his party. He supported Radical Republican legislation, and he was an advocate for African-American suffrage. His integrity was beyond reproach and, on top of that, he was from a swing state. He wasn’t the favorite; James Blaine of Maine was.

But Blaine was tarnished by corruption while the other favorites, Oliver Morton, the Radical’s choice, was ill, Benjamin Bristow, the reformer, was nixed by Grant, and Roscoe Conkling, well, he was Boss Roscoe Conkling, wasn’t he?

So that left Hayes and he clinched the nomination on the seventh ballot.

The Democrats, meanwhile, though they had a real shot at gaining the Presidency this year. Their platform was dominated by political reforms in the wake of the Grant Administration scandals and Governor Samuel Tilden of New York won by a landslide on the second ballot.

Like Hayes, Tilden was a reformer, credited with helping to bust the Boss Tweed ring. And it was, at least until election day, a reasonably civil campaign. Both candidates pushed for civil service reform, Hayes going even farther to pledge he’d only serve for one term. Tilden, meanwhile, was counting on the Southern vote, knowing full well that Republican voting blacks would be discouraged from the polls.

In the end, Samuel Tilden won the popular vote, nearly 51% in fact. But several states, particularly in the South, were ripe with voter fraud and the election was declared with no officially elected President.

So, the election would be decided by the House. Not surprisingly, there was a lot of accusations coming from both parties and they would decide on a bipartisan Elections Committee. Hayes initially opposed that as he felt it would give up on electoral certainty, but he came to realize it would enhance the legitimacy of the declared winner, whoever he may be.

But, while Tilden may have been honest, his nephew wasn’t as he thought he could buy the one independent’s vote for Tilden. Sensing a conflict, Judge Davis resigned as the only independent on the Committee. He was replaced by a Republican Senator and Hayes was declared the winner.

But wait, there’s more. Tilden had technically won Louisiana, but 15,000 votes were thrown out as fraudulent, Hayes was awarded the state. This led the Democrats to pull a full court press and stall the certification all the way to inauguration day.

The Democrats knew that Hayes would ultimately be chosen in the end, but they were able to negotiate the removal of Federal troops from the remaining occupied states thus, ending Reconstruction. They also wanted subsidies for the Texas and Pacific railroad as well as guarantees of pre-war Whig appointments to the cabinet.

Whether Hayes was involved in the deal is questionable. The end of Reconstruction was happening anyway, and Hayes was a reformer, so he wasn’t about to pay off some railroad baron. Nevertheless, The Democratic Speaker of the House called off the filibusters that were holding up the certification, and Hayes was inaugurated.


First term: This was going to be a rough term even if Tilden had won. As for Hayes, he not only had to deal with resistance from the Democrats, but he also had problems within his own party as Boss Conklin christened him with the moniker, His Fraudulency. He did in fact remove the Federal troops from the South and Reconstruction was over.

With Reconstruction now on the backburner, President Hayes worked on civil reform as he issued an executive order barring Federal employees from engaging in political activities. It also said that no one in office could be dismissed for political reasons. He also had to deal with a major railroad strike and sent Federal troops to quell the unrest and to protect the mail.

The war against the Patronage gods continued meanwhile as he took on Boss Conkling. President Hayes fired the Collector of the Port of New York, Chester A. Arthur. This infuriated Conkling who then blocked Arthur’s would be replacement, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. (Yeah, Teddy’s father).

On the economic front, Hayes put America back on the Gold Standard. There was also the situation with the continued displacement of Native Americans. President Hayes allowed that to continue thinking it was the best for all parties involved. Obviously, it wasn’t. He also signed a bill restricting Chinese immigration to the United States.

But when it came to black suffrage, he was able to make a stand when Democrats tried to push through a law allowing troops to oversee voting booths (the intention was to discourage black suffrage in the South). Hayes vetoed the bill three times before settling on a bill he could live with. This ensured that blacks could at least go to the voting booth without intimidation in 1880 anyway.

And he left office with a pretty good reputation as a reformer. So, yeah, a mixed bag.

But at least he wasn’t James Buchanan.

Post Presidency: As pledged, Hayes did not run for re-election. Instead, he and Lemonade Lucy called it a day. Not that he rested on his laurels. He still advocated for social causes, especially in regard to public education. He fought for the poor, black and white. He opposed the death penalty and believed in prison reform.

And, near the end of his life, he favored the regulation of industry seeing the gap between rich and poor (something that probably would get him thrown out of the Republican Party today). Indeed, Hayes would be something of an activist and enjoyed a very productive Post-Presidency that is comparable to the likes of Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter. Failed Presidents, yes.

But much better people.

Odd notes: Hayes banned booze at the White House

The Hayes’ were given the first Siamese Cat in America

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/...erford-b-hayes[/URL]


Final Summary: So, yes, as President, Rutherford Hayes is something of a mixed bag. Though no one ever doubted his integrity, he did seem to cave in on issues such as Chinese immigration, and even African-American suffrage to a point. He probably wasn’t what you would call an economic expert either, though he certainly did the best he could there.

On the other hand, he didn’t do anything to hurt black voting rights and prevented what would have been a worst situation when 1880 rolled around. More importantly, he championed the march towards civil service reform and never wavered in his attempts to eliminate patronage from government. It was why he pledged for only one term to begin with.

Now, a lot of historians think that Samuel Tilden would have made a better President. Maybe he would have. But how would he have handled the railroad strike? Yes, he likely would have been for Civil Service reform, but could he have stood up to the likes of Roscoe Conkling, as Hayes did? Don’t forget, if anything, the Democrats were even more corrupt.

So, even though Hayes got in by rather controversial means, I can’t say he would have been any better or worse than Tilden. One thing is for certain though, Rud Hayes was a very good man who had strong convictions.

I just wish (outside of civil service reform) he could have asserted his convictions a bit more as President.

Overall rating: C

https://millercenter.org/president/hayes

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