US Grant: Good or Bad President?

[Copernicus]

I want to recommend Ron Chernow's epic biography of Grant (See In Ron Chernow’s ‘Grant,’ an American Giant’s Makeover Continues). This is a very long book, but it is a fascinating portrait of an unusually complex individual. Grant is often depicted as one of the 10 worst presidents in US history because of all the scandals and corruption during his two terms in office. However, Chernow's portrayal is among those that seek to rehabilitate his reputation.

Grant had a lot of faults, not the least of which was his reputation as an alcoholic. Although there were many incidents of alcoholism during his life, Chernow maintained that a great many reports were concocted by enemies and that Grant remained relatively sober for most of his public life. Before he joined the military, he was basically a failure as a businessman. He remained a poor judge of character for most of his life, and that led him to partner with and employ quite a few incompetent, corrupt individuals. He was prone to being a sucker for swindlers, refusing to believe in the face of all counterevidence that he had been swindled and betrayed many times.

Grant did get sent to West Point by his domineering father and managed to excel as an officer in the US-Mexican War. But he was forced to resign because of all the innuendo surrounding his alcoholism and went into a long period of failure and poverty. Finally, receiving a commission in the Union Army, he quickly rose in rank and ultimately became Lincoln's most favored general. Grant pioneered methods for freeing slaves and hiring them as soldiers and support personnel. Later on, as President, he was an ardent abolitionist, who ended up crushing the earliest rise of the Ku Klux Klan. After his presidency, he toured the world for over two years and engaged in diplomacy on behalf of US interests. He wanted to run for a third term but was frustrated by political opposition.

There is a lot more of his life that is worthy of mention, but I leave it to those with an interest to read the book. I think that it is even more readable than Chernow's shorter biographies of Washington and Hamilton, the latter serving as the basis for the successful Broadway musical. Grant is probably one of the more interesting historical figures in US history. Well worth the effort.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

To me he was middling, neither in the top ten nor the bottom ten.

I can say this about him, when it came to a balanced budget he was great. His first term was the third best this country has ever seen, and his second term was seventh best. He didn't fully pay off the debt, but in terms of constant dollars he paid it down massively.

 

[Copernicus]

To me he was middling, neither in the top ten nor the bottom ten.

I can say this about him, when it came to a balanced budget he was great. His first term was the third best this country has ever seen, and his second term was seventh best. He didn't fully pay off the debt, but in terms of constant dollars he paid it down massively.

Well, you could look at it that way from the perspective of a "hard money" fiscal conservative, which Grant was. This was before the era of Maynard Keynes, who revolutionized economic theory by pointing out that balanced budgets were not always the best way to bring health to an economy. You definitely don't want to contract the money supply during times of economic downturn. During Grant's tenure (1869-1877), the longest recession of the 19th century began with the  Panic of 1873. Part of the problem was that the US stopped minting silver coins under the  Coinage Act of 1873, which Grant signed.

The mentality that balancing the budget was a prime goal of government figured prominently in the leadup to the Great Depression in the 20th century too. However, the Panic of 1873 was the first economic blowout that Americans labeled as the "Great Depression" in the 19th century. Grant's administration was the beginning a the  Gilded Age, a name that Mark Twain satirized with his novel of the same name. (In fact, Mark Twain went on to become one of Grant's greatest admirers. He saved Grant from ending his life in poverty by generously funding Grant's memoirs.)

 

[SLD]

Don’t know how well to judge his presidency, but he was the best general we’ve ever produced. He was better than Lee. We are lucky that Lee went with the confederacy instead of the union. Grant was tough and smart. He eschewed the formalism that had gripped so many of his military contemporaries. He just fought. Fairly fearless. Nothing phased him. People would be getting blown up all around him and he’d be just calmly directing people in what to do. Amazing. If he carried those traits over to his presidency he’d be a pretty darn good one.

One difference though that I understand was that he lost his friend and key advisor, Rawlins during his presidency. Rawlins kept him on the straight and narrow throughout the war and probably kept the bad characters away. Maybe after Rawlins death there was no one to fill that void.

What does Chernow say about that?

SLD

 

[Copernicus]

Don’t know how well to judge his presidency, but he was the best general we’ve ever produced. He was better than Lee. We are lucky that Lee went with the confederacy instead of the union. Grant was tough and smart. He eschewed the formalism that had gripped so many of his military contemporaries. He just fought. Fairly fearless. Nothing phased him. People would be getting blown up all around him and he’d be just calmly directing people in what to do. Amazing. If he carried those traits over to his presidency he’d be a pretty darn good one.

One difference though that I understand was that he lost his friend and key advisor, Rawlins during his presidency. Rawlins kept him on the straight and narrow throughout the war and probably kept the bad characters away. Maybe after Rawlins death there was no one to fill that void.

What does Chernow say about that?

SLD

He points out that Julie Grant, his wife, was even better at keeping him from drinking. Grant himself was a teetotaler most of the time, refusing to drink in public even though he attended many parties and celebrations. Chernow casts doubt on many of the stories that his political enemies used to tout as they bashed him. Doctors often prescribed hard liquor and cocaine to patients that experienced pain of the type that he did.