Canadian
Sergeant
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2017
https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/ulyssessgrant
Taking a hint from another forum, I'll post a couple of excerpts.
"When he was elected, the American people hoped for an end to turmoil. Grant provided neither vigor nor reform. Looking to Congress for direction, he seemed bewildered. One visitor to the White House noted "a puzzled pathos, as of a man with a problem before him of which he does not understand the terms."
Although a man of scrupulous honesty, Grant as President accepted handsome presents from admirers. Worse, he allowed himself to be seen with two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk. When Grant realized their scheme to corner the market in gold, he authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to sell enough gold to wreck their plans, but the speculation had already wrought havoc with business.
During his campaign for re-election in 1872, Grant was attacked by Liberal Republican reformers. He called them "narrow-headed men," their eyes so close together that "they can look out of the same gimlet hole without winking." The General's friends in the Republican Party came to be known proudly as "the Old Guard.""
I find that of all the biographies of the presidents on the White House website , Grant's is the only one where the president is insulted. Andrew Johnson, Buchanan, Hays and others are treated with much more respect.
Although some people believe that Grant's reputation has been over corrected in recent years and verges on hagiography, there are still plenty of examples of popular history where the old mud sticks.
The description is no reflection of the current president, and was the same under Obama.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/presidents/ulyssessgrant
Taking a hint from another forum, I'll post a couple of excerpts.
"When he was elected, the American people hoped for an end to turmoil. Grant provided neither vigor nor reform. Looking to Congress for direction, he seemed bewildered. One visitor to the White House noted "a puzzled pathos, as of a man with a problem before him of which he does not understand the terms."
Although a man of scrupulous honesty, Grant as President accepted handsome presents from admirers. Worse, he allowed himself to be seen with two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk. When Grant realized their scheme to corner the market in gold, he authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to sell enough gold to wreck their plans, but the speculation had already wrought havoc with business.
During his campaign for re-election in 1872, Grant was attacked by Liberal Republican reformers. He called them "narrow-headed men," their eyes so close together that "they can look out of the same gimlet hole without winking." The General's friends in the Republican Party came to be known proudly as "the Old Guard.""
I find that of all the biographies of the presidents on the White House website , Grant's is the only one where the president is insulted. Andrew Johnson, Buchanan, Hays and others are treated with much more respect.
Although some people believe that Grant's reputation has been over corrected in recent years and verges on hagiography, there are still plenty of examples of popular history where the old mud sticks.
The description is no reflection of the current president, and was the same under Obama.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/presidents/ulyssessgrant
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