Popular Presidents of the Gilded Age
Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio and was raised in a larger family as he was one of six. He was labeled as a small delicate boy that took a liking to horses. He enrolled in West Pointe in NY and excelled in mathematics, drawing and horsemanship; after graduation he was sent to an infantry company in Missouri to fulfill his duty. After serving in Texas during the Mexican War he was placed all across the country and abruptly resigned in 18541.
When the Civil War started in 1861 Grant was assigned a voluntary infantry regiment that was disciplined and hardened by Grant. Ulysses was praised for his hard work and quickly moved up to Brigadier General and lead a new group of men through multiple victories. he eventually defeated Robert E. Lee in Virginia that would ultimately lead to the victory of the Union Army and the end of the confederacy. While Grant was honored as a hero he was a lot of times criticized for his high casualty counts during battle1. After Lincoln's assasination Andrew Johnson took office. He was a well known Democrat that would not punish the South or hold it accountable in the reconstruction process. Johnson's lack of care would ultimately set up Ulysses S. Grant for victory on his campaign towards the presidency. According to many historians Grant is considered to be one of the most dislike presidents in history. Many rankings place him in the bottom six and state that he was not knowledgable of the role of the presidency and did not uphold the values of office properly2 . Another issue that many historians bring up is the corruption that took place in his government, but many now do not associate Grant directly with the corruption; rather just congressman during his presidency. A lot of the corruption occured in the "Whiskey Ring" and affected many low level officials2. Eventually a depression in Europe and unemployment spikes in the U.S. almost guaranteed he would not be re-elected for a third term and leave the presidency with nothing good to show. But, that is not the case in some historians eyes. He was known as a fighter when he was president and tried to push the fifteenth amendment further so that African Americans could vote, and it angered the southerners so much they started to give the African Americans issues in the south. This lead to a lot of troops being deployed to the south in order to protect those new citizens of the U.S. and guarantee their safety.
Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
Hayes to me lived a similar life as Grant when it comes to schooling. He was homeschooled by his mother for awhile before being enrolled into a prep school and later attended Kenyon College in Ohio. After college he attended Harvard Law School and went back to Cincinnati to become a big time lawyer3. I find bothe Grant and Hayes similar because they both had an outstanding education and their family prided academics over anything. Another thing that Hayes did was enlist in the army at the start of the civil war; but would eventually resign after being wounded four times in combat. Upon becoming the Republican nominee many people were ready for a different party to rule the presidency, but something unprecedented happened. Hayes lost the popular vote, and still won the election. Apparently due to some discrempansies in four of the states and their electoral votes Hayes collected more electoral college votes than Samuel J. Tilden3. One main focus of Hayes' campaign once he made it into the presidency was unifying America and ending the Reconstruction Era. Hayes did this in many ways like: identifying Native Americans as "citizens", traveling the whole country to show unity, traveling to Great Britain and hosting Chinese traders4. He was known for extending foreign affairs and ending the Reconstruction Era, but was sadly plagued with the election fiasco for not just his presidential career but the rest of his life. When his term came to an end he held himself to his word and only served one term and gave up his nomination to James A. Garfield.
James A. Garfield (1881)
Garfield had a tougher childhood as he was raised by a single mother and was sent off to school for a few years before attending Hiram and Williams College back-to-back. After graduating he returned to Hiram and taught there for a little before becoming the president of the institute5. Just before joining the army he joined the Ohio Republican Party and became one of their youngest representatives. After enlisting in the army and serving for awhile, he was elected to the House of Representatives. But he did not want to leave the army as he would feel guilty allowing others to die in his place, but Abraham Lincoln persuaded him to leave as it was the better option for the Union.
James garfield would ultimately be elected into office after Hayes' term in 1881. But it was not a very long presidency as he was shot in September of 1881. He would have survived according to Rutkow's biography, but due to the new and upcoming arguments on new medicine he passed away. Many physicians still practiced old medicine and the ones who were put in charge of his well being refused to use newer medicinal practices and ultimately sped up Garfield's death6. In a New York Tribune newspaper it shows that the president appeared to be doing great after his initial injury and recovery process. He was seen reading newspapers with his wife and insisted on still handeling presidential business as his mental capacity was still there7. But he quickly took a turn for the worst and died on September 19th of infection. He had only been in office for a short amount of time but showed promise that he was going to make a large impact on the country for the better.
1.Skidmore, Max J. "The presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: a reconsideration." White House Studies 5, no. 2 (2005): 255
2.Joan Waugh, “Ulysses S. Grant: Life in Brief.” Miller Center, 12 July 2017, 14 April 2023, https://millercenter.org/president/grant/life-in-brief.
3. Robert McNamara,"Rutherford B. Hayes: Significant Facts and Brief Biography." thoughtCo, 15. Nov. 2020, 14 April 2023. https://www.thoughtco.com/rutherford-b-hayes-significant-facts-1773437.
4.“Presidency.” Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, 15 April 2023. https://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/presidency/.
5.Justus Doenecke, “James A. Garfield: Life before the Presidency.” Miller Center, 14 July 2017, 15 April 2023. https://millercenter.org/president/garfield/life-before-the-presidency.
6. Ira Rutkow, James A. Garfield (New York:Times Books, 2006), pp.181
7. New-York Tribune. July 20, 1881. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214 /1881-07-20/ed-1/seq-1/#words=assassination+died+wounded+Garfield