No president can be defined by just the most trying time of their administration. Zooming out from the drama in the southern states, explore the concerns, battles and arguments of Grant’s first term both at home and abroad.
When people talk about the Grant Administration they almost always focus on reconstruction, to the exclusion of everything else. While that is certainly an interesting period, it's also important to mention that it wasn’t the only focus of the Grant Administration. Let's talk about foreign policy. Grant was an avid supporter of the republicans in the Mexican Civil War raging in the south. Only a month after taking office he made multiple demands to France, ordering their total withdrawal.
Throughout the war, Juarez was provided with plenty of weapons and Phillip Sheridan was even allowed to do small raids in northern Mexico to weaken the monarchists. The Grant Administration’s strict adherence to the Monroe Doctrine led to a quick downfall of Emperor Maximilian by June of 1867. Other than Mexico, there were also dealings with Russia. Prior to his death, William Seward hoped to acquire the Territory of Alaska from the Russian Empire and his son, and the current Secretary of State Frederick Seward, pushed Grant to allow him to make the deal. The Tzar had been trying to sell Alaska for some time. However, Grant was uninterested in Alaska. He, like the Tzar, only saw it as a financial liability and told Seward to drop the idea. Instead, Grant pushed for the acquisition of the Danish West Indies, seeing it as a more financially intelligent territory to buy. The Senate approved that deal in 1868.
The Virgin Islands weren't the only land expansion into the Caribbean during Grant's term. In 1867, the government of the Dominican Republic was in Crisis. The Caribbean nation was being threatened by its neighbor Haiti. On top of that Haitian pirates were regularly attacking and raiding the coast. Out of fear that their country would fall to invasion, the Dominican government appealed to President Grant for a possible annexation. At first Grant was intrigued, but skeptical of the island's usefulness. In July, he raised the proposal to his cabinet and asked for their opinions. Both Stanton and Farragut saw extreme militaristic value. Farragut was especially interested in the idea of writing up a list of reasons why the Navy would benefit from the annexation. The Department of the Interior believed that if properly managed, the island would have immense resource value and Vice President Hamlin believed such a treaty would be admired by the people as a smart move. All of this convinced Grant, who asked Frederick Seward to send some men from the State Department to the island to hammer out a treaty. By December of that year a treaty had been made. The US would Annex the Dominican Republic, pay off its debt, and give it statehood within ten years of the treaties' passage through the senate (to give the bureaucracy some time to incorporate the Dominican). In January, the Dominican Government approved the plan, and in March so did the Senate, though there was some opposition from anti-imperialist radicals, especially Charles Sumner. The reports of the Departments of the Navy, Interior, and State minimized the damage Sumner was affording to the deal. Thus, on March 24th, The Dominican Republic was now a territory of the United States.
The other major piece foreign policy that took place in 1868 was the Compensation Battle with Great Britain. During the war, the British built multiple warships for the Confederate Navy. These ships sank a lot of American shipping. The ship that did the most damage was the CSS Alabama. The Americans wanted the British to pay up to one hundred million dollars in damages, but the British refused outright. Seward, seeing another opportunity to expand North West, then offered to take British Columbia. Once again the British refused. After multiple months of back and forth, the British proposed that the Austrians arbitrate. Seward said no. The Austrians were mad about Mexico, which took France off the table as well. Seward then said either the Russians or the Danish would be agreeable. The British declined, saying that both would side with the US. At the end of the day, the British apologised in March of 1869, and paid eight million dollars in damages. Which was practically nothing, compared to the actual cost of the Alabama's rampage.
Aside from foreign policy, the Grant Administration would work to improve damaged infrastructure, especially in the south. Post war inflation was rising. The Treasury under Edwin Morgan successfully stabilized this by issuing more greenbacks and investing in new railroads and homesteading. All in all, the economic work that was done was hugely successful. Under the Grant Administration only one new State was added to the union, the State of Nebraska, the first state added post war.
Grant's cabinet was held in high regard by the people and seen as very efficient. Vice President Hamlin was known to help President Grant a great deal throughout his term. Grant wrote later in life that Hamlin was "his closest ally in Washington". Hamlin had the experience of being in the executive branch in a stressful time, and would constantly advise Grant on what to do as a politician and not a general. Grant stated as much saying, "Hamlin helped me keep the strategic mind intact, but translate it into this new setting." Grant did see three resignations, however, Edwin Stanton resigned in 1868. One night, he told the President that he was tired of politics. Grant told him that even though he would be saddened, Stanton's service to the nation couldn't be understated and it would be fine for him to leave. John Usher the Secretary of the Interior was a carry over from the Lincoln administration. Grant asked him to resign in 1867, after some mismanaged homesteading on the frontier. Or at least, that was the official reason. In reality, Grant was trying to become his own man. While it was useful to have a cabinet full of Lincoln appointees early in his presidency, it was becoming a liability by 1868. He asked the same of the Postmaster General, William Dennison Jr, after ensuring that he would get a new job in the Department of Equity.
-From GRANT
by Howell Leanman, published 1977
Chapter 6 - Grant, Grant, Grant - Triple Calamity
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