The Public Memory of Ulysses S. Grant

Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Dissertations Department of History Fall 12-7-2012 The Life of A Reputation: The Public Memory of Ulysses S. Grant Richard G. Mannion Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss Recommended Citation Mannion, Richard G., "The Life of A Reputation: The Public Memory of Ulysses S. Grant." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2012. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss/32 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE LIFE OF A REPUTATION: THE PUBLIC MEMORY OF ULYSSES S. GRANT by RICHARD G. MANNION Under the Direction of Wendy Hamand Venet ABSTRACT At the time of his death in 1885, Ulysses S. Grant was widely regarded by his contemporaries as one of the great Americans of his age. Along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, his name was frequently included among the most accomplished heroes of the then still-young republic. Both nationally and internationally Grant was widely regarded as one of the world‘s great military leaders. He was elected to the presidency of the United States during one of the most divisive epochs in American history and won a decisive electoral victory to earn a second term. In his final years he embarked on a comprehensive world tour to great personal acclaim as well as the acknowledgement of this nation‘s ascendancy as a world power. And literally hours before his death, he completed a literary work that stands today as one of the finest pieces of writing in American military history. Yet today, the remembrance of U.S. Grant bears little resemblance to the one he enjoyed among his contemporaries. As noted in a recent biography of Grant, his reputation has fallen into ―disrepair.‖ In current popular memory, mention of Grant‘s name frequently invokes images of a drunk, a failed and corrupt presidency, and a ―butcher‖ who gained victory in America‘s great Civil War only as a result of superior resources and manpower. The intent of this study is to examine the evolution of Grant‘s reputation from the American Civil War to recent times. It is intended to tell the story the storytellers told about Grant and how his reputation developed and was forged in popular memory. During his lifetime, this will include the study of a multitude of sources including newspaper accounts, political cartoons, diaries, and letters that reflected prevailing thought about Grant. In the years since his death, research will focus on those numerous factors that shape reputation. These will include delving into historical scholarship, literature, changing cultural nuances, political influences, and the wide range of popular entertainment vehicles so important in shaping public remembrance, to conclude with the suggestion that Grant‘s reputation has been miscast in this nation‘s popular memory. INDEX WORDS: U.S. Grant, Reconstruction, Political corruption, Grant‘s Tomb, ―Negro‖ suffrage, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, Stalwarts, Liberal Republicans, Alabama Claims Issue, Military commanders, Presidential polls, Presidential reputations THE LIFE OF A REPUTATION: THE PUBLIC MEMORY OF ULYSSES S. GRANT by RICHARD G. MANNION A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2012 Copyright by Richard G. Mannion 2012 THE LIFE OF A REPUTATION: THE PUBLIC MEMORY OF ULYSSES S. GRANT by RICHARD G. MANNION Committee Chair: Wendy Hamand Venet Committee: Charles Steffen Larry Youngs Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University December 2012 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my fabulous family; to the love of my life, the incredible Janet B. Mannion, and to our amazing, beloved children, Grant, Mary Elizabeth, Brad, and Katie Rose. Thank you all for making my life such a joy and for making all of my lifelong dreams come true. I am so blessed to have each and every one of you. I would also like to dedicate this work to members of the Armed Forces of the United States, past and present, for serving, sacrificing and protecting the freedoms we all hold so dear. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My interest in and work on Grant has truly been a labor of love for me. The process has been made so much easier and so enjoyable due to the efforts of many others who provided me with such wise counsel and support. I first want to thank Dr. John Matthews, my thesis director of a generation ago, for his sage advice, wit, wisdom, and energy in helping me get through my first project on Ulysses S. Grant. I remain greatly appreciative for his guidance and for helping to pique my interest in American history. I also want to thank former department chair Dr. David Wells for his encouragement and for his enthusiasm in promoting the history program at Georgia State University. Thanks also to Grant scholar Dr. John Y. Simon, whose gracious support early in my academic career encouraged me to learn more and write about Grant. And to Frank Scaturro, indefatigable and effective advocate for Grant and former president of the Grant Monument Association, thank you so much for your time, energy, and words of wisdom. Many thanks to my dissertation group, small but powerful, engaging and enthusiastic, and extremely bright – Jeff Morrison, Beth Bullock Spencer, Linda Orr King, and Andy Scantlebury. Thank you all for the good food, the great conversation and your encouragement and support. To my dissertation committee members, Dr. Charles Steffen and Dr. Larry Youngs, thank you for your valued suggestions and bringing American history alive in those truly informative and entertaining seminars in nineteenth and twentieth-century U.S. History. The Wizard of OZ, an award-winning presentation on Jacob Coxey, and Mr. Smith in Washington will not soon be forgotten. Thank you also to Dr. Doug Reynolds, who explained to me the value and significance of General Grant‘s trip to Japan. Finally, I thank my dissertation director, Dr. Wendy Hamand Venet. Her sound advice, her enthusiasm for my project, and her keen intuition kept me firmly grounded and properly on v task. It was an absolute joy to work with Dr. Venet. She was always optimistic, always right, and always of a most pleasant demeanor, except for the time I used one too many semi-colons in an early draft. Thank you very much for sharing so much of your knowledge of American history with me and for your shared interest in Grant. To all those mentioned in this brief acknowledgement, and those unintentionally left out, thank you for your substantial contributions to this work. For you assistance, I am deeply indebted. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKKNOWLEDGMENTS ….……………………………………..……………………………v LIST OF TABLES ……………..………………………….………..……………………….…viii LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………..………………………...…..ix 1 A REMEMBRANCE DENIED ……………………………………………………………...4 2 CLERK TO COMMANDER ……………………………………………………………….32 3 THE DAY HE DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN ……………………………………………...61 4 AN ELECTION WON AT APPOMATTOX …………………………………………..….106 5 FOREIGN INTRIGUE AND SWEET REDEMPTION ………………………….……….140 6 SECOND-TERM HEMORRHAGE ……………………………………………………….168 7 A WORLD AT HIS CALL AND A NATION AT HIS TOMB …………………………...215 8 A REPUTATION GONE SOUTH ...……………………………………...………..…...…257 9 A BLURRED IMAGE RESTORED ……………...…………………………..……...........293 10 EPILOGUE …….....……………………………………………………………………….332 BIBLIOGRPAPHY..……..………..…………………………………………………….……..339 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 5.1 Polling Numbers: 1868-1872 Presidential Elections ………….……………………165 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Ku Klux Klan march in Washington, D.C., August, 1925 …………………………..16 Figure 2.1 Illustration of Ulysses S. Grant …………………………………………………….. 43 Figure 3.1 Mocking Union Generals ………..…………………………………………………. 67 Figure 3.2 Edwin Forbes ―Grant at Wilderness‖ ………..………………………………………88 Figure 3.3 Ulysses S. Grant in Harper’s Weekly ………………………………………………..89 Figure 3.4 Grant ―Whips‖ Lee …………………………………………………………………..93 Figure 3.5 Grant the Bulldog ……………………………………………………………………98 Figure 4.1 ―Tis But a Change of Banners‖ …………………………………………………….111 Figure 4.2 ―This is a White Man‘s Government‖ ……………………………………………...130 Figure 4.3 U.S. Grant and ―The Strong Government‖ …………………………………………137 Figure 5.1 John Bull Howls in Geneva …………………………………………………...……152 Figure 5.2 Grant Dispenses the Medicine of Civil Service Reform …………………………...157 Figure 5.3 Horace Greeley eats his own words …………………………………………….….160 Figure 5.4 A political misfire …………………………………………….…………………….166 Figure 6.1 Political corruption ……………………………………….……………..…….……170 Figure 6.2 Lady Liberty scolds Congress …………….………………………………………..174 Figure 6.3 ―Out of the Ruins‖ ……………………………….………….……….……………..177 Figure 6.4 No more bad appointments ………………………………….…………….…….….181 Figure 6.5 Civil Service champion …………………………………….…...….………………184 Figure 6.6 Grant delivers a baby neither party wants ……………………….…………………185 Figure 6.7 ―Colored Rule in a Reconstructed State‖ ……………….………………………….194 Figure 6.8 The White Flock departs ……………………….…………………………………..197 ix Figure 6.9 The Burdens of Office ………………………………………………………..….…202 Figure 6.10 World Peacemaker …………………...……………………………………...…….209 Figure 6.11 Devouring False Accusers ……………………………………………..….………211

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