American President
Biography
Generally considered to be the greatest president of the United States, who freed four million slaves and saved the nation after leading the Union to victory in the Civil War of 1861-65, Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky in 1809 to a pioneer family on what was then the western frontier of the United States. His family then moved to southern Indiana in 1816 and southern Illinois three years later, although Lincoln by all accounts never intended to follow the same social and economic path as these poor white farmers. Even as a young man, though, he picked up their strongly antislavery views and the common belief that poor whites had little opportunity to better their social and economic circumstances in the slave states. Given the lack of schools and universities on the frontier, almost all of Lincoln's education was really self-education, and he learned his writing and rhetorical skills from reading Shakespeare's plays and the King James Version of the Bible (McPherson 3). His literary genius enabled him to use the language from these sources to produce true masterpieces like the Gettysburg Address of 1863 and Second Inaugural Address on 1865 that stood the test of time. His early ventures such as founding a general store were not successful, although he did find...
ULYSSES S. GRANT The 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, was a most curious American public figure. His two presidential terms are considered by political critics as the most corrupt in American history, yet his contribution and role in those most important and historic times cannot be under-estimated. He was born Hiram Ulysses Grant in 1822 to a hardworking couple in southwestern Ohio. He went to a seminary and
In fact, Norton claims that while the Whiskey Ring investigation was taking place, Grant had stated, "Let no guilty man escape" (Bailey 512) but when news that his secretary was involved surfaced, he "speedily changed his views" (512). Grant wrote a personal note to the jury and "with all the weight of his exalter office behind it, the their escaped" (512). When Belknap was exposed, Grant accepted his resignation
Grant supporter, George Curtis, editor of Harper's Weekly, once wrote to a friend, "I think the warmest friends of Grant feel that he has failed terribly as President, but not from want of honesty or desire, but from want of tact and great ignorance...It is a political position and he knows nothing of politics and rather despises them" (Goode).. After he left office, Grant and Julia settled in New York.
After all, "he was headed South, toward Richmond, not back to Washington in retreat. To Grant, even the heavy losses in the Wilderness signified a victory. The Confederates had no reserves to replace the dead and wounded. But Grant could call on a huge supply of civilians to fill the Union armies" (People & events: Grant's greatest battles, 2006, PBS). At Cold Harbor, Grant lost 12,000 men but while his
The Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War and which Wilson played a key part in negotiating, was never ratified by the U.S. Congress and, as a result, the United States never became a member of the League of Nations. Wilson's behavior in reaction to opposition in Congress regarding the Versailles Treaty, in general, and the League of Nations portion of that Treaty, specifically, may be the best
Scandals During Grant's Presidency Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States, had a reputation as a very honest man, but one who exercised poor judgment in his choice of companions. Evidence of Grant's poor judgment can be found in the sheer number of scandals that occurred during his presidency. One notable scandal during Grant's tenure as president was the Black Friday Gold Panic of 1869. Another scandal during
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