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 his presidency was the Whisky Ring. Examining both these scandals reveals that Grant did not personally profit from the scandals, but was willing to use his position as President to help out his less scrupulous acquaintances. Unfortunately, the willingness to use his power and influence to help out less scrupulous friends, though it did not provide any personal benefit to Grant, tainted his presidency as much as if he had personally profited from those scandals.
The Black Friday Gold Panic of 1869 began as an attempt by Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, two notoriously crooked financiers, to influence Grant's monetary policy. Grant's fiscal position had been that he would try to improve the economy by using...
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