Civil War general and Mexican American War veteran, Ulysses S. Grant, became the eighteenth president of the United States in 1869 and served two terms as a Republican. Among his presidential accomplishments are:
• The 1872 Treaty of Washington resolving a dispute with Great Britain regarding damages made to American shipping during the Civil War by Confederate raiders built in British shipyards.
• The 1870 Enforcement Act rendering the Ku Klux Klan powerless in the Reconstruction South.
• The 1875 Civil Rights Act extending federal protection to black civil rights in the area of public accommodations.
The above accomplishments were made in an administration that came to be known for it indecisive leadership, inconsistent policy on Southern Reconstruction, and massive corruption during a time of severe economic depression. The scandals caused Republican civil service reformers to revolt in the 1872 election. The issue was kept at the fore by a group of patrician New York Republicans, the "mugwumps," who campaigned against the pervasive corruption.
Today, England is a great ally of the United States and has fought with us to help propagate freedom around the world.
I believe President Ulysses S. Grant would proud to see the fruits of his work as an abolitionist and the strides the country has made in treating all men, regardless of race, creed, or color, equally under the law today. The Ku Klux Klan still exists in many parts of the south today, but the irradiation of an idea or an attitude is much more difficult to accomplish than a change in the law. The war for men's hearts and minds will continue till the end of time, as will the battle against corruption the mugwumps were fighting, but if good men show the same courage and conviction as President Grant did we will have a much greater country and much more peaceful world.
I honor President Ulysses S. Grant as did so many before me for his courage and fight for the principal that all men are created equal. As I honor all good men who continue the fight for justice and freedom around the world today.
Joseph L. Conigliaro
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