Events
1868Ulysses S. Grant is elected president
1869Fisk-Gould Gold scheme evolves
1871Tweed Ring is exposed
1872Liberal Republican Party emergesGrant is reelectedCrédit Mobilier scandal is exposed
1873Depression of 1873 hits
1874Whiskey Ring scandal occurs
1875Congress passes Resumption Act
Key People
Ulysses S. Grant -
18th
U.S. president; served two terms marred by corruption and scandal
Horatio Seymour - Former governor of New York;
1868 Democratic
presidential nominee
William “Boss” Tweed - Corrupt Democratic politician from New York who took advantage
of immigrants and the poor, promising improved public works in exchange
for votes
Samuel J. Tilden - Famous New York prosecutor who brought down “Boss”
Tweed in
1871 on
corruption charges; later ran for president in
1876
Horace Greeley - Former
New
York Tribune editor; Democratic and Liberal Republican nominee
for president in
1872
The Election of 1868
As the presidential election of 1868 drew
near, Republicans nominated Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant.
Although Grant had never held public office, he had been a successful
Union general, was popular in the North, and served as a reminder
that Republicans had won the war. Democrats nominated Horatio
Seymour, a former governor of New York who opposed emancipation,
supported states’ rights, and wanted to regain control of Reconstruction
from Congress. Although Grant received 214 electoral
votes to Seymour’s 80, he
won the popular vote by only 300,000,
a slim margin. Republicans maintained control of Congress.
The Start of the Gilded Age
Grant’s presidency marked the beginning of the Gilded
Age—the name that novelist Mark Twain gave to the
postwar, post-Reconstruction era of big business, graft, and scandal
that lasted until about 1900. The
Gilded Age was enabled partly because most presidents during this era,
including Grant, were weak in relation to Congress. The U.S. government’s
economic policy became lax during these years, allowing Americans
to take advantage of the laissez-faire economics
via increased speculation, investment, and corruption.
The Fisk-Gould Gold Scheme
Indeed, Grant had not even completed his first year in
office before scandal hit. In 1869,
financial tycoons Jim Fisk and Jay Gould bribed officials
in Grant’s cabinet, including Grant’s own brother-in-law, to turn
a blind eye while the two wealthy businessmen attempted to corner
the gold market. Fisk and Gould even conned Grant himself into not
releasing any more of the precious metal into the economy.
Fisk and Gould’s attempt to corner the gold market led
to the panic of September 24, 1869, “Black
Friday.” Congress was able to restore gold prices
only after releasing more gold into the economy, despite Grant’s
promise that more gold would not be released. Though Grant was unknowingly
part of the scandal, no formal charges were filed against him.
The Tweed Ring
Historians also associate the Grant presidency with corrupt
political bosses and “machines,” the most
notorious of which was the Tammany Hall machine in
New York City, led by William “Boss”Tweed.
Tweed, more than anyone else, was the symbol of corruption during
the Gilded Age: he controlled nearly every aspect of political life
in New York City; used bribery, extortion, and fraud to get what he
wanted; and even sponsored phony elections to put his associates in
office. Historians estimate that he may have fleeced as much as $200 million
from New Yorkers. Though it could be argued that Tweed preyed on
recent immigrants, he also provided valuable services for them:
Tammany Hall often gave newly arrived immigrants housing, jobs,
and security in exchange for votes.
The law finally caught up with Tweed in 1871,
when New York prosecutor Samuel J. Tilden helped expose
the Democratic politician’s corrupt dealings and sent him to jail.
Tweed ultimately died in prison. Tilden, for his part, capitalized
on his sudden fame and entered politics; within five years, he ran
for president of the United States.
