25. William McKinley

The two things that people probably know about President William McKinley is that he was assassinated in office and the Spanish American War took place during his administration.  McKinley is sometimes called the first modern president.  During his terms, the United States really emerged as a world leader from an industrial, economic and military standpoint.  Many of his policies continued well into the 20th century.  His view on the powers of the president was much broader than the presidents immediately before him.

Before becoming president, McKinley served as a congressman from Ohio and the Governor of Ohio.  It was while he was serving in Congress that he authored and was able to get the McKinley Tariff Act passed.  The act raised tariffs on most imported goods.  He felt that the domestic industries needed the tariff protection to allow them to compete with foreign goods.  The new tariffs were unpopular around the country as it meant that consumers would have to pay more for their goods.  The McKinley Tariff Act is credited with contributing to the loss of 93 Republican seats in the House of Representatives and giving the Democrats a large majority (238-86) in the midterm elections of 1890.  One of the Republican seats lost was McKinley’s as he lost a close race.  He served a total of 6 terms in the House, where he became very knowledgeable about the workings of the legislative branch and how to get laws passed.

Through both his congressional and gubernatorial career McKinley was a consistent supporter of a laissez-faire approach to the economy.  That means government for the most part did not interfere with business with unnecessary regulations or laws.  McKinley had flip-flopped on the issue of bimetallism, but in the presidential campaign of 1896 he came out strongly in favor of the gold standard.  This coupled with his consistent approach to tariffs made him very popular with businesses.  He easily beat William Jennings Bryan for the presidency.  Repeating the economic policies of McKinley, presidential candidates from the Republican Party would go on to win 7 of the next 9 presidential elections and hold the office for 28 of the next 36 years.

One of the biggest things that occurred during his presidency was the Spanish-American War.  The outcome of this war is still felt today.  Prior to the McKinley presidency, America was largely an isolationist country.  We occasionally rattled our sword to ward off European interests in South and Central America citing the Monroe Doctrine, but that was the extent.  However in the mid 1890s, the Cuban people started to revolt against the Spanish presence.  Stories, largely fabricated, about the treatment of the Cubans by the Spanish started to be printed in American newspapers.  This was the era of Yellow journalism and the competition to sell newspapers was heating up between William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.  The sensational stories fired up the public who now believed that military action was required against the Spanish on behalf of the Cuban people.  McKinley urged patience and diplomacy.  However, on the February 15th, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine, a U.S. Navy ship that was anchored at the harbor in Havana, exploded, killing 266 sailors on board.  McKinley continued to urge caution until the official cause of the explosion was known. To this day there doesn’t seem to be a clear explanation for the explosion on the Maine.  There are a couple theories: a naval mine planted by the Spanish Navy, an undetected fire in one her coal bunkers or that it was intentionally to bring the U.S. into the war.  At this point the cause was irrelevant. In April, McKinley asked Congress to declare war against Spain.  The war only lasted a little over four months, but there were several important outcomes:

• The rise of Teddy Roosevelt after his heroism at the Battle of San Juan Hill
• The emergence of the United States Navy as a world power (they won crucial battles in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines)
• The acquisition by the United States, as part of the peace treaty, of several Spanish holdings to include Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines

For the first time in history, the United States was in possession of lands that were not part of North America.  This led to the Democrats saying that McKinley was trying to create an American empire on the model of the European countries.

In the Philippines, insurrections were started by rebels that were no more interested in being ruled by the United States than they were by the Spanish.  Over the next several years McKinley sent 70,000 troops to put down the insurrection.  The fighting went on until 1902 when the rebels were finally defeated.  Additionally, McKinley’s Open Door Policy was threatened by the Boxer Rebellion.  The Boxer Rebellion was an uprising in China against foreign influence.  The Boxers (nicknamed by western diplomats and businesses) were a group that called themselves the Righteous and Harmonious Fists.  McKinley sent in U.S. Marines to fight alongside other Western Powers to put down the rebellion.

McKinley sailed to re-election in 1900, easily defeating William Jennings Bryan yet again.  In September 1901, only a few months into his second term, McKinley decided to visit the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.  On September 5, he went into the Temple of Music and greeted a line of people that wanted to shake hands with the president.  One of the people in line turned out to be Leon Czolgosz.  Czolgosz had his right hand bandaged to conceal the .32 caliber pistol that he was carrying.  When he reached the front of the line he shot McKinley twice.  The first bullet grazed his shoulder, but the second hit him in the stomach.  There were many ironies surrounding the operation. First, the recently invented x-ray machine was on display at the exposition, but doctors were concerned about using it because they didn’t know what side effects it would have. Also, despite the thousands of lights embellishing the exteriors of the exposition buildings, the operating room did not have one.  The doctors had to work by reflecting light off of metal pans. (They couldn’t use candles due to the use of ether) McKinley lived for eight days following the shooting.

McKinley’s biggest legacy in my opinion is the change in American foreign policy and the expansion of American influence around the world.  This is one of the primary reasons that he is referred to as the first modern president.

Trivia:

• He was the last president elected in the 19th century
• His first inauguration was the first presidential inauguration to be filmed
• He was the first president to appear on film extensively
• His face is on the $500 bill
• McKinley was the first president to ride in a self-propelled vehicle.  Unfortunately it was the electric powered ambulance that took him to the hospital after he had been shot.
• McKinley and Benjamin Harrison died the same year (1901).  On only two other occasions has more than one president died in the same year; 1826 Adams and Jefferson, 1862 Tyler and Van Buren
• Last Civil War veteran to become president.  He served under General Rutherford Hayes and eventually reached the rank of Captain.
• McKinley entered the Civil War as an enlisted soldier and was promoted to first lieutenant for bravery during the battle of Antietam
• His vice president during his first term, Garret Hobart, died in office in 1899.  For the remainder of his first term he did not have a vice president.
• One of his Secretaries of State was John Hay who had been Abraham Lincolns personal secretary
• After he was shot he was heard to say to his secretary George Cortelyou “My wife, Cortelyou, be careful how you tell her, oh be careful.”  His wife Ida was in very poor health at this time.
• After Leon shot McKinley the crowd jumped on him.  McKinley was heard to say “Boys!  Don’t let them hurt him.” because it appeared that the crowd was going to kill him on the spot.
• The building where he was shot was torn down, as was all of the exposition building.  There is a stone marker on a residential street in Buffalo that marks the approximate location of the shooting.
• There is some controversy around the naming of Mt. McKinley in Alaska.  In the late 1890’s a gold prospector, who was a McKinley supported, named the mountain Mt. McKinley.  The local people in the area call the mountain Denali.  In fact the officially registered name in the Alaska Board of Geographic Names is Denali while in the national Board of Geographic Names it is called Mt. McKinley.  Attempts by the Alaskan delegation in congress to change the name to Denali in the national register have been blocked several times by the Ohio delegation.

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Ida Saxton (1847-1907, m. 1871)
• Children: Katherine (1871-1876), Esther (1873-1873)
• Party affiliation: Republican Party 
• Presidency: 1897-1901
• Born: January 29th, 1843 (Niles, Ohio) 
• Died: September 14th, 1901 (Buffalo, New York)

23. Benjamin Harrison

It’s really no surprise that Benjamin Harrison went into politics.  He belonged to a prominent Virginia family that settled in America in 1630.  His great-grandfather, also named Benjamin Harrison, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; his grandfather, William Henry Harrison was President of the United States; and his father was a congressman from Ohio. 

Harrison graduated from the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio in 1852.  Caroline Scott, his future wife, attended the Oxford Female Institute across town.  They were married by her father, a Presbyterian minister, in 1853.  They would eventually have two children.  In 1854, Harrison used some money that he inherited from an aunt to move to Indianapolis and began practicing law.

The newly formed Indiana Republican Party gave Harrison the political experience that he was looking for.  He was elected to the post of recorder for the Indiana Supreme Court in 1860.  When the civil war broke out, Harrison had a successful law firm going with William Fishback so he was hesitant to leave.  Ultimately, in 1862, he volunteered to raise a regiment at the urging of Governor Morton, who felt that Indiana was not doing its part to support the war effort.  Harrison’s unit, the 70th Indiana Infantry Regiment spent most of the time from 1862-1864 doing reconnaissance missions and guarding railroads.  In 1864, his unit was transferred to General Sherman and took part in key battles during Sherman’s March to the Sea campaign.  Before the end of the war in 1865, Harrison received his final promotion to brigadier general.  After the war Harrison returned to Indianapolis to continue his law practice.

His law practice continued to thrive and Harrison grew in stature in the Republican Party.  This increased stature did not equate to electoral success.  Harrison lost the election for Indiana Governor twice (1872 & 1876).  In 1881 the Indiana legislature elected Harrison to serve in the United States Senate.  Serving in the Senate from 1881-1887, he championed many of the causes that he would fight for during his presidency.  He lost his bid for re-election in 1886 when the newly Democratic legislature selected a Democrat to fill the seat.  The Democratic Party completed a redistricting of the state in 1885 which resulted in increased seats for democrats even though the overall state was heavily republican.

Harrison received the Republican nomination for President in 1888.  He was not the leading candidate; in fact he was fourth on the first ballot.  As so often has happened the support for the top candidates decreased and Harrison was able to secure the nomination on the eighth ballot.  Harrison defeated the incumbent president (Grover Cleveland) while losing the popular vote.

As president Harrison faced several international issues.  Fishing rights in the Bering Sea caused a conflict with Great Britain that had to be resolved through arbitration using a third party.  American soldiers were attacked in Chile leading Harrison to threaten to break diplomatic ties.  This was eventually resolved with an apology and reparations from the government of Chile.  The final international issue arose due in part to a rise in the Italian mafia in New Orleans.  A police officer was killed and this was followed by the killing of 11 Italians by an angry mob.  Harrison apologized to the Italian government.  The Italian government wanted the perpetrators charged in federal court, but Harrison explained that it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to step in.

Late in his presidency some Americans started a revolt in Hawaii against Queen Liliuokalani who had started to take actions that were not favorable to American businesses in Hawaii.  The insurrection was successful and the Americans asked that the United States annex Hawaii, Harrison was in favor of this since it would give the navy an increased presence in the Pacific Ocean.  Harrison started the process, but it was not completed before he left office and Cleveland withdrew the request from Congress.

On the domestic front Harrison, favored and signed the McKinley Tariff Act increasing tariffs on many imported goods.  This caused a problem with the federal budget because it was already running a surplus and this act just increased it.  The 51st Congress, often referred to as the Billion-dollar Congress, decided to dramatically increase spending.  Some of the spending went to increasing benefits to Civil War veterans, including people who didn’t even fight in the war, children of veterans and for injuries suffered after the war.

The other major piece of legislations was the Sherman Antitrust Act which forbade big companies from driving smaller companies out of business.

Harrison was generally viewed as a nice, honest person, but was not able to rally great enthusiasm for his causes.  By the end of his first term his popularity was declining, in part because the public did not approve of the McKinley Tariff Act and the increased government spending.  During the campaign of 1892 Harrison’s wife, Caroline, became very ill.  He refused to leave her bedside and did not campaign.  Out of respect Grover Cleveland did not campaign either.  In the end Cleveland beat Harrison both the popular vote and the Electoral College.  Caroline died shortly before the election.

Moving back to Indianapolis, Harrison stayed active in local and national politics.  It was an active retirement.  He lectured on constitutional law at Stanford University, wrote a book called This Country of Ours and remarried.  The second marriage was to Caroline’s niece, Mary Scott Lord Dimmick, who was a widow.  Mary was 25 years younger than Harrison and they had one child, Elizabeth.

In 1900, the nation of Venezuela hired Harrison to represent their interests at the International Court of Arbitration.  Venezuela was involved in a border dispute with Great Britain.  Harrison traveled to Paris to represent his client, but lost the case.  In early 1901 Harrison fell ill and died from pneumonia at his home in Indianapolis.

Harrison’s primary legacy is probably around his international affairs.  It was really during his administration that the United States started to emerge as a player on the international scene.

Party Conversation Starters:

• On of Benjamin Harrison’s nicknames was Centennial President because he took office 100 years after Washington (1889).  George H. W. Bush would be the Bicentennial President.
• In 1878, John Scott Harrison’s (Benjamin’s father) body was stolen and sold to the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati.  It was eventually recovered and reburied.
• He had electricity installed in the White House for the first time; however, neither he nor Caroline would touch the light switches for fear of electrocution!
• The oldest known recording of a President’s voice is of Benjamin Harrison.  Hayes was the first to have his voice recorded, but no copy is believed to still exist.
• Queen Victoria had the Resolute Desk built and sent to Benjamin Harrison as a gift.  It was made from the timbers of the HMS Resolute, an English ship that was recovered and returned to the Queen.  An exact copy was placed in Windsor Castle.  Several Presidents have used this desk and it is currently in use by Barack Obama in the Oval Office.
• Neither of his children with Caroline attended his second wedding in 1896 to Caroline’s niece.
• It was raining during Harrison’s inauguration ceremony so Grover Cleveland held an umbrella over Harrison’s head.
• More states were added to the union during Harrison’s term (6) than any since Washington: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming.
• During his retirement, he served on the Board of Trustees of Purdue University.  The dorm Harrison Hall is named after him.

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Caroline Lavinia Scott (1832-1892, m. 1853); Mary Scott Lord Dimmick (1858-1948, m. 1896) 
• Children: Russell Benjamin (1854-1936), Mary Scott (1858-1930), unnamed girl (died at birth in 1861), Elizabeth(1897-1955) 
• Party affiliation: Republican Party 
• Presidency: 1889-1893
• Born: August 20, 1833 (North Bend, Ohio) 
• Died: March13, 1901 (Indianapolis, Indiana)

22/24 Grover Cleveland

The two terms of Grover Cleveland cause some level of confusion to this day.  If anyone knows anything about the presidency of Grover Cleveland, it is that he is the only president with nonconsecutive terms.  So he is considered the 22nd and 24th president.  This throws the numbering off and during Obama’s inaugural address in 2009, he stated “Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.”  He was wrong.  He is the 44th president, but only the 43rd person to take the oath due to Cleveland’s nonconsecutive terms.

Grover Cleveland was born Stephen Grover Cleveland in New Jersey, the fifth of nine children.  His father, Richard, died when Grover was 16 years old.  He gave up plans for college and ended up moving to Buffalo, where his uncle owned a ranch.  While in Buffalo he studied for and passed the bar in 1859.  When the Civil War broke out Cleveland hired another man, George Benninsky, to take his place. This was legal under the Federal Conscription Act.

He practiced law on and off for the next 20 years, dabbling in politics along the way.  He lost an election for District Attorney in 1865 and was elected sheriff of Erie County in 1870.  His reputation was increasing and he was elected Mayor of Buffalo in 1881, where he earned the nickname “veto mayor”.  Cleveland found that most of the city contracts were being awarded to a few connected people and started to expose the practice.

This era in New York politics was a battle between entrenched party machines like Roscoe Conklings, and the reformers who felt that contracts and government jobs should be based on merit.  The battle was going on at the national level as well with James Garfield and, later, Chester Arthur fighting against the status quo.  In this environment Cleveland easily won the 1882 race for Governor of New York as a reformer.  In his first two months in office he vetoed eight bills.  The first one that received attention was a bill to reduce the fare on New York City trains.  The bill was popular in part because Jay Gould, who owned the trains, was unpopular.  However, Cleveland believed that it was unfair, Gould had taken over the failing trains and made the system profitable again.

Cleveland had built a reputation as a reformer, so he was the front runner for the Democratic nomination for president in the election of 1884.  James Blaine turned out to be his Republican opponent.  There were many shortcomings to the Blaine candidacy, including close ties to the railroads and big business.  In an age of reform these would be held against him.  The only thing that seems to have caused a bump in the road was a minor scandal. 

OK, maybe fathering an illegitimate child in 1874 isn’t a minor scandal.  He did have relations with the woman, but apparently so did several other men.  Cleveland took the high road and sent money to the woman to support the child.  Even during the election he admitted fathering the child despite lack of proof that the child was his.  It is believed that he did this because of all the men involved with her, he was the only bachelor.

Winning the election comfortably in the electoral college (219-182) Cleveland prepared to move to DC.  During his first term he supported the rights of Native Americans.  During the Arthur administration almost 500,000 acres of tribal land had been offered for sale.  Much of this land was returned during Cleveland’s term.  He was not, however, supportive of women’s rights.  It was during this time that Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton published the three volumes of The History of Women’s Suffrage and were pushing to get the right to vote.  Cleveland’s sister, who served as his hostess since he wasn’t married, was a strong supporter of the suffrage movement.  On a side note, The History of Women’s Suffrage is a free download on the Kindle!

During his first term he was faced with a budget surplus that members of Congress wanted to spend on pet projects in their districts.  Cleveland believed that the surplus was due to high tariffs and favored lowering the tariffs to bring relief to consumers.  The tariffs were supported by businesses because it made imported products more expensive.  Congress did not support his view and the tariff question became an issue in the 1888 election.

Also during his first term he supported the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission.  The ICC was originally created to regulate the railroads and ensure rates were fair.  Over time the reach of this agency was increased to cover telegraphs, telephones, trucking, wireless carriers and busing.  The ICC survived until 1995 when it was replaced by Surface Transportation Board. The telephone portion of the regulations were moved to the Federal Communications Commission in 1934.  The ICC was the first independent agency created by the federal government.

In 1886 Cleveland married Frances Folsom in the White House.  There was a 27 year difference in the newly married couples ages.  Francis was the daughter of an old law partner of Cleveland’s.  When Francis was born Grover bought the parents a baby carriage for her. In fact, when her father died, Grover even took over the upbringing of young Francis.  The public was aware of all of the circumstances around the couple, but didn’t seem to mind.

The election of 1888 remains the one of the closest in history.  In fact, Cleveland received 100,000 more popular votes than Harrison, but Harrison easily won the electoral count (233-168).  Harrison’s home state of Indiana was a key state in 1888 and Harrison won that state due in part to an infamous fraud called the Blocks of Five.  People essentially sold their votes.

Returning to his law practice, Cleveland continued to follow politics and voiced his opposition to bimetallism, which would allow silver to also be used to mint money.  The Harrison administration signed the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 which raised taxes on imports.   This was very unpopular with the public and in the 1892 election they elected Cleveland to his second term.

The beginning of his second term was made difficult due to a financial crisis.  The financial crisis led to failed businesses, higher unemployment and labor unrest as the surviving companies looked to cut costs through wage and benefit cuts.  The  Pulman Strike in 1894 led to the shutdown of some of the railroad lines.  Cleveland, feeling that because the railroads carried U.S. Mail, sent in troops to Chicago to break the strike.

He also had to deal with international issues citing the Monroe Doctrine to support Venezuela and Cuba as they fought against European powers.  Viewing the attempted annexation of Hawaii by Harrison as American Imperialism he withdrew the treatise from congress only five days after taking office.

During his second term Cleveland faced a serious medical issue.  A tumor had formed on the roof of his mouth.  It was decided that the tumor would need to be removed.  Because the financial markets were still agitated and the midterm elections were approaching Cleveland decided to have the operation in secret.  The operation took place aboard a yacht (the Oneida) off Long Island.  It involved removing a portion of his upper jaw that left him disfigured; a hard rubber prosthetic was created to disguise it.

By the end of his second term his popularity was low so the democrats selected William Jennings Bryan (who lost to William McKinley).  He returned to private life, having two more children after leaving office and living until 1908.

Trivia:

• The city of Cleveland, Ohio is named for one of Grover Cleveland’s ancestors, General Moses Cleaveland.  The village of Cleaveland was founded in 1796 and named for the leader of the group.  A story is that in 1832 the local newspaper, The Cleveland Advertiser, dropped the ‘a’ because the full original spelling wouldn’t fit on the paper’s masthead.  Another story states that the original surveying party misspelled it on the original map.
• Grover Cleveland is the only president to have a job as a hangman.  He was once the sheriff of Erie County, New York and twice had to spring the trap at a hanging.
• Cleveland is on the $1,000 bill.  The $1,000 bill is still used as legal tender, but is no longer being printed.
• Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty on October 26th, 1886
• Cleveland won the popular vote in 3 consecutive presidential elections.  Only FDR exceeded that accomplishment.
• His second vice-president Adlai Stevenson I, is the grandfather of Adlai Stevenon III, the Democratic candidate for president in 1952 and 1956.
• When Cleveland won the presidential election in 1884 he was the first Democratic president in 24 years.
• Cleveland was the second of three presidents that were mayors at some point; A. Johnson (Greeneville, Tenn), Coolidge (Northampton, Mass)
• Because of the revelation about his fathering an illegitimate child Republicans would chant “Ma, Ma where’s my Pa” at campaign stops.  Once he won the election his supporters added “Gone to the White House, ha ha ha”
• One of the other men that was thought to be the possible father of the illegitimate child was Richard Folsom, his law partner and his future wife’s father!
• As president he vetoed more bills than any of his predecessors.
• At 21, Francis remains the youngest first lady
• Francis and Jackie Kennedy are the only first ladies to remarry after the death of their husbands
• There is a new book about the secret surgery called “The President is a Sick Man”.

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Francis Folsom (1864-1947, m. 1886)
• Children: Oscar Folsom (1874-?, the illegitimate child), Ruth (1891-1904), Esther (1893-1980), Marion (1895-1977), Richard Folsom (1897-1974), Francis Grover (1903-1995)
• Party affiliation: Democratic Party 
• Presidency: 1881-1885
• Born: March 18th, 1837 (Caldwell, New Jersey) 
• Died: June 24th, 1908 (Princeton, New Jersey)

21. Chester A. Arthur

No president personally benefitted more from the patronage system than Chester Arthur when he was the Collector for the New York Customs House.  So it is all the more surprising that he was the president credited with getting rid of the patronage process.  Arthur was appointed as the Collector for the New York Customs House in 1871 as a reward for helping Ulysses Grant win the state of New York.  In that position Arthur was responsible for collecting the customs duties on all goods that came in through the Port of New York.  The Collector’s job was very lucrative because it included a percentage of the fines he collected from people trying to avoid the tariffs.  At that time the salary of the collector was $6,500.  Including the fines, Arthur made more than $50,000 per year!  This was the same as the presidents salary.   In addition, he oversaw an operation that employed more than 1,000 people.  Everyone believed that this was way too many people for the work that needed done.  The result was not a lot of work for most people.  Employees were expected to give a portion of their salaries to the Republican Party and to spend their free time on Republican causes.

Arthur was a member of Roscoe Conkling’s “Stalwart” wing of the Republican Party.  Conkling had a firm grasp on New York politics and controlled most of what went on in that important state.  Many people in politically appointed positions owed Conkling for their job.  Both Grant and Arthur offered to appoint Conkling to the Supreme Court, but both times he declined.

The patronage system was just one of the scandals that overshadowed the Grant administration.  When Rutherford Hayes was running for president in 1876 he pledged to reform the civil service system.  Once elected he started by taking on Conkling’s political machine at the Customs House; Hayes had an investigation look into the Customs House and it concluded that 20% of the people could be let go.  Arthur gave in and created a committee to determine where the cuts should occur.  Hayes then issued an Executive Order banning “assessments” (or mandatory contributions to a political party) and forbade people from doing party work on the job.  Eventually it was discovered that most employees were taking bribes (mostly to rush items through customs), including one person that had pocketed $40,000!  Hayes asked Arthur to resign, which he refused.  Eventually, after battling with Conkling, Hayes fired Arthur during a congressional recess in July 1878 and appointed someone else.  When the Senate returned they narrowly approved the new appointment.

Returning to New York, Arthur worked with Roscoe Conkling to help elect Stalwarts across the state.  They were largely successful (including the Governor’s seat) and increased the power of the Stalwart faction.  Hayes had promised to only serve one term, and it probably didn’t make a difference, because by 1880 his popularity was pretty low.  After 35 ballots the Republican Party was deadlocked between supporters of Grant for an unprecedented third term and supporters of James G. Blaine, a Senator from Maine.  On the 36th ballot Blaine threw his support behind James Garfield who won the nomination.  To appease the Stalwarts Garfield asked Arthur to be his running mate.  Against the advice of Conkling, who didn’t think Garfield could win, Arthur accepted.  They barely won the election by 7,000 votes, but carried the large Eastern states and won easily in the Electoral College.

With Garfield’s assassination 6 months later, Arthur became president.  He was first sworn in by a New York Supreme Court justice at his home in New York at 2:15 AM on Sept 20th (the day after receiving word that Garfield had died).  He took the oath again on his return to DC because there are some questions regarding the authority of a state judge to administer the oath to a U.S. President.

Many expected Arthur to be an ardent Stalwart and that the civil service reforms that had initiated under Garfield would be slowed or even stopped.  Arthur proved to be his own man and ended up being an able administrator.  During his time in office he completed civil service reform by signing the Pendleton Act which still remains in effect today.  Although in the biography I read the author gives as much credit to the Republicans in Congress who had just lost their majority to the Democrats in the 1882 election, it was during the lame duck session of congress that most of the civil service reforms were passed.  By passing the popular legislation they could deny the Democrats the ability to use patronage.

Another problem that Arthur had to deal with was the budget surplus.  Yes, budget surplus.  There were differing opinions on how to reduce the surplus.  The Republicans wanted to attack the surplus by spending more money.  Specifically they passed the Rivers and Harbors Bill that would spend $19 million for internal improvements.  Arthur vetoed the bill because he didn’t like the size of the bill or the fact that it only had local impact and not national.  Congress was able to override his veto.  The passing of the bill was unpopular around the country and the Republicans pointed to it when they lost the midterm election in 1882.  The Democrats, on the other hand, wanted to lower tariffs to reduce income.  However, Republicans felt that high tariffs meant higher wages.  This seems kind of odd today when the parties seem to have flipped on their fiscal policies.

Arthur oversaw a resurgence in the US Navy, which had been allowed to dwindle since the Civil War.  The navy had gone from 700 ships down to a mere 52.  Within a decade the American Navy easily defeated the Spanish in the Spanish-American War.

The legacy of President Arthur revolved around the resurgence of the US Navy and the reformation of US civil service.  For the first time jobs were based on merit and not political connections.  Having taken a relatively independent path during his presidency, Arthur did not enjoy the support of either major faction of the Republican Party for a full term.  The Stalwarts were in serious decline after Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, claimed to be a Stalwart after shooting Garfield.  This led to conspiracy theories that the Stalwarts were involved.  The other major faction, the Half-Breeds, were firmly behind their candidate, James Blaine.  The Half-Breeds got their label because they were moderate Republicans and some called them half-Republicans.

Never really enjoying good health after he left office, he lived another 2 years after leaving office.  On November 16^th, after having returned from vacation (holiday), he fell quite ill.  He ordered all of his official papers and letters burned.  Arthur suffered a cerebral hemorrhage the next morning and died at 57 years old.

Fun Facts:

• He suffered from Bright’s Disease which affected his kidneys.
• There are unproven rumors that Chester Arthur was actually born in Canada, which would have rendered him ineligible to be president.
• In a civil rights case in 1854, Arthur was the lead attorney representing Elizabeth Jennings Graham after she was denied a seat on a streetcar because she was black. He won the case, and the verdict led to the desegregation of the New York City streetcar lines.
• Arthur’s wife died in 1880 after 21 years of marriage, after his election as Vice-President.  He never remarried.
• Arthur was Garfield’s second choice for vice-president.  Levi Morton turned Garfield down due to the advice of Conkling; Morton would go on to serve as Benjamin Harrison’s vice-president.
• He was the second president to take the oath of office in New York City; however he retook the oath when he was back in Washington DC.
• Arthur dedicated the recently completed Washington Monument on February 27th, 1885, one of his last acts as president.
• He oversaw a major renovation of the White House.  The Army Corps of Engineers thought it would be easier to tear it down and build a new one.
• He hired renowned decorator Lewis Comfort Tiffany to redecorate.  He had 24 wagon loads of furniture and decorations hauled off.
• He had the first elevator installed in the White House
• In 1882 he signed the Edmunds Act making polygamy a federal crime and barring anyone that practiced it from serving in public office.  This was aimed at the Mormon Church in the Utah Territory.

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Ellen Lewis Herndon (1837-1880, m. 1859)
• Children: William Lewis Herndon (1860-1863), Chester Alan Jr. (1864-1937), Ellen Herndon (1871-1915) 
• Party affiliation: Republican Party 
• Presidency: 1881-1885
• Born: October 5th, 1829 (Fairfield, Vermont) 
• Died: November 18th, 1886 (New York, New York)

20. James A. Garfield

No other president with the possible exception of Lincoln or A. Johnson started with less than Garfield and still achieved the White House.  Garfield was the last of five children born to Abram and Eliza Garfield in a log cabin near Cleveland, Ohio.  His father died before James was two years old.  Eliza went to work to support the family and the kids divided their time between working and going to school.  When James was 16, he set out on his own.  In Cleveland he found work on canal boats and piloted a tug boat.  After contracting what is believed to be malaria he returned home.  Once he was healthy, his mother convinced him that going to college would be a good idea.  He started his education at a nearby college (Western Reserve Eclectic Institute) but soon moved out east.  While in college he became well known as a great public speaker and debater. Completing degrees in Latin and Literature (with honors) from Williams College in Massachusetts he went to become a teacher at Hiram College (formerly Western Reserve Eclectic Institute).   Garfield became a very popular teacher and was, at the age of 26, elected to be the college’s president.

This popularity extended outside the college and Garfield was elected to the Ohio Senate from his district in 1859.  He went on to study law and was certified as a lawyer in 1861.  Certain that war was coming he shifted his attention to study military tactics and organization.  When war did break out he was appointed a Colonel in the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  Many of the men under his command were former students.  He served with distinction and rose to the rank of Major General.  It was during the Battle of Chickamauga that he was cited for bravery.  His exploits were reported favorably back in Ohio and he was elected to his first of nine terms in the U.S House of Representatives.  Even though he felt that he was needed in the Army to continue the war Lincoln convinced him that he was needed in Congress.

During his seventeen years in the House, he chaired the Military Affairs Committee (where he established the Reserve Officer Training Corps, ROTC on college campuses).  While in the military Garfield developed a dislike for the officers that were trained at West Point and wanted an alternative.  He also chaired the Banking and Currency Committee where he advocated for a return to “hard currency” or currency based on the gold standard.    When the Democrats gained the majority in Congress in 1874 Garfield became the Minority Leader.  Garfield was selected to serve on the committee that was formed to decide the 1876 election of Hayes

While in the House he was one of the congressman that was involved in the Credit Mobilier scandal that erupted during the Grant administration.  Basically the allegations were that he had purchased stock in the company and received dividends.  The company turned out to be something of a front for defrauding investors and the government.

In the election of 1880 Garfield won the nomination of the Republican Party and went on to defeat Winfield Scott Hancock by less than 10,000 votes (out of the nearly 9 million cast).  The electoral vote picture was much different and he won easily 214-155.

During his brief presidency Garfield faced two unpleasant issues. The first was a scandal called the Star Route case.  Western postal officials had figured out a way to scheme with stage coach operators to defraud the government.  Garfield ordered an investigation that resulted in a reform of the postal agency.  The second involved the nomination of James Blaine instead of the man that the Stalwart faction wanted.  One of the leaders of the faction, Roscoe Conkling (senator from New York) resigned in protest confident that he would win a special election, prove that he was right and that the New York legislature was behind him.  However he lost the special election.

On July 2, 1881, Garfield was at the train station to begin a tour of New England when he was shot twice in the back by Charles Guitau, an ardent Stalwart and a disgruntled job seeker.  When he shot Garfield, he supposedly shouted "I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts! I did it and I want to be arrested! Arthur is president now!"  According to Guitau he had planned to shoot Garfield at the same train station on June 18th, but Garfield’s wife was clearly ill and so he changed his mind.  This briefly led to speculation that the Stalwarts, including Chester Arthur, were involved in the assassination.

Garfield pushed for reform of the patronage system that was currently in place.  He died before he could get it passed, but his successor Chester Arthur succeeded in getting it passed.  Part of his legacy was the reemergence of the strong president.  Since Andrew Jackson, Lincoln is the only other president that was considered a strong president.  Many of the presidents that followed Garfield would continue this model of a strong chief executive.

A is for Abram and other interesting facts:

• Garfield was the first of 8 left-handed presidents; Garfield, Hoover, Truman, Ford, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Obama.  It should be noted that four of the last five presidents have been left-handed.  Both Garfield and Reagan are considered ambidextrous. The percentage of the general U.S. population is about 10%.  The percentage of presidents is over 18%.  This seems statistically significant.
• According to sources Garfield could right in Latin with one hand and Greek with the other hand at the same time!
• Garfield won the 1880 Republican nomination on the 36th ballot even though he did not get one vote on the 1st ballot and only got one vote on the 33rd ballot.  Talk about a Dark Horse!
• He is the only sitting member of the House of Representatives to win the presidency (sorry Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul).
• Garfield spoke fluent German
• He was the first president whose mother attended his inauguration.
• For a brief period of time he was a member of the House, a Senator-elect and President-elect.  The Ohio legislature had voted him in as a Senator in the 1880 election as well.
• He was the last president born in a log cabin
• He had the second shortest presidency serving only 199 days before he died (or just over 6 months).
• He was the second president to be assassinated
• Charles Guiteau (the man who shot Garfield) would later claim that he hadn’t killed Garfield that it was the poor medical care that killed him 80 days later.  The doctors (including Alexander Graham Bell) attempted to remove the bullet with their dirty fingers and medical instruments causing Garfield to contract blood poisoning.  If you have time read the article about Guiteau, he was a loon!
• Guiteau selected the 5-barrel, .44 caliber pistol called a British Bulldog because he thought it would look good in a museum.  Nobody currently knows where the gun is located.
• Garfield was the first president to talk on a phone.
• Garfield the cartoon cat was named after Jim Davis’ grandfather James A. Garfield Davis.
• His Secretary of War, Robert Todd Lincoln, was with him when he was shot.
• Lawnfield, Garfield’s home in Ohio includes among other things, a windmill and what is considered to be the first Presidential library built 4 years after his death.

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Lucretia Rudolph (1832-1918, m. 1858)
• Children: Eliza Arabella (1860-1863), Harry Augutus (1863-1942), James Rudolph (1865-1950), Mary (Mollie) (1867-1947), Irvin McDowell (1870-1951), Abram (1872-1958), Edward Abram (1974-1876) 
• Party affiliation: Republican Party 
• Presidency: 1881-1881
• Born: November 19th, 1831 (Orange, Ohio) 
• Died: September 19th, 1881 (Elberon, New Jersey)

19. Rutherford B. Hayes

The Hayes presidency occurred at a critical time in American history.  This was during the reconstruction period following the civil war.  It was during his administration that military occupation ended and self rule were returned to the former rebellious states.

Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822-1893) was born and raised in Ohio.  His father died before Rutherford was born, so his uncle Sardis helped raise him and became a father figure.  After attending law school at Harvard, Hayes returned to Ohio to practice law.  He started practicing law in a town called Lower Sandusky (now Fremont).  Business was slow at the beginning, but he was able to represent his uncle Sardis on some real estate litigation.  In 1850 he decided to move to Cincinnati and opened a law practice with John Herron.  Due to the fact that Cincinnati was just across the river from Kentucky, many of his legal cases involved runaway slaves.  Hayes defended several such cases due to his strong abolitionist views (probably strengthened by his recent courting of Lucy Webb, who was firmly against slavery and drinking).  His work defending fugitive slaves also brought him to the attention of the newly formed Republican Party.  The city solicitor of Cincinnati was Hayes’ first elected office in 1859.

With the start of the Civil War, Hayes put his law practice on hold and joined the 23rd  Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a major.  Notable within his unit was a young private, William McKinley, who would also become president; Stanley Matthews, who went on to become a U.S. Senator and Supreme Court Justice; and future Congressman Joseph Kennedy.

Hayes was wounded five times during the Civil War leading his troops into battle.  He served with distinction and became a legend back in Ohio as stories of his heroism found trickled back home.  By the end of the war Hayes had been promoted to brigadier general.  In 1864 while still in the field, he was nominated and won a seat in the United States Congress without once campaigning. 

During his first term as a U.S. Congressman, Hayes identified with the more moderate wing of the Republican party, but was willing to vote with the radicals.  He agreed with the Republican view that the southern states should be restored to the Union, but not without laws protecting the recently freed slaves.  During his second term, he was the chairman of a committee on the Library of Congress.  He secured funding from the congress to expand the library’s science collection.

Hayes returned to Ohio after two terms in the House of Representatives to run for, and win, election to the governor’s seat.  During his first term he was fairly restricted on what he could accomplish because the legislature was controlled by the Democrats and the Governor of Ohio had no veto power.  In spite of these restrictions he was able to establish a reform school for girls and a school for deaf-mutes.  Education was becoming a cornerstone of Hayes beliefs and something he would pursue long after his presidency.  During his second term the Republicans took control of the legislature.  This control allowed Ohio to pass the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which guaranteed the right to vote to all Americans regardless of race or color.

In 1872 Hayes left the governor’s seat and retired to private life.  In this time his uncle Sardis Birchard died, leaving him Hayes his home, Spiegel Mansion, and his substantial wealth.  His retirement didn’t last too long and he was elected to a third term as Governor of Ohio in 1875.

The presidential election of 1876, the year of the centennial of the Declaration of Independence, is one of the most well-known elections in American Presidential history.  It is famous because it was tainted with allegations of fraud, voter intimidation and a stolen election (no this is not 2000).  Hayes was running against Samuel Tilden from New York.  Three days after the election Tilden was leading Hayes by an electoral vote of 184-165.  There were still 20 outstanding electoral votes in dispute in Oregon, South Carolina, Louisiana and, yes, Florida.  Ultimately a congressional commission comprised of fifteen members (7 Republicans, 7 Democrats and 1 Independent) representing the House (5), Senate (5) and the Supreme Court (5) were charged with deciding the disputed votes.  Obviously it was decided in favor of Hayes, but only after a compromise that promised Hayes would withdraw federal troops from the southern states, accept the election of Democratic governments in the south, the appointment of a southern Democrat to Hayes’ cabinet and funding for the Texas and Pacific railroad.

There were several major issues that Hayes had to deal with during his single term.  Two of them were the removal of military rule in the remaining southern states and that his resolve to deal with the issue of patronage.  In dealing with patronage, he was striking at the heart of power for many people.  Since the time of Jackson, politicians and political bosses got to select people for certain roles.  In one particular case Hayes effectively fired the Collector of the Port of New York through an Executive Order.  The Collector of the Port of New York, as it would happen, was future president Chester A. Arthur.  This was a very lucrative position because he earned a percentage of the goods that passed through the port.  I’ll cover the patronage issue further in my entry on Arthur.

During his first year in office the largest labor dispute to date occurred in the form of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.  At issue were wages for the workers.  In order to make up for financial losses that the owners incurred during the Panic of 1873 they started cutting the employees’ salaries.  Workers started striking in West Virginia and spread throughout the East and Midwest.  Hayes sent in the military on multiple occasions at the request of governors to quell the outbreaks.  In each case, the rioting ended before the troops were engaged.  No rioters were killed by the military, but it was the first time that federal troops were sent in to break up a strike against a private company.

Hayes was dedicated to the principal of equal rights for all, regardless of color or race, and felt that the best way to bring up the disenfranchised through was through education.

After his presidency, Hayes remained active in the issues that he felt were important.  He continuously worked to improve veterans’ organizations and served on boards associated with education.

Hayes Trivia

• As a young man, Hayes fought lyssophobia, or the fear of going insane
• First Lady Lucy Hayes got the nickname Lemonade Lucy for banning alcohol from the White House.
• Hayes is one of only two presidents (T. Roosevelt) whose son won the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Major Webb Hayes won the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Spanish American War.
• Hayes is one of four presidents that did not win the popular vote: J. Q. Adams, Hayes, B. Harrison, G. W. Bush.
• During his second term as Governor of Ohio, Hayes oversaw the establishment of a state Agricultural and Mechanical College.  This later became Ohio State University.  I won’t hold this against him.
• Because March 4, 1877 fell on a Sunday, Hayes took the oath of office privately on Saturday, March 3, in the Red Room of the White House. He took the oath publicly on the following Monday.
• Hayes was the first president to talk on a telephone in a call to Alexander Graham Bell.  His response to the experience was “That’s an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?”  It’s a good thing he didn’t live to see Twitter!
• After his disputed election Hayes started receiving death threats.  He was encouraged to go to Washington DC in secret.  Hayes refused and rode into town in an open carriage.  He did allow six special government agents to accompany him.  It was the first time that the “secret service” protected the president.
• In spite of the compromise many Democrats referred to Hayes as Rutherfraud.

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Lucy Ware Webb (1831-1889, m. 1852)
• Children: Sardis Birchard Austin (1853-1926), James Webb Cook (1856-1935), Rutherford Platt (1858-1927), Joseph Thompson (1861-1863), George Crook (1864-1866), Frances (Franny) (1867-1950), Scott Russell (1871-1923), Manning Force (1873-1874) 
• Party affiliation: Republican Party 
• Presidency: 1876-1880
• Born: Oct 4th, 1822 (Delaware, Ohio) 
• Died: Jan 16th, 1893 (Fremont, Ohio)

18. Ulysses S. Grant

Just days before his death in 1885 Grant completed writing what many consider one of the finest political autobiographies.  His autobiography, skips through much of his really early life, but does discuss the circumstances around the fact that Grant’s father was able to obtain an appointment to West Point for him.  Grant’s father had to work a deal with a man that he had a falling out with years before, but the man was the influential Congressman Thomas Hamer. While Grant wasn’t sold on the idea of a military career he didn’t have many other options, as he detested the idea of working in his father’s leather shop.  At West Point, Grant graduated 21st in a class of 39.  He did, however, display his skills in horsemanship and mathematics.  Grant fought during the Mexican War and was twice brevetted for bravery.  In 1854 he resigned from the Army.  He worked a farm in St. Louis unsuccessfully and had a few other also unsuccessful businesses.  Ironically, he ended up being hired as an assistant at his father’s tannery in Galena, Illinois in 1860.

When Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers in April, 1861, Grant worked to raise a company of men.  The early days of the war saw him stationed in Illinois.  His first major victory was at Fort Donelson where he had to rally his troops after an initial defeat, but eventually forced the Confederate defenders to surrender.  Within a year (April 1862) Grant was commanding a force of nearly 50,000 men.  At the battle of Shiloh, the Confederate forces were determined to control the western region.  The Union forces were alerted to the impending attack, but did not create adequate fortifications.  In the initial assault, Grant’s forces were pushed back, but once again he was able to rally the forces and counterattack.  The Union victory at Shiloh was a costly one for both sides, with death tolls numbering over 23,000 between them.  It was the highest casualty number in any battle in the Civil War up to that time.  He continued to win battles with victories at Luka and Corinth in Mississippi.

The battle that really brought him to the attention of Abraham Lincoln took place at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Grant had attempted direct assaults on the city but was constantly repelled by the defenders.  Rather than retreat he decided to go around and lay siege to Vicksburg from the other side.  The siege lasted for 7 weeks, ending with the Confederates’ surrender.  The victory at Vicksburg gave the Union army control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy.

In March 1864 Lincoln put Grant in charge of the entire Union Army.  With the recent promotion, he decided to go after Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.  What followed was a series of bloody battles and Grant was criticized for the loss of life.  The battles included (in no particular order), The Wilderness, Cold Harbor, The Bloody Angle, Five Forks and Petersburg.  Grant knew that he had more resources than Lee; he just had to keep hitting him hard without time to regroup or refresh his supplies.  Eventually the tactic worked and Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia in April 1865, essentially ending the Civil War.  Grant was put in charge of the military occupation of the southern states after the war and promoted to the newly created rank of General of the Army.

Grant won an electoral vote landslide in the 1868 presidential election.  It was the first time that he had won an election, and, at the age of 46, was the youngest man elected to the presidency at that time.

Grant’s two terms (the first full two-term president since Andrew Jackson) were marred by several scandals and two major financial crises.  There has been quite a bit of criticism of Grant’s choices for cabinet on top of that.  He seemed to be selecting people for his friendship with them rather than for their qualifications.

During the Civil War, the government had printed “green backs” for use as currency.  This paper money was not backed by anything other than the government’s word.  Over time, these needed to be replaced by the gold backed currency.  One problem was the volatility of the value of the green backs.  One day it would be almost equivalent to a dollar, and at other times it could be worth half of one.  While this was going on, two Wall Street speculators decided to try to corner the gold market.  This pushed up the value of gold and, along with it, the gold backed currency.  Their attempt caused a financial crisis called Black Friday on Sept 24, 1869, and the stock market was forced to close.  Generally Grant gets bad marks from historians by not moving faster to resolve the “green back” issue.

Black Friday was definitely a home grown crisis.  The Panic of 1873 was a worldwide problem that started in Vienna.  In the United States, there was a precursor to the “Tech Bubble” of the 1990’s going on.  In this case it was the railroad companies.  After the Civil War there was a massive investment in building railroads across the country.  The ensuing depression would last for 5 years.  Without a central banking system to use as a tool against these recessions, the American economy would continue to have this cycle of boom and bust with the federal government appearing ineffective.

The first scandal to barrage the Grant administration involved the Credit Mobilier of America Corporation.  In short, a group of shareholders of Union Pacific Railroad, including Senator Ames of Massachusetts, bought the Pennsylvania Fiscal Company and changed the name to the Credit Mobilier of America Corporation.  Credit Mobilier turned around and bought the last shares of Union Pacific Railroad and effectively combined the companies.  Union Pacific Railroad had received loans, subsidies and land grants from the government to build a railroad from the Midwest to the Pacific Ocean.  Union Pacific would turn around and award the actual construction to Credit Mobilier.  Essentially, Union Pacific started awarding large government contracts to itself.  The construction costs that were reported and paid were often twice as much as the actual costs.  When the scandal started to surface, Senator Ames attempted to delay the investigation by handing out shares of Credit Mobilier to several congressmen and senators.  While Grant is not directly implicated in this scandal, one of his personal secretaries was involved.

There were 11 scandals that directly implicated the Grant administration during his 2 terms.  Grant was not personally implicated in any of them, but he is criticized for either not paying closer attention to them, or not handling them more quickly.  The biggest scandal was The Whiskey Ring.  Politicians, most of them Republicans, were able to siphon off millions of dollars in tax revenue for personal gain.  When the scandal finally broke, it seemed that corruption within the federal government was becoming the norm.

Grant had been elected to two terms by large margins and was very popular up until the string of scandals hit the country.  He left office at the end of his second term with the lowest approval rating of his presidency.

Following the end of his presidency, he embarked on a world tour and was well received by kings and queens in many countries.  They returned to New York City at the end of an expensive two years.  Grant got bilked out of most of his remaining investments by Ferdinand Ward.  At this point he was forced into bankruptcy and had to sell off some of his Civil War mementos.  He started to write what would become a bestselling autobiography at the same time.  The proceeds from the book would allow his family to live comfortably.

Grant trivia:

• He smoked at least 20 cigars a day.  After an important Civil War victory his supporters sent him over 10,000 cigars!  He died unsurprisingly from throat cancer.
• Thomas Hamer mistakenly put Grant’s name down as Ulysses S. Grant. Grant actual birth name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, although he often went by Ulysses. Hamer assumed that Grant’s middle name was his mother’s maiden name of Simpson. Ulysses didn’t mind and started going by U.S. Grant and was often called Sam by his peers.
• He is one of 6 presidents that the name we know them by is not exactly their birth name; Cleveland, Wilson, Coolidge, Ford, Clinton.  Three used their middle name, two were adopted and one was an error (Grant’s).
• The house where Grant died is now on the grounds of a prison.
• It was Mark Twain that convinced Grant to write his memoirs.  Twain then went on to promote the book and helped grow it into a best seller.
• Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?  Well, technically nobody since it is above ground (you don’t get buried in a tomb).  However, Grant and his wife Julia are in the tomb.  The tomb, located in New York City’s Riverside Park, is the largest mausoleum in the United States.
• Yellowstone, the country’s first national park, was established during Grant’s presidency.
• Grant was the first of an Ohio dynasty of presidents (unless you count W. H. Harrison who lived briefly in Ohio).  Seven of the next eleven presidents would come from his home state; Grant, Hayes, Garfield, B. Harrison, McKinley, Taft, Harding. There is, of course, a dispute about where W. H. Harrison’s official state. He was born in Virginia, and is thus claimed by them.
• Grant was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1863.  The rank was previously only held by George Washington (although Winfield Scott was given a Brevet promotion to Lieutenant General)
• Grant tried for, and lost, a bid for an unprecedented 3rd term.  He lost the Republican nomination to James Garfield in 1880.

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Julia Dent
• Children: Fredrick (1850-1912), Ulysses (1852-1929), Nellie (1855-1922), Jesse (1858-1934)
• Party affiliation: Republican Party 
• Presidency: 1868-1876
• Born: April 27th, 1822 (Point Pleasant, Ohio) 
• Died: July 23, 1885 (Wilton, New York)