The presidency of Ulysses S. Grant began on March 4, 1869, when Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated as the 18th president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1877. However, financial overinvestment in railroad construction caused the Panic of 1873 and economic turmoil. The Long Depression that followed, and Grant's veto of an inflation bill, turned public opinion against him. The 1868 Republican Party platform advocated enfranchisement of African Americans in the South but kept the issue open in the North. It opposed using greenbacks, only gold, to redeem U.S. bonds, encouraged immigration, endorsed full rights for naturalized citizens, and favored radical reconstruction as distinct from the more lenient policy espoused by President Andrew Johnson. In Grant's acceptance letter he said: 'Let us have peace.' In Grant's acceptance letter he said: 'Let us have peace.' These words became the Republican popular mantra. On June 28, 1870, Grant approved and signed legislation that made Christmas, or December 25, a legal public Holiday within Washington D.C.