page_title: Grantism
hierarchical_section_title: Grantism
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait photograph of US President Ulysses S. Grant
context_page_description: Grantism is a derisive term of United States origin referring to the political incompetence, corruption, and fraud, during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant. His Presidency, from 1869 to 1877, was marred by many scandals and fraudulent activities associated with persons within his administration, including his cabinet, which was in continual transition, divided by the forces of political corruption and reform. Among them were: Black Friday, corruption in the Department of the Interior, the Sanborn incident, and the Whiskey Ring.
  The term Grantism was coined by his political opponents and by Lost Causers. Some historians defend Grant, noting that he was the first President to establish the Civil Service Commission, had reformers in his Cabinet, and ended the corrupt system of privateer tax collectors profiteering by taking a percentage of delinquent taxes. His enemies wanted to undermine the moral integrity of his administration and for his enforcement of African American civil rights during Reconstruction.
  Grant, ever trusting of associates, was himself influenced by both forces.
context_section_description: Grantism is a derisive term of United States origin referring to the political incompetence, corruption, and fraud, during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant. His Presidency, from 1869 to 1877, was marred by many scandals and fraudulent activities associated with persons within his administration, including his cabinet, which was in continual transition, divided by the forces of political corruption and reform. Among them were: Black Friday, corruption in the Department of the Interior, the Sanborn incident, and the Whiskey Ring. (The Crédit Mobilier scandal, although exposed during his tenure, is not considered a Grant scandal.)
  The term Grantism was coined by his political opponents and by Lost Causers. Some historians defend Grant, noting that he was the first President to establish the Civil Service Commission, had reformers in his Cabinet, and ended the corrupt system of privateer tax collectors profiteering by taking a percentage of delinquent taxes. His enemies wanted to undermine the moral integrity of his administration and for his enforcement of African American civil rights during Reconstruction.
  Grant, ever trusting of associates, was himself influenced by both forces. The standards in many of his appointments were low, and charges of corruption were widespread. Although not directly involved with these scandals, the president's associations with people of questionable character and his reliance on cronyism, nepotism, and political patronage gave rise to accusations of "Grantism". Historians agree that corruption in the Grant administration was due to Grant's unqualified appointments of close friends and family, and remain perplexed why he protected his personal secretary Orville E. Babcock.
caption: President Grant
  Circa 1870
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "6207", "Image ImageLength": "7500", "Image BitsPerSample": "16", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "1", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "1", "Image XResolution": "825", "Image YResolution": "825", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2013:10:06 15:33:40", "Image Artist": "Library of Congress", "Image ExifOffset": "280", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "418", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4922", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2014", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2518"}