Mexico had interested Ulysses S. Grant since the young lieutenant fought there. Now, as president of the Mexican Southern Railroad, he emerged as a strong advocate of increased trade and investment. Appointed by President Chester A. Arthur to negotiate a commercial treaty, Grant spent most of January, 1883, at the capital, working with his friend and counterpart Matías Romero. For months, Grant promoted the resulting treaty, granting interviews, giving speeches, and toasting visiting Mexican statesman Porfirio Díaz. Success gave way to bitter failure when the Senate rejected the treaty, led by sugar and tobacco protectionists, amid charges that Grant had crafted provisions to benefit his moribund railroad.
Grant's support for Fitz John Porter, a former general who sought to reverse a wartime court-martial, brought him more controversy in Washington. U.S. Senator John A. Logan of Illinois, a stalwart supporter, broke with Grant and fought the measure. The bill passed anyway, but Arthur vetoed it. As Grant lost influence in the White House and in Congress, he turned his attention and energy elsewhere. In September, 1883, Grant joined a tour to celebrate the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad, begun during his first presidential term. From Minnesota to Oregon, Grant saw firsthand the rapid growth of the northwest. "I was not prepared to see so rich a country or one so rapidly developing."
On Christmas Eve, 1883, Grant slipped on an icy sidewalk. His injured leg kept him in bed for weeks and on crutches for months. Another crippling blow came in May, 1884, with the failure of Grant & Ward, the brokerage firm co-founded by Ulysses, Jr., in which his father was a silent partner. Ferdinand Ward had bilked the firm of its few real assets and all the Grant family had. Grant was devastated. "I could bear all the pecuniary loss if that was all, but that I could be so long deceived by a man who I had such opportunity to know is humiliating."
Buoyed by loans from friends, determined to repay his debts, Grant wrote a series of articles about his Civil War campaigns, then began his Memoirs. In February, 1885, he was diagnosed with cancer. Newspapers published daily updates as Grant steadily declined.
Fading health spurred Grant to finish his Memoirs. He accepted a generous publishing offer from Samuel L. Clemens and completed the first of two volumes by March. The second was nearly done in June, when the Grants left sweltering New York City for upstate Mount McGregor. Here Grant finished his work and faced his end, unable to speak, communicating by notes to his doctors and friends. "There never was one more willing to go than I am." Grant died on July 23, his family at his side.
The late John Y. Simon was a professor of history at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He wrote or edited, in addition to the thirty published volumes of the Grant Papers, four books, among which is The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant.
Aaron M. Lisec is associate editor of the Grant Papers.
Leigh Fought is assistant editor of the Grant Papers.
Cheryl R. Ragar is textual editor of the Grant Papers.
Grant's mail included a steady trickle of anonymous threats. In late January 1877, Grant signed a bill creating an electoral commission to end the dispute. Hayes won all disputed electors and succeeded Grant without incident.
Notified of his nomination for a second term in June 1872, Ulysses S. Grant accepted, promising "the same zeal and devotion to the good of the whole people for the future of my official life, as shown in the past.
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, Volume 2
With the surrender at Appomattox, Grant demonstrated his capacity for making peace as well as for waging war. In the frantic aftermath of Lincoln's death, Grant maintained his customary levelheadedness despite clamor for vengeance.
Ulysses S. Grant as symbol became as important in peace as he had been in war. The nation rewarded Grant with the rank of full general, the first U.S. officer to hold the rank since George Washington.
Inaugurated for a second term on March 4, 1873, Ulysses S. Grant gave an address that was both inspiring and curiously bitter.
Although Ulysses S. Grant is best remembered as Civil War commander and as president, documents included here demonstrate his importance in the intervening years.
Ulysses S. Grant John Y. Simon. Maps and Illustrations MAPS 6-7 13 Area of Operations of Grant's Command , Summer , 1863 Vicksburg to Jackson Area of Operations of Grant's Command , Fall , 1863 Chattanooga and Environs 288-289 293 ...
In spite of his public silence, Grant was caught in the dispute between Congress and President Andrew Johnson. His position became intolerable after Johnson publicly accused Grant of dishonesty.
" Grant had not sought the office, and halfway through his first term he chafed under its many burdens. Grant's cherished project to annex Santo Domingo, begun early in his administration, entered a crucial period.