Reconstruction by Eric Foner

Author:Eric Foner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

“Power from Without”

The President, forced to cope with Southern violence, had been elected on the slogan “Let Us Have Peace.” While Ulysses S. Grant had clearly identified himself with Republican Reconstruction policies, no one could be certain what attitude toward the South would characterize his Administration. His inaugural address, “a string of platitudes that deserved praise only for its brevity,” offered few clues. And when the new Cabinet was announced, friend and foe alike expressed astonishment. Unlike Lincoln, who had surrounded himself with the most powerful figures in his party, Grant, coming from a military background, looked upon Cabinet members as “staff officers.” whose main qualification was that they enjoyed his confidence or had done him personal favors. Composed largely of men with little political influence and “abilities below mediocrity,” Grant’s Cabinet seemed oddly detached from the debates over Reconstruction. Initially, former supporters of Andrew Johnson outnumbered those identified with Congressional policy, and representatives of Southern Republicanism were excluded altogether. The new Secretary of the Navy, retired Philadelphia merchant Adolph Borie, was apparently chosen because he had entertained Grant at his estate on the Delaware River. One Pennsylvania newspaper congratulated the President for having discovered a man of whom no one in the state had ever heard.60

An even more unusual selection was Secretary of the Treasury Alexander T. Stewart, for as the nation’s largest importer, he did more business with the department he had been chosen to head than any other citizen. Stewart had built the era’s most famous department store in New York’s Astor Place, where he pioneered modern retailing techniques and employed a small army of spies to apprehend shoplifters. Not until after his confirmation by the Senate did anyone notice a statute dating from the 1780s that barred persons engaged in trade from heading the Treasury. Despite the President’s request, Congress declined to repeal this provision, a decision to which Stewart contributed by announcing his intention to appoint a complete new slate of officials at the New York Custom House. Fundamentally, however, the rebuff reflected Congressional displeasure at Grant’s evident desire to stand above partisanship. “The Republican party was built up by its leaders,” commented Tammany Hall’s Peter B. Sweeney, who understood the nature of political obligation, “and they should have been allowed to administer the estate.”61

Grant quickly learned the rules of party politics. He came increasingly to rely on leading members of Congress for advice and guidance, and brought Radical George S. Boutwell into the Cabinet as Stewart’s replacement. Yet the fact that nearly all his initial appointees held moderate or conservative views on Reconstruction revealed a grasp of political realities. For Grant’s election both confirmed the “finality” of Southern Reconstruction, and suggested that the issues arising from the slavery controversy had at last been settled. Even as he assumed office, what one Republican called “the vexed question of suffrage” appeared to have been laid to rest. In February 1869, Congress approved the Fifteenth Amendment, prohibiting the federal and state governments from depriving any citizen of the vote on racial grounds.

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