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t precisely noon on March , , the greatest American soldier of the century stepped forward on the east portico of the Capitol and repeated the presidential oath of office. Ulysses S. Grant was about to begin a job he had been thrust into, not one he had pursued (always a bad combination). His predecessor had begun his term the same way. As a former general, used to having his orders obeyed instantly, Grant felt a measure of concern about the presidency and its executive branch. Unlike the case of an army in the field where success could be measured by the ground taken in battle, measuring the success of bureaucracy was harder. Since Grant did not pal around or make small talk with men he disliked, he went against tradition and sent word to the White House that he preferred to ride to the inaugural ceremony by himself. It was a snub to tradition that Andrew Johnson took personally. Johnson did not attend Grant’s inaugural and ordered his cabinet to stay away, too.1 Among Johnson’s last-minute pardons was that of Dr. Samuel Mudd, which made sense, just before the radicals took office. Tom Ewing was quick to file the request . The radicals even overlooked Johnson’s late shenanigans, preferring the joy of Grant’s moment. Claiming Grant would soon establish himself as the newWashington or Lincoln, James Blaine forgot his cousin’s role in Mudd’s pardon and ex- . Grant and Johnson, Smith, Trial by Fire, .  12 THE CRÉDIT MOBILIER AND “HIS FRAUDULENCY” A coriated Johnson’s legacy: “With the election of General Grant comes a higher standard of American citizenship, with dignity and character.” Blaine’s support would later wane. But at this moment the new Speaker of the House was ecstatic.2 However, the man of the hour with the messianic vision was no Lincoln with words. From the inaugural audience, Tom Ewing shuddered at the glimpse at Grant’s monetary policy. “Every dollar of government indebtedness should be paid in gold,” and “no repudiator of one farthing of our public debt will be trusted in public office.” Grant was tucked safely in the pockets of the swallowtail city bankers.3 After the tense mercurial days he had spent defending Johnson, the first years of the Grant administration were a vacation of sorts for Tom Ewing. The bug was still in him, and he knew he would not fight a political self-exile for very long. With Seymour’s debacle in , the National Union Party had faded away, leaving only the radical Republicans and the rebuilding Democrats. Several Ohio newspapers owned by friends advanced the idea that Ewing might run for governor as a Democrat. He was reluctant. Ellen had been ill much of the time since the nerve-wracking year of , when she thought she might lose her husband to a vengeful Confederacy at Fort Davidson. Six years later, she had become a devotee of “the baths,” a young woman grown old before her time.4 There was no denying, however, that Tom Ewing was moving forcefully into the Democratic camp. He began making speeches and working on the party’s behalf . How could one of the leaders of Republicanism in Kansas make the change? First, his venue for politics had changed. Kansas was now out of the picture. He was living in Washington but spent a great deal of time in Ohio. He was torn because of his allegiance to the old Republican Party he had helped create, yet he had come to the realization that ultra radicals such as Sumner and Wade controlled Grant, and the Republican platform he had long supported no longer had any real vision. He had not supported radical abolitionism before the war, but at least there had been a moderate wing of the Republicans. Now even moderates were in decline . He had always been a centrist, especially in politics, but the centrist party of his frontier days had abandoned him. He could not support a party whose main agenda was Negro suffrage and the destruction of Southern sovereignty.  THE CRÉDIT MOBILIER AND “HIS FRAUDULENCY” . Hamilton, James G. Blaine, . The pardon freed Mudd. There have also been recent efforts to clear his name. See Richard D. Mudd v. Louis Caldera, Secretary of the Army, et al.,  F.Supp d  (D.C. ). . William S. McFeely, Grant: A Biography, . . Ellen at the baths from Taylor, “Business and Political Career,” –. [3.144.244.44] Project MUSE (2024-04-18...

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