Grant was the president next door

Right across Iowa’s border, snuggled next to Dubuque, is Galena, Illinois, where Ulysses S. Grant was residing when he was elected our 18th president. Many stories can be written from his record in the Civil War: winning huge battles in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the fall of Richmond, VA and the ultimate surrender of the Confederacy; not to mention his first election as president in 1868. However, his re-election in 1872 is not as well-known.

The campaign started off rather normal. Grant was renominated without opposition. The Democratic Party, however, was a mess, so much so that they didn’t even nominate their own candidate, choosing instead to back an offshoot wing of the Republican Party that believed Grant was too conservative.

Their candidate, newspaper man Horace Greeley, could be very persuasive with the written word. Still, Greeley was a very bad campaigner and went into Election Day well behind the incumbent president. Indeed, Grant would clean up with what was at the time a record-setting 286 electoral votes, winning 31 of what was then 37 states.

The “normal” election still got very messy. Greeley died on Nov. 29, 1872. When the Electoral College went to meet, there was really no process on what to do. On top of that, serious issues of electoral fraud arose in Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana, five southern states that were still under union military command. Eventually all of the electoral votes of Arkansas, Louisiana, and 3 of the 11 in Georgia were rejected by Congress.

Next came what to do with Greeley’s electoral votes. Of Greeley’s 63 votes, 42 went with Indiana Governor and future Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks. Eighteen went with Greeley’s running mate Benjamin Brown, and the other three went with Charles Jenkins and Supreme Court Justice David Davis, who would play a huge role four years later in deciding another significant presidential election conflict.

Grant’s second term was mired by scandal. He left office in March 1877 with his reputation in ruins. The scandals were not actually tied directly to Grant, but in the eyes of Congress and some in his administration they were. After a two-year world tour and a failed attempt to return to the White House in 1880, a series of bad investments bankrupted Grant. On top of that, he was hit with a throat cancer diagnosis.

Determined not to leave his family broke, Grant teamed up with Mark Twain to write his memoirs. Working feverishly at a cabin in upstate New York, Grant finished them on July 18, 1885 and passed away just 5 days later. His family would be well cared for.

While Grant never returned to Galena, the town was involved in the biggest parts of his life, from heading to serve in the war and later his election to the presidency. His home in Galena is open to the public, where docent Terry Miller gives outstanding tours! If you’re in the Dubuque area, I highly recommend visiting.

Tom Babbage first became a presidential history enthusiast as a third-grader at Indian Creek Elementary in the Linn-Mar school district. He now resides in Casa Grande, AZ.