Friend and coeditor franke now y scutaro franks, an attorney and the author of president grant reconsidered and the supreme courts retreat from reconstruction. Hes the president of the Grant Monument association, which is dedicated to the preservation of grants tomb, which you can see behind me here. He served previously as the counsel for the constitu ation for the Senate Judiciary committee and as a special counsel to the house, select investigative panel. He now serves as Vice President and senior counsel of j. C. And franks, thank so much for being with us tonight. Thank you, chris. Its so good to be with you. Thank you. White House Historical Association for hosting us tonight and for all of you who are joining us. Before we start, why dont i give chris an introduction, although already gotten a partial introduction. He is really one of the most talented and vivid describe of the civil war currently lecturing. He is a ph. D. And editor shape and cofounder of the emerging civil war. Hes the managing editor of the emerging civil war series published service bd. Hes a writing professor in the Jindal School of communication at Saint Bonaventure university, where he also serves as the associate dean for undergraduate program. And as he had mentioned, hes the historian, residence historian in residence Stevenson Ridge on the spotsylvania battlefield. So, so great to be with you again. And its so nice to see so many people who are sounding off in the chat function and seeing people from all over the country. Its really neat to have great conversation from. Across the continent and around the world. Here on zoom. So thanks for that technology. Bryan, a short powerpoint that hes going to bring up here, so ill ask him to activate his screen share. And as he does, that will give us the chance to crow a little bit about the colleagues that we got to work with as we pulled together. Grant at 200. This was really a book that kind of draws from some of the scholars both president ial and military scholars who have worked on grants biographies at grants sites around the country and really got to kind of bring them together to help folks. Grant. His 200th birthday was last year. He is often painted with brushes that stereotype him or paint him in poor light for various reasons. And were going to talk a bit about that tonight. But you can see from our list of contributors, weve got just some top notch grant historians and weve got folks who work at grant related his sites. We encourage you to visit places like grants tomb grant cottage where he spent the last six weeks before he died his house out in saint louis, Ulysses GrantNational Historic site, the power of places, especially evocative. To help you understand the story of grant in particular and, frank, who spent a lot of time talking and studying grants presidency, in particular. And so, frank, i want to kind of shift things over to you, because i know that you believe that grant belongs among the pantheon of the greatest of our great president s. And thats not necessarily view that people have historically held. Why is it that grant has not necessarily been held up in such esteem or. Well, chris, as you said, during the late 19th century, a grant was widely held and the public mind, the highest echelon of great americans alongside, George Washington and abraham. But during 20th century grants reputation was battered by historic, especially president ial reputation. And now in polls of historians rate president s pioneered 1948 by Arthur Schlesinger grant was ranked only to rock bottom. Warren harding with those two president s, the only ones rated as failures. Now that remained the case in a 1982 poll by Robert Murray and tim blessing, which had placed grant again second to harding at the bottom. But he skipped forward to the 21st century in grants reputation we see has taken an unmistakable upswing in cspan most recent poll in 2021, he went up to 20, just above the middle. Now think historians polls to be taken with a grain of salt. But i also believe the president can be described as great. One of my essays and granted hundred explorers the changing president ial standing of our 18th president in the eyes of history and why i believe he belongs in the pantheon of great president s. And much of my own focus goes to the political and the legal to the constitutional really that took place during the reconstruction era. So while the constitution does not assign president s a direct role in the ratification of constitutional amendments president s can still exercise the power they do have to secure them. The most foundational constitution all developments in which president s played significant role were those of the founding and of the civil war reconstruction era. Three president s in particular such a role. Washington, lincoln and grant as the first president. Washington provided a forum to the office that the constitution created. The civil war reconstruction era saw the ratification of three new sweeps amendments to the constitution tution, the first and last of which came about with significant president ial intervention. Now the 13th amendment, which lincoln helped move through congress before its by the state, was consummated in december of 1865, prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude. The 14th amendment, among many things guaranteed the equal protection of the laws that was ratified in 1868 without any help from lincolns successor, Andrew Johnson. Now, the 15th amendment, which prohibited Racial Discrimination in voting, which wraps up this trio of amendments that, was proposed by Congress Days before. Grants inauguration in 1869, but ratified creation by the states would take nearly another year and a lot of president ial involvement. Grant urged ratification action in his first inaugural address, he signed requiring ratification by states that were still under military rule. He made appeals to states and he armed twisted when necessary. Now, after ratification, he secure the rest of the legal architecture behind the federal guarantee of equal rights, the statute establishing the department of justice five enforcement acts that protected and 15th amendment rights, and the first desegregation law. National scope. The Civil Rights Act of 1875, which also Racial Discrimination. Jury selection. His infant Justice Department prosecuted. The klan and crushed the organization. 1872 from both political adversaries and the press grants interventions in the south throughout his presidency, much of it occurring through the deployment of federal troops, evoked recurring condemnations that accused him of monarchical, militaristic repression. Yet grant defended the of reconstruction, perhaps most intensely when it most unpopular in successor Rutherford Hayes withdrew the last remaining troops from their posts early in his presidency in a move that would be remembered as a repudiation, grants policy and as the end of reconstruction. Opening the door to jim crow. But the process not unfold quite that quickly. During the 1890, a generation really after the age of grant, the Southern States felt emboldened to disenfranchize black voters outright. Such measures as literacy tests, poll taxes and grandfather clauses. It was then that jim crow had arrived. Now, when the multiracial republic that operated in the south was brought down, it was brought down with a vengeance. The 20th centurys long dominant Dunning School of history worked from racially premises to excoriate those who were responsible for reconstruction. Professor William Dunning ended his 1907 narrative on reconstruct asian by writing grant in 1868 had cried peace. But in his time with the radicals and carpetbaggers in the saddle, there was no peace with peace came. One of dunning students, edwin, derided rand for being too rigid and insisting that the 14th and 15th amendments be informed. Regrettably, the dominant history for many decades actually criticized our leaders for enforcing the law, at least reconstruction laws. Now, as many of history are aware, the Civil Rights Movement discredited, the racial, a stunning school. But it took more than a generation for the full consequences of this sea and historical thought. It was really starting in the 1990 and in studies over the last quarter that grants reconstruction record became a point that historians began to recognize as a major rather than something to condemn. There is a growing awareness today of grants battle against the ku klux klan, in particular, but i think this is only component of a broader array of achievements that included both executive and an entire legislative framework for equal rights that. In this category, i argue is unsurpassed by that of president. Now, the reassessment of grants presidency hardly ends with reconstruction. It was rich in other achievements in both domestic and Foreign Policy. He successfully took on the most fiscal problems the government had ever faced. He refined and successfully reduced an unfair, precedented national debt, exceeding 2 billion for cutting taxes by 300 billion. He secured the return to the gold standard, which upon taking effect in 1879, was accompanied by an abrupt end to a major depression. Consider also president grants often forgotten Foreign Policy achievements. On three occasions, our 18th president averted threats of war with spain and great britain, while maintaining the nations honor. His successful settlement of the alabama claims with great britain, which arose from claims of damages during the civil war from confederate commerce raiders built in British Shipyards established principle of international arbitration. The resolution of disputes between nations questions of paramount. Grants diplomatic triumph led to several efforts that promoted alternative to war, including the hague conventions of 1899 and 1907. And years later, the league of nations and the united nations. Yet another episode in which the Grant Administration war once again with spain was the virginia hart affair. In 1873, the virginia, a steamer, commanded by captain joseph fry, a us citizen, and flying the american flag, was captured by the spanish tornado, claiming that the vessel was aiding cuban rebels. Spanish military authorities executed 53 prisoners, including fry and many other americans. Grant and his secretary of state Hamilton Fish resisted pressure to declare war on spain and secured a peaceful resolution of the crisis, including the release of surviving captives and ultimately. 80,000 indemnity from the spanish government. An investigation into the matter had revealed that the virginia was illegally registered and had no right to fly the american flag. War with spain would come 25 years later, but the Grant Administration, free of International Oil war, contributed more than other to the 33 year period between the civil and the spanishamerican war, the longest in American History in which the United States went without the application of a major war. If grant were a late 20th century president , we could imagine the storyline would be primarily about war and peace well as equal rights. There would be iconic photos of him in the oval office pondering the grave decisions he had to make as president. But instead, we get an entire narrative that aims to define the Grant Administration as corrupt by way of his appointees usually forgotten today how the grand corruption narratives out not about his subordinates, but about equating other phenomena from the spoils system to grants reconstruction policy as corrupt threats to the nation. Grants enemies. A Prolific Group of editors, writers who were in many ways the intellectual ancestors of later historians. Corruption was a frequency of inclusion in search of supporting evidence and in fact subject to changing assumptions so much of what they called corruption was merely the practice of the spoils system. The use of partizan criteria in the distribution of appointments which had been in place for generations and used extensively by grants immediate predecessors, notably including Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln himself. Perhaps most ominously, a major part of the definition of corruption held by grants contemporaries critics was his reconstruction policy, which they deemed a threat to what they viewed as the republican ideal. So without actual misconduct in his administration now executive branch misconduct is, i think, one of the most poorly developed fields of president ial history. One that is plagued by glaring inconsistency is, for one thing, historians have not found the misdeeds of subordinate. Its whether real or hyped to be a fundamental component in the assessment of any president. Unless that president was named grant or harding. Not coincidentally, two president s, historians long considered politically unsympathetic. That is to say nothing of that occurred with the participation of the president s themselves. With the exception of nixon, historians rarely a judicious comparison of. Young president s across the board. And just consider the exception. A survey president ial misconduct originally by Stephen Woodward during the nixon impeachment inquiry in 1974 with a dozen historians contributing individual chapters each president. One of these historians, james banner, edited an updated version of that study in 2019. He said to write the history of presidencies through misconduct is completely to misconstrue the nature of presidencies. So lets take Harry Trumans presidency as an. Trumans presidency, one of the most corrupt in the 20th century. Banner continued that the real story of that presidency consisted of policy issues such as the berlin airlift and the Marshall Plan and quote if you try to write history of the Truman Administration on the grounds of the misconduct of, the white house, then youre not really writing the history of the Truman Administration. At one point, a strong ideological skew among historian as against Ronald Reagan almost did him in. Amid the disclosure of the irancontra affair in 1988 American Heritage ran an article by Irwin Friedman that put reagan in the same category as grant harding and nixon, complete with a cartoon one showing the four president s falling into a hellish fiery pit around the same time, in his private correspondence, see woodward, despite doing his part during the 1950s to perpetuate the corruption narrative. Describe the traditional narrative about the gilded age, including grants presidency, as a howling anachronism compared to later misconduct. Now, the notion that reagan belonged in a president ial pantheon of corruption never stuck, but historians have not quite gotten the memo regarding the misunderstanding of grant on that subject. Now, there were, to be sure who proved unworthy during grants administration, but among his principal subordinates, the individual cases dont really stand out next to other esteemed presidencies. I go through this case by case in my essay, ill say to sum up when the context is. Grant historians have employed a of double standards treat the president s own abundant integrity as a nonissue. Highlight any gilded age corruption that can build a lurid narrative. Disregard removed from president ial decision or from the executive branch altogether. Actual misconduct is ignore whether the conduct predated the administration or whether the administration itself rooted it out. Guilt association is fair game treat innuendo like a established fact downgrade errors in judgment to outright malfeasance when grants subordinates went after corruption or other reformative measures with his knowledge and support detached credit from the president when a subordinate misstep. Assign the president blame even. Though the conduct occurred out of president ial sight and was divorced from president ial directives ensured lay or hostile inference upon. Hostile inference to reach the hostile conclusion. So for all the correction has occurred for grant president ial rectification, much the incongruous standard that long applied to grant persists today no longer can they to some degree even Grant Administration presented that omits reconsider production or employs the dunning era condemnation. But the same summary could be expected to omit with impunity. The alabama claims the virginia affair and gold resumption. While it could not omit some form of the corruption narrative without seeming incomplete, it might be that historians care about reconstruction, but less so about other issues that have been distorted. They might not realize how much distortions on other issues are the spillover effect of the polemic accounts from the years when. The dunning interpretation prevailed. A president ial historians who have not focused on grant should have tried more than they have to apply the same judicious approach to all presidencies. So there are the basic points that i make in my essay. I dont want to omit course the many other essays we have from so many contributors covering grants military, his political career, as well as so many aspects of his personal life life. And let me chime in real quickly. See a lot of folks sounding off in the chat saying where theyre from. We appreciate that. Ive seen a couple of people post some quest