The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant

Volume 30: October 1, 1880-December 31, 1882

Edited by John Y. Simon

Cloth, 0-8093-2776-7
978-0-8093-2776-8, $100.00
768 pages, 6.5 x 9.75.
American History

 

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Stumping for Republicans, condemning voter harassment, and settling into Manhattan society

In the final weeks of the 1880 campaign, Ulysses S. Grant left Galena and headed east to stump for the Republican ticket.  At rallies in New England, upstate New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York City, sometimes several times a day, the reticent Grant warmed to his role.  Sounding a familiar postwar theme, he repeatedly condemned voter harassment in the South, asserting the right of  “our fellow-citizens of African descent, . . . to go to the polls, even though they are in the minority, and put in their ballot without being burned out of their homes, and without being threatened or intimidated.”  James A. Garfield won a narrow victory over Major General Winfield S. Hancock and welcomed Grant's advice on matters ranging from cabinet choices to foreign policy.
            Rootless since their White House days and unsatisfied with backwater Galena, the Grants now decided to settle in New York City and took rooms at the Fifth Avenue Hotel.  In January, 1881, Grant accepted the presidency of the 1883 World's Fair Commission, charged with bringing an exposition to New York City.  Initial enthusiasm soon gave way to rancor, as factions split over where to place the fair.  Grant favored Central Park, but public sentiment intervened, and funding evaporated.  By March, Grant resigned. 
            Grant's business interests reflected the international stage he now occupied.  Competing plans for an isthmian canal through Panama, Mexico, and Nicaragua jockeyed for support, with Grant strongly favoring Nicaragua.  He published an article championing Nicaragua even as momentum swung behind Panama.  But Grant's attention was drawn more to railroads and to Mexico.  When his friend Matías Romero promoted a new line through Oaxaca, Grant jumped on board.  A speech to American capitalists in November, 1880, led a few months later to the incorporation of the Mexican Southern Railroad, with Grant as president.  By April, 1881, he was in Mexico City, where he told lawmakers: “I predict, with the building of these roads, a development of the country will take place such as has never been witnessed in any country before. . . . There is nothing, in my opinion, to stand in the way of Mexican progress and grandeur, and wealth, but the people themselves.”
            In June, Grant returned from Mexico with a new charter in hand.  But his mind was on Garfield and Secretary of State James G. Blaine, two men who had thwarted him at the Republican convention one year earlier.  Grant supported his Stalwart ally, Roscoe Conkling, in a power struggle with Garfield and Blaine.  From New Orleans to New York City, Grant spoke candidly, complaining of Conkling’s mistreatment by Garfield and others. The feud ended after Garfield was shot on July 2.  When he died in September, Grant wept with the nation.
            Fitz John Porter had sought restoration to the army since his dismissal after the Second Battle of Bull Run.  Grant had previously rebuffed Porter but now reversed course.  Taking up a case that divided former commanders now in Congress, Grant forcefully argued for Porter's vindication.
            Grant and wife Julia bought a home just off Fifth Avenue in New York City.  In the summer, he commuted from his seaside cottage at Long Branch, New Jersey, to his office on Wall Street, where he greeted a steady stream of admirers and influence-seekers.  A silent partner in the brokerage firm his son Ulysses, Jr., formed with Ferdinand Ward, Grant left finances in Ward's hands.  Surveys for the Mexican Southern proceeded.  Banquets and parties filled many evenings.  The Grants settled into Manhattan society.

 

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“Reading these volumes is like immersing oneself in a great manuscript and records repository. Nuggets of information are everywhere. One might not find them all except by reading every volume, but the bounty is so great that it is hard to imagine anyone interested in traditional fields of history coming up empty-handed. The set belongs in every research library with an interest in United States history.”—The Journal of Southern History

“The value of these volumes reaches beyond their author, his mail, and message or calendar listings. General Grant is handsomely served by John Y. Simon’s flawless editing and presentation, which includes lengthy explanatory commentaries that simplify for the reader’s understanding. Through every line shines the victor in battle and also the herald who described it. Like Lincoln, Grant knew what the Union had cost.”—Illinois Historical Journal

Winner of the Lincoln Prize

In 2004, John Y. Simon, was honored with a special Lincoln Prize for his achievement in editing The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant. Administered by Gettysburg College, the Lincoln Prize is awarded annually by the Lincoln and Soldiers Institute, and is given for the finest scholarly works in English on Abraham Lincoln, or the American Civil War soldier, or a subject relating to their era. 

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John Y. Simon is professor of history at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.  He has written or edited, in addition to the 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.  She was associate editor of the Frederick Douglass Papers and is the author of Southern Womanhood and Slavery: A Biography of Louisa S. McCord, 1810–1879.

Dawn Vogel is textual editor of the Grant Papers.