Ulysses S. Grant used his presidency (1869–1877) to try to secure the results of the Civil War, protect Black rights in the South, and stabilize the postwar economy, though his years in office were also marked by serious corruption scandals.

Big things Grant did as president

  • Pushed Reconstruction policies to keep former Confederates from overturning the Civil War’s outcome and to protect formerly enslaved people.
  • Strongly backed Black civil rights , including voting rights, and used federal power against white supremacist violence.
  • Tried to stabilize the economy after the war and during the Panic of 1873, focusing on sound money rather than easy inflation.
  • Presided over an era of peace abroad , including settling major disputes with Britain via diplomacy.
  • Saw his administration rocked by corruption scandals (like the Whiskey Ring), which badly damaged his reputation at the time.

Reconstruction and civil rights

After winning the Civil War as commanding general, Grant entered the White House determined to defend the Union victory in the South. He backed congressional Reconstruction, which meant using federal authority to reshape Southern politics and protect formerly enslaved people from being pushed back into quasi-slavery.

Key moves:

  • Supported and enforced the 14th and 15th Amendments , which guaranteed citizenship and voting rights for Black men.
  • Worked with Radical Republicans in Congress to pass Enforcement Acts , including the Ku Klux Klan Act, giving the federal government power to intervene when Black citizens were terrorized or blocked from voting.
  • Sent federal troops and issued presidential proclamations against violent white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the “White League” in places such as South Carolina and Louisiana.

These actions sharply reduced Klan violence for a time and make many modern historians see Grant as one of the strongest 19th‑century presidents on civil rights.

Restoring the Union and governing a changing country

Grant presided over the final political reunification of the country after the Civil War. During his terms:

  • Former Confederate states such as Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas were formally readmitted to the Union after meeting Reconstruction conditions.
  • The federal government established an early civil service commission to start reforming the spoils system, though it lacked teeth without funding.
  • His administration oversaw creation of the U.S. Weather Bureau , initially under the Army’s Signal Corps, an early national weather service.

Grant’s government also created the Department of Justice , centralizing federal law enforcement under the attorney general—crucial for prosecuting civil rights violations and other federal crimes.

Economy, money, and the Panic of 1873

The postwar economy was messy: war debts, unstable paper money, and rapid industrial growth. Grant made “sound money” a priority and often resisted popular pressure for inflationary policies.

Important steps:

  • Favored a “return to specie” —tying currency back to gold rather than relying on Civil War–era paper money.
  • In 1874, vetoed an inflation bill that would have increased the money supply by about 100 million dollars, fearing it would undermine financial stability.
  • Signed the Resumption Act in 1875, which set a path to resume redeeming paper money in gold, reinforcing a hard‑money policy.

When the Panic of 1873 hit—a major financial crash—unemployment and hardship soared, and Grant’s response (including resisting inflation) drew intense criticism from those wanting more aggressive relief.

Foreign policy and Native American policy

Grant’s presidency was mostly peaceful abroad, but not without controversy.

Foreign policy highlights:

  • Under Secretary of State Hamilton Fish , the U.S. negotiated the Treaty of Washington with Britain, peacefully settling the “Alabama Claims” over British-built Confederate raiders and easing long-standing tensions.
  • The Virginius Affair with Spain, a crisis over a ship and executions in Cuba, ended without war, showing a preference for diplomacy over conflict.
  • Grant pushed (unsuccessfully) to annex Santo Domingo (today the Dominican Republic), arguing it would benefit Black Americans and U.S. strategy, but Senator Charles Sumner and others blocked it, sparking a lasting political feud.

On Native American issues, Grant’s record is mixed and often criticized today. His administration backed policies that continued U.S. expansion at tribes’ expense, including an Indian Appropriation Act amendment that ended treaty- making and treated Native nations as wards of the state, tightening federal control.

Scandals and the “Grantism” label

Even though Grant himself was personally honest, he trusted friends and political allies who were not, and multiple scandals erupted.

Notable scandals:

  • The Whiskey Ring (exposed in 1875), a massive tax evasion scheme where federal officials and distillers cheated the government out of whiskey taxes; many of Grant’s appointees were indicted.
  • Other episodes, like dubious deals and patronage abuses, helped coin the term “Grantism” for corruption and cronyism in government.

Grant often defended or tried to shield associates, which hurt his image even more and gave ammunition to opponents, including the Liberal Republicans , who broke away and ran against him in 1872.

How people see his presidency today

For decades after his death, Grant was often ranked as a poor or mediocre president, mainly because of the scandals and economic turmoil in the 1870s. But recent scholarship has significantly upgraded his reputation, especially emphasizing his defense of Black rights during Reconstruction and his reluctance to use war as a foreign policy tool.

In modern discussions and forums, you’ll often see two main viewpoints:

  • Supportive takes: Grant is praised as one of the strongest early presidents on civil rights, far ahead of his time in using federal power against domestic terrorism and voter suppression.
  • Critical takes: Others still stress the corruption, uneven Native American policies, and economic hardship under his watch, arguing his leadership style left the door open to abuse.

A fair reading sees both sides: a determined defender of the Union and Black citizenship, yet a flawed executive whose loyalty to friends and uneven management helped foster an era of high-level corruption.

TL;DR:
What did Ulysses S. Grant do as president? He enforced Reconstruction and civil rights, crushed the early Ku Klux Klan, helped readmit Southern states, pushed for sound money, settled major disputes with Britain peacefully, and presided over a government marred by serious corruption scandals that long overshadowed his achievements.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.