6. SECOND TERM
The events of Mr. Lincoln’s second term have been thoroughly documented elsewhere.Reconstruction and Civil Rights
Immediately after the War, Mr. Lincoln became embroiled in two major political battles—one with the United States Congress over how the secessionist states were to be treated; the other with those who wished to deny the liberated slaves any civil or political rights.On the first front, a significant element in the Congress was intent on punishing and imposing vengeful retribution on the “rebel” states. But President Lincoln consistently used his veto power to thwart such initiatives and vigorously promoted his own positive vision of reconstruction and reconciliation.
“The southern states,” he insisted, “will be treated as if they never left the Union.”
On the second front, a significant number of Americans would not accept Mr. Lincoln’s position that the Negro population should be granted civil and political rights, including the right to vote. Continued discrimination against and persecution of freed slaves was led in the south by groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and practiesd by all-white state legislatures.
Once again, President Lincoln vigorously and consistently employed the powers of his office and the federal authority to combat such attitudes and initiatives—even threatening to keep uncooperative southern states under military trusteeship if necessary to protect their Negro minorities.
The Reform of Ulysses S. Grant
During his second term, Mr. Lincoln became convinced that Ulysses S. Grant would be the best man to succeed him as President. He thus began to do what he could to make sure that Grant secured the Republican nomination in 1868 and to ensure that he was as well prepared as possible for the job of President.The President had an enormous respect and admiration for the General but increasingly worried about two aspects of his conduct that he, the President, considered dangerous liabilities.
The first of these involved the General’s careless and partisan approach to military contracting and the administration of War Department funds. The President was convinced that Grant was not personally benefiting from the awarding of contracts to army suppliers nor was he appropriating public funds for himself. But evidence of “corruption in the War Department” was beginning to surface, damaging the reputation of the administration and potentially damaging the General’s electoral chances unless the problem was acknowledged and addressed.
This the President resolved to do, not by publicly calling the General to account, but by privately urging him to occupy “higher ground” with respect to his management of the Army and public funds. I was privileged to be present at the meeting where the President made this appeal to the General. It was the first time that I heard him use the “higher ground” theme which would increasingly characterize the private utterances and public speeches of his second term.
He began by assuring the General, “What I’m about to say I am saying to you, not as your Commander in Chief, but as your friend and strongest political supporter.
“Loyalty, General, is one of your greatest attributes, in particular, your unswerving loyalty to the Union. But you are also extremely loyal to your friends, sometimes too much so, and unless that loyalty is constrained and redirected, it could well be your undoing politically.
“I’m therefore urging you, General, to beware of your political and business friends, especially in awarding government contracts. Those ‘friends’ can do you more harm than your enemies. I’m urging you, General, to gain and hold the high ground in managing public monies and Army contracts, just as you have so successfully done in managing your troops in combat.”
Higher Ground on the Western Frontier
The second of Mr. Lincoln’s concerns respecting General Grant was even more serious and involved the conduct of the U.S. Army on the western frontier.In 1862, President Lincoln had signed the Pacific Railway Act to facilitate the financing and building of America’s first transcontinental railway, the Union Pacific. In May 1869, shortly after his departure from office, he traveled west to Promontory Summit, Utah, where “Old Abe the Rail Splitter,” to the wild applause of the assembled dignitaries and railway workers, drove in “the last spike.”
In between these dates, the President made several trips west to inspect progress on the railroad. Through his meetings with western political, business, and military leaders, Mr. Lincoln was brought face to face with the greatest obstacle to western expansion—the vigorous and violent opposition of the indigenous Indian tribes. It was an obstacle which General Grant and the Army were charged with removing.
Following the War, General Grant had made his most trusted lieutenant, William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Western Division. Sherman in turn had appointed Philip Henry Sheridan, another combat hardened Civil War veteran, as his chief field commander on the Western frontier.
Both Sherman and Sheridan believed in conducting total war against the western Indian tribes in the same way as they had successfully prosecuted all-out war against the South. As far as the President could tell, General Grant also wholeheartedly endorsed and supported this policy. But if that were true, Mr. Lincoln increasingly worried that the American west might be a bloody war zone for years to come and that Grant could not be presented as the peacemaking candidate for the Presidency the war weary country was longing for.
And then fortuitously—some would say providentially—an opportunity arose in the spring of 1868 for Mr. Lincoln to present his concern to the General with a frankness and persuasiveness that led to its resolution. And, perhaps not surprisingly, given their common interest in horses, the setting for this exchange was not an office in the White House or War Department, but a paddock adjoining the White House stables.
Usually when General Grant met with the President, he would walk over from his office in the War Department to the White House; on other occasions he might arrive by carriage. But occasionally he would ride over on Cincinnati—son of Lexington, the fastest four-mile thoroughbred in the United States at the time. Cincinnati was by now almost as legendary among the troops and the people of Washington as his rider.
It was Cincinnati that the General, who was a superb horseman himself and a legendary lover of horses, had ridden in battle. It was Cincinnati that he had ridden to the court house at Appomattox to receive the surrender from General Lee. It was Cincinnati that Grant still rode proudly when inspecting the post-war Army on parade.
April 20, 1868, was one of those occasions when General Grant arrived at the White House on Cincinnati for a meeting with the President. The grooms and stable boys from the executive stables thronged to greet him, although it was Cincinnati they really wanted to see. And it was Tad, the President’s youngest son, who dragged his father from his office to the stables on that day for the same purpose.
“He’s a magnificent animal,” the President opined as he greeted the General.
“He is indeed,” replied Grant. “The only horse I’ve seen that might be his match is that High Ground horse of yours. Can we take a look at him?”
“Of course,” said Mr. Lincoln, and the two men made their way to the small paddock adjoining the executive stables which was High Ground’s home.
High Ground whinnied softly as his master approached. Grant emitted a low whistle in admiration but then asked an unexpected question with deeper implications than any of us suspected at the time.
(I had followed the two men to the paddock expecting to be waved away if my services were not required; but the President gave no such signal so I was permitted to listen in on one of the most memorable exchanges between two leaders I have ever been privileged to hear.)
“Tell me, Mr. President,” Grant asked. “Does High Ground come with the White House or are you going to take him back to Springfield when your term is finished?”
With his foot on the bottom rail of High Ground’s paddock and with General Grant’s eyes still firmly fixed on High Ground, the President responded carefully.
“That all depends, General. It all depends on whether my successor will maintain the high ground that this horse represents to me and anyone who knows the story of how he came to be here.”
“Meaning?” asked General Grant, still watching High Ground.
“Meaning that there is still much work to be done on my part and yours to seize and maintain the high ground with respect to the conduct of our military actions on the Western frontier.”
If Grant was surprised by the nature and implications of this assertion, he gave no indication so the President continued.
“I want you to consider a complete change of strategy on the Western frontier. Our ‘total war’ policy against the south succeeded thanks to you, and at one time most of us also believed that such a policy would succeed in securing the west. But the war with the Indian tribes is not the same thing as the war against secessionists in the south. It’s not the same thing at all, General. I’m sick of war as an instrument of federal policy; the country is sick of war, and the next President must be someone who will assign the leadership of the Western Division to peacemakers, not war makers, and transform western military operations into a ‘policing’ rather than a war-making function.
“You can provide that leadership, General,” the President went on. “I know you can. I truly believe you are destined to succeed me as the 17th President of the United States. You could well become our greatest President since Washington, and nothing would please me more. The nation needs no convincing that you know how to wield the sword, but it still needs to be convinced that you also know how and when to lay it down. The time and place to demonstrate that capacity is now, and on the Western frontier. When it comes to making war or peace, peacemaking is the high ground.”
The President paused for Grant’s reaction, fearful (as he told me later) that he might have gone too far too quickly and that the General might even resign on the spot.
The General turned from looking at High Ground to face the President. Then very slowly he simply said, “Mr. President, I too am sick and tired of war. Only you might know how terribly sick and tired I am. It may surprise you, but I would be pleased to lead a change of military personnel and policy in the west.”
“And how will the senior officers and troops respond to such a change?” asked the President.
“Sherman and Sheridan and most of the veterans of the War with the south are as war weary as you and I,” replied Grant. “It’s the younger generals like George Custer that still thirst for blood who will likely resign in protest and cause political trouble, not the senior officers or troops.”
“Custer’s a hothead,” said the President. “He resents the fact that the War between the States came to an end before he could distinguish himself. But any military man who actually prefers the continuation of war as a means of personal glorification to the benefits of peace should resign.”
“As for you and me, General, and High Ground here”— the President was almost jovial now— “you already have a magnificent horse of your own in Cincinnati. But I’ll offer you a deal. If you will pledge, as the next President of these United States, to stick to the high ground—honest administration and peace on the Western frontier—then High Ground will stay with the White House.”
Transition
In May of 1868, as Mr. Lincoln had hoped, General Grant secured the Republican presidential nomination on the first ballot. In November of that year, having campaigned on the theme of “Let There Be Peace,” he won the presidential election. On March 4, 1869, with a weary but smiling Mr. Lincoln at his side, Ulysses S. Grant was sworn in as the 17th President of the United States.As is now well known, General Grant served as President with great distinction, continuing and strengthening Mr. Lincoln’s policy of southern reconstruction and securing the 15th amendment to the constitution giving Negro males the right to vote.
With respect to the management of public funds and federal contracts, the Grant administration was surprisingly free from corruption. It was at Grant’s request that Congress established the Department of Justice, created the Civil Service Commission, and passed the Civil Service Reform Act.
It was also under President Grant’s leadership that a fair and lasting peace was achieved on the Western frontier. Equitable peace treaties were negotiated with the peoples of Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Geronimo, and Chief Joseph. President Grant himself was present personally to sign the historic peace treaty with Sitting Bull and the Sioux at a ceremony held on the banks of the Little Bighorn river in 1875. It was also under his administration that Ely Parker was appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first native American to hold a cabinet position.
Many books and articles have subsequently been written about the events and influences which shaped the character and accomplishments of the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. But in my humble opinion none was more significant than that heart to heart exchange between President Lincoln and the General at High Ground’s paddock on April 20, 1868.
I still shudder to think how much more blood might have been spilled on the Western frontier, had not that exchange occurred when and as it did.
