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GRANT. 136 GRANT. April 2d Petersburg was abandoned, and on the 3d tile Federal forces entered the Southern capi- tal, the L'om'cderates lleeing as they advanced. Grant pursued t!ie Hying army, overtook and sur- rounded it, and forced it to surrender at Appo- mattox Lourt-House, on April 9lh. Lee was captured, and the Confederacy overthrown. • The assassination of Lincoln and the accession of -Andrew Jolinson quickly followed, and then came the excitement of the period of Reconstruc- tion, in which General Grant, for whom Congress had created the rank of General of the Army, bore a loyal and honorable part. During the ad- ministration of Johnson he was drawn into the struggle between the President and Congress. On the removal of Stanton. Secretary of War, by President Johnson, Grant was asked to fill the office ad interim, and held it from August, 1867, to January, ISGS. Having become prominent in national politics, he was soon recognized as an available candidate for the Presidency, his mili- tary services making it evident that whatever l)arty nominated him w'ould receive a large inde- pendent supjxirt. He was approached by mem- bers of both parties, but his views were more nearly in accord with those of the Republicans. In May, 1808, a convention of soldiers and sailors at Chicago indorsed his contemplated candidacy, and on Jlay 20th the Republican Convention on the first ballot nominated him for the Presidency unanimously, naming for the Vice-Presidency Schuyler Colfax of Indiana. Although the Demo- cratic candidate. Governor Horatio Seymour, car- ried liis own State of New York, he secured only seven other States, with a total of only SO elec- toral votes against 214 electoral votes cast for Grant. The new administration was marked by a studied independence of Congressional poli- ticians and by a disregard of various political traditions of the National Govermnent. The apparent inlluence of a military coterie, coupled with the President's marked reticence as to his views and ]3lans. and his want of tact in dealing with civilians, produced an unfortunate lack of cordiality in his relations with Congress and gave rise to a few incidents of discord. During the campaign he had been conspicuously reticent and inactive, and it was impossible to learn in advance his intentions with regard to matters of public moment. However, he had the confidence of the people at large, and this was increased by the negotiation of the important Treaty of Washing- ton (q.v. ) and by the steps which were thus taken for the early settlement of the Alabama Claims (q.v.). The President made foreign relations an important feature of his first administration by his persistent efforts in favor of the annexation of Santo Domingo, the treaty for which, however, was rejected by the Senate, largely through the opposition of Charles Sumner, whose attitude in this matter led to his exclusion, by the friends of the Administration, from his influential post as chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. A policy of friendly supervision of the South American States was also followed, and much interest was manifested in the war of independence which was being waged in Cuba, and the danger of inter-ention seemed imminent, especially for a brief period during the excitement caused by the seizure of the Tirginius. The political condition of the South continued to present serious problems, although most of the actual work of reorganization had been accom- plished; the vindictivene^s of the extreme Repub- licans was abating; and the President was in- clined to lessen the direct control of Southern administration at the hands of the National Gov- ernment, and to look forward to the moral regeneration of the newly organized political bodies tlirough their own initiative unatiected by external inllucnces. (See Recox.strlction.) The scandals attaching to the Credit Mobilier ( q.v. ) were looked upon by the President's op- ponents as sources of weakness; but neither these nor other seeming irregularities had any ma- terial effect in the campaign of 1872, when Grant was reelected with the unprecedente<l number of 28G electoral votes, and with a popu- lar vote exceeding by more than 700,000 that given to his chief opponent, Horace Greeley (q.v.). The collapse, as it seemed, of the move- ment of the new Liberal-Republican Party (q.v.) left the President in full authority, with very lit- tle opposition, and with very few problems of really national importance to be settled. Finan- cial afl'airs, the control of the Indians, and minor matters of ordinary significance occupied the greater ])ortion of his second term, which was marked also by various irregularities, such as the scandal of the 'Whisky Ring' (q.v.), in which high Federal officials were concerned, but in which the President himself was in no way impli- cated, save in so far as he obstinately stood by friends W'liose guilt was beyond doubt. In 1874 he rendered a great service to bis country by his veto of the bill passed by Congress for the iiiHa- tion of the paper currency, and he was also re- sponsible in a large measure for the passage of the Resumption Act in the following year. At the close of his second tenii, in 1877. he made the tour of the whole civilized world, visit- ing especially the great countries of Europe and Asia, and receiving, as a soldier and civilian and the first citizen of the L'nited States, all the hon- or which rulers and jieople could bestow. As the unofficial representative of his country, his bear- ing was such as to win universal admiration and respect. On his return home in the spring of 1880 a large and influential portion of the Repub- lican Party sought to make him a candidate for the Presidency once more ; but the movement was defeated, not because the people did not still ad- mire and trust him, but on account of the formi- dable opposition to the bestowal of the office upon any man, however eminent or able, for more than two terms. After his long journey General Grant made his home in New York. He became a partner in a financial firm which came to grief and in- volved him in pecuniary ruin. The story is a sad one, which will not here be recorded. The only blame that attached to him was that he bestowed too much confidence upon those who misused it. Universal sympathy was accorded to him. With the energy of a young man he took up his pen and wrote out the recollections of his military life, "for the money it gave me," he says, "for at that moment I was living upon borrowed money." Every token of respect was shown to him in the city of his residence, and Congress, by a special enactment in 1884. placed him on the retired list of the army, as General, with full pay — a position he had resigned to be- come President. In the summer of 1S84 General Grant entered upon a long period of suffering from a eanceroiLS