Who was the best president of the Gilded Age?

Recently, I put on a test about the Gilded Age the following essay question:
"Who was the best president of the Gilded Age? Why?"

I got answers of Grant, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, and Harrison. Sorry, Rutherford B. Hayes. Nobody loves you, apparently.

To be fair, about half of the people who said Arthur only said so because "He's Jay's favorite president and Jay is smart and Jay wouldn't like a bad president."

To this essay, I commented something along the lines of thinking that Cleveland is the best president of the Gilded Age and that Arthur is indeed my favorite, but not the greatest.

Why is Cleveland the best president of the era? In short, because he made good moves regardless of political gain. No one else really seemed very successful at this, except maybe Arthur. But Cleveland had something that Arthur lacked, and that's people who'd renominate him.

Starting in the election, Cleveland knew how to handle himself. The election of 1884 was one of the greatest mud-slinging festivals in history. "Ma, ma, where's my Pa?" yelled Republicans. Cleveland had a bastard child. And so, he stood up and admitted what he had done. The people seem to have forgiven him, as he defeated James G. Blaine of Maine.

In his first term, Cleveland found a surplus. Can you believe that? A national surplus. No debt of trillions of dollars. No debt at all. Negative debt, in fact! But, along the lines of Hamiltonian thinking, Cleveland was embarrassed by this extra money lying around and wanted to get rid of it. (This wasn't immediately accomplished, but the Billion Dollar Congress during Harrison's term sure lost the money.)

In the same term, he also took a firm stand on the place of government in people's lives. There was a drought in Texas and Cleveland vetoed a bill to give Texan farmers seeds. "Though the people should support the government, the government should not support the people." This statement can't be a popular thing to say, but Ol' Grover takes a stand against the strong Congress and wins this round.

Like many other presidents of the era, Cleveland attempted to lower the tariff rates. But Congress wasn't losing this round. As happened to other presidents, Congress starts with a nice low tariff bill and then tacks on more and more until it's basically the exact opposite of what Cleveland wanted. Congress does win this round.

However, as I said, Cleveland is not the only president this happened to. Harrison would soon sign the McKinley Tariff, the highest in our nation's history. Arthur attempted to lower rates, but Congress would only almost negligibly lower them.

Cleveland also made a very important move for decreasing sectionalism in politics. His cabinet had two former Confederates in it. It may seem to you that "Well it was 20 years since the Civil War, obviously no one cares anymore about former Confederates." Well, that's not really true. It had only been 8 years since Reconstruction had ended, and Jim Crow laws ran rampant in the South, along with grandfather clauses and literacy tests, anything to keep down the blacks almost as they had been pre-Civil War. The South and North were vastly different and were voting vastly differently. Cleveland began to soothe the tension.

Speaking of the Civil War, veterans really really wanted nice pensions. Congress and the presidents were generally satisfied to give these men such pensions. But Cleveland was the first president since Andrew Johnson to not be a Civil War veteran himself and had no problem vetoing bills for these pensions.

Of course, Cleveland lost to Benjamin Harrison in 1888. But he still won the popular vote, and came back to win the election of 1892.

In his second term, Cleveland no longer had to worry about an embarrassing surplus. Instead, he could take solace in the Panic of 1893. As always, overspeculation is the main cause of this depression. But a greater problem arose during this depression for Cleveland.

People were exchanging their old greenbacks for gold currency. The banks were required by law to give away the gold. The Treasury's gold reserve kept shrinking and shrinking. It shrank below the "safe" level of $100 million.

Cleveland makes the most unpopular and most necessary move of either of his terms. He goes to rich man J.P. Morgan and buys $65 million worth of gold from him. People think the government has sold out, but Cleveland quite possibly saved the United States economy.

In conclusion, Cleveland is clearly the greatest president of the Gilded Age. He's not top 10 overall material, but for the time he was in, he did a phenomenal job. He wasn't afraid of making unpopular moves that he felt were right, and he avoided scandals and corruption. If he were to run for president today, I'd seriously consider him as worthy of my vote.

Civil War Experience

Not long ago, I was discussing with my friends the effectiveness of commanding generals as presidents. But that's another blog.

This blog begins with the effectiveness of a single general. Ulysses S. Grant, the nation's 18th president. He was the greatest Union general of the Civil War, and one of the top generals in our history. However, as president, he proved to be a poor judge of character and was generally ineffective. In fact, I would argue that he was the worst president of the Gilded Age (which includes Grant through McKinley).

And so this got me thinking, could greatness in the Civil War be inversely proportional to greatness in the Executive Branch?

The next president, Rutherford B. Hayes, reached the rank of brigadier general and was brevetted major general by the end of the war. He was wounded 5 times. He had some military successes. And, like Grant, he was a pretty poor president.

Next up is James Garfield. He became a brigadier general sooner than Hayes and worked as Chief of Staff under Rosecrans, commander of the Army of Cumberland. Garfield was a good president until he got shot. So he actually didn't get much done.

Chester Arthur was too, brigadier general. He was eventually quatermaster general for New York. He saw no combat, but his years of organizing New York to send troops to battle are often said to be his best. He was, however, removed from the position in 1863 for political reasons. As president, he had two major positive accomplishments, one major poor decision, and was otherwise uneventful. He probably ranks as the second best Gilded Age president, behind...

Grover Cleveland, who dodged the draft by paying for someone else to go. This man is probably the greatest Gilded Age president, as I have already said.

Benjamin Harrison reached the rank of... you guessed it... brigadier general near the end of the war. He's not a stand out commander, and he's not a stand out president.

William McKinley was the last president to have experience in the Civil War. He actually fought under Hayes. Go figure. He reached the ranks of Captain and brevet major. Now, I can't tell you exactly what they are, but they're lower than brigadier general, I can tell you that. This man brought back power to the Executive Branch and is generally considered the first modern president.

Now, to rank these men by order of success in the Civil War:
1. Ulysses Grant
2. Rutherford Hayes
3. James Garfield
4. Chester Arthur
5. Benjamin Harrison
6. William McKinley
7. Grover Cleveland

And by success as president:
1. William McKinley
2. Grover Cleveland
3. Chester Arthur
4. Benjamin Harrison
5. Rutherford Hayes
6. James Garfield
7. Ulysses Grant

So, no it's not a perfect correlation. But I think there's something to be said for Civil War successes vs. Presidential successes.

The Gilded Age Test

Following is a set of 20 multiple choice questions about the Gilded Age. Submit your answers to me via whatever you want, and I'll give you your grade.

1. Approximately how many pairs of pants did Chester Arthur have while in office?
a 20
b 40
c 60
d 80

2. Why is the Pendleton Act significant?
a Reformed civil service
b Created the presidential life of succession
c Gave land to Native Americans
d Ended Reconstruction

3. Which listed presidential candidate won the popular vote, but lost the election?
a Benjamin Harrison
b Winfield Hancock
c Samuel Tilden
d Millard Fillmore

4. The Panic of 1873 occurred while ________ was president.
a James Garfield
b Rutherford B. Hayes
c Ulysses S. Grant
d Andrew Johnson

5. Industrialization was a major theme of the Gilded Age. When was the Industrial Revolution begun in America?
a Before the Civil War
b Before the Revolutionary War
c During Reconstruction
d After Reconstruction

6. Which of the following pieces of legislation did Chester Arthur sign?
a Dawes Act
b Chinese Exclusion Act
c Sherman Anti-Trust Act
d McKinley Tariff Act

7. What presidential election was won by 1 electoral vote, making it the closest in terms of electoral votes in history?
a 1876
b 1880
c 2000
d 1824

8. What presidential election was won by about 2000 popular votes nationally, making it the closest in popular vote in history?
a 1876
b 1880
c 2000
d 1824

9. Benjamin Harrison was grandson to William Henry Harrison, the nation's 9th president. What else made him special?
a He was the "Centennial President"
b He remained unmarried
c He had a Ph.D.
d He used more vetoes than any other president

10. What branch of the federal government was most in control during the Gilded Age?
a Executive
b Legislative
c Judicial
d Parliamentary

11. What did all the bearded presidents have in common (aside from beards)?
a Same party
b Not re-elected to a second term
c Assassinated
d Vice presidents without beards

12. "Good ballplayers make good citizens" according to Chester Arthur. However, he was not a ballplayer. Which of the following was he?
a Governor
b Lawyer
c Doctor
d Know-Nothing

13. What defines the end of the Gilded Age?
a William McKinley's presidency, because he was a strong executive
b Grover Cleveland's second term, because of economic troubles reshaping the country
c Anti-trust legislation being passed for the first time
d A series of clean-shaven presidents

14. Thomas Nast took down whom with a cartoon?
a Chester Arthur
b Roscoe Conkling
c Boss Tweed
d Adolf Hitler

15. "No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted, and no one ever retired... more generally respected," said Alexander K. McClure. Who was he talking about?
a Ulysses S. Grant
b Rutherford B. Hayes
c James Garfield
d Chester A. Arthur

16. A president was assassinated during the Gilded Age. Who was it?
a James Garfield
b Chester Arthur
c Grover Cleveland
d Benjamin Harrison

17. Which of the following did not have experience in the Civil War?
a Ulysses S. Grant
b Rutherford B. Hayes
c Grover Cleveland
d James Garfield

18. The Presidential Polonaise was written by whom?
a Chester Arthur
b John Sousa
c Francis Scott Key
d a scribe

19. How long did the Chinese Exclusion Act exclude Chinese?
a 20 years, subject to extension
b 10 years, subject to extension
c 10 years, non-renewable
d 20 years, non-renewable

20. February 22, 1885, Chester Arthur did what?
a Die
b Shave
c Dedicate the Washington Monument
d Refurbish the White House

Song Review: "The Presidents" by Jonathan Coulton

Link to the Song

Lyrics:

Washington came first and he was perfect.
John Adams kept us out of war with France.
Jefferson made Louisiana Purchase.
In 1812 James Madison kicked the British in the pants.

James Monroe told Europe they could suck it.
John Quincy Adams looked just like his dad.
Andrew Jackson got rid of all the Indians.
Van Buren served one term, but he wasn't bad.

William Henry Harrison died early.
John Tyler annexed Texas from Mexico.
James K. Polk fought Mexico to keep it.
Taylor was a Mexican War hero.

Fillmore gave a boat to Commodore Perry.
Pierce repealed the Missouri Compromise.
Buchanan saw the Civil War's beginnings.
Lincoln saved the Union, then he died.

Andrew Johnson just survived impeachment.
General Grant enjoyed a drink or two.
Rutherford B. Hayes ended Reconstruction.
Garfield was assassinated in 1882.

Arthur suspended Chinese immigration.
Cleveland made the railroad people squirm.
Harrison signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Grover Cleveland served another term.

McKinley kicked the Spanish out of Cuba.
Roosevelt was handy with a gun.
Taft was big and fat and had a mustache.
Wilson kicked some ass in World War I.

Harding said "Let's Laissez Faire with business."
Coolidge made the roaring 20s roar.
Hoover screwed the pooch in the Great Depression.
Roosevelt beat the Nazis in the war.

Truman dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.
Eisenhower kept the Commies well in hand.
Kennedy was killed by a magic bullet.
Johnson murdered kids in Vietnam.

Nixon was a sweating, filthy liar.
Ford gave Nixon pardon for his crimes.
Carter lusted in his heart for peanuts.
Reagan won the Cold War, and lost his mind.

George Bush Sr. poked at Saddam Hussein.
Clinton gave an intern a cigar.
W's legacy's a work in progress.
That is all the Presidents so far.

In the year 2005 we're out of money.
Somewhere, surely, freedom's on the march.
I don't like to make political statements.


This song, first and foremost, is appealing to the ear. It's important for a song to sound good.

Lyrically some of the things Coulton says about the presidents are worthless, incorrect, or I just don't like them.

Most egregiously, he says James Garfield was assassinated in 1882. He was assassinated in 1881. How this error made it into the song just baffles me. You have to do the research.

Surely there's something better to say about John Quincy Adams than him looking like his dad. Plus I don't think they even look remotely similar. I mean, JQA is an ugly man, but his father looks pretty alright for the times.

Arthur did suspend Chinese immigration, but the bill had come up at least once prior to his presidency only to be vetoed. He also vetoed it himself once, signing it only after the term of no Chinese immigrants was halved.

Maybe I just wasn't alive during Carter's administration and am missing the joke, but "Carter lusted in his heart for peanuts?" On one hand, it captures the way no one took him seriously, but on the other why not come up with some fact about him?

The song isn't all bad though, the line about James Madison kicking the British in the pants, while leaving out that America was also kicked in the pants, is probably the best line in the song. "Reagan won the Cold War and lost his mind" is a close runner-up.

Overall, this is a pretty good song, and would be a great way to just get a quick tidbit about all the presidents into a young audience.

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

"I have made it a rule of my life to trust a man long after other people gave him up, but I don't see how I can ever trust any human being again."

Some nicknames of Ulysses Grant include "Unconditional Surrender," "Uncle Sam," and "American Caesar." These are all fine and good for General Grant.

However, for President Grant, I prefer the nickname of "Useless S. Grant."

In his first term, his failure to act one way or another on the issue of greenbacks caused economic panic, beginning on Black Friday of 1869. Greenbacks had been issued by the Union during the Civil War as money with no gold backing, and so their value fluctuated from almost a full dollar to about half a dollar, and generally caused inflation and wasn't useful in transactions. If Grant had acted sooner, perhaps this economic trouble could have been avoided.

(At this point, I can't help but think of James Buchanan and his inability to do anything one way or the other about sucession and other pre-Civil War issues. Especially since Grant said he had voted for Buchanan.)

Also in his first term, the Credit Mobilier scandal occurred and was revealed to the public. Basically a company granted government money to itself and swindled money from the government further by sending invoices of about double their actual spending amounts. When it was discovered, stock in this company was used to bribe members of the federal government.

Normally, scandal and economic downturns prevent a president from being reelected. But not Grant. Somehow the public puts him into office without much challenge again.

The second term is not unlike the first. There is the Panic of 1873, not long after he starts the term. In addition, there are more scandals involving more cabinet members and the vice president, notably the Sanborn Contracts.

So basically, we've had two terms of Grant. Two periods of economic trouble. Multiple scandals.

And this man is still favored by the Republicans to run again. Grant was the favorite in 1880 until James G. Blaine threw his support behind James A. Garfield.

I just fail to comprehend how any man, even a successful general, could be so politically prosperous for as long as Grant with so much crap occurring while he's the big cheese of America.

Assassinations: Part 2

Charles Guiteau was the assassin of James Garfield. He gave a couple of speeches in New York, after substituting Garfield's name in for the originial Stalwart favorite candidate, Former President Ulysses S. Grant. He then got the idea that when Garfield/Arthur won the election, it was due to his efforts. And with the spoils system of the time, Guiteau CLEARLY deserved a consulship for his CLEARLY influential and CLEARLY extremely important efforts.

Guiteau moved to the nation's capital, because the Republican party and Garfield were forever in his debt. He wasn't showered with honor after honor, so he began to write far too many letters to Garfield and Secretary of State Blaine trying to secure a consulship to Paris. He was ignored and felt cheated, so he began planning to kill the president.

So Guiteau went out and bought a pistol, largely based upon how good it looked, choosing an ivory handle over a wooden one. He assumed it would end up in a museum as "the gun that killed Garfield." (Funny thing is, the Smithsonian lost it.) He aborted a few attempts, but eventually went through with the entire thing on July 2, 1881.

Garfield and political friends arrived at the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Station in the morning. There were many people in the station, and they hurried towards their train. Guiteau stepped out of the crowd and shot Garfield twice. One grazes his arm. "My God, what is this?" The second gets stuck in his spine. Guiteau tried to leave to get into the cab he previously asked to take him to jail, but he was arrested. (The arresting officer failed to take his gun until they reached the station. We'll leave Patrick Kearney nameless so no one knows who was such an idiot.)

Guiteau's famous line is, "I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts! I did it and I want to be arrested! Arthur is President now!" However, Arthur was not yet president. Garfield didn't die. A primitive air conditioner was created to keep him cool through the summer, and Alexander Graham Bell invented a metal detector specifically for the purpose of trying to locate the bullet in Garfield. It failed to work because the bed he was on had metal springs.

You see, there was no real reason to dig out that bullet, but doctors stuck their dirty hands into the president's back time and time again. The idiot doctors of the time killed him, just because they were trying to find a bullet that he probably could have survived with. Garfield finally died on September 19, 1881, and the "Stalwart of the Stalwarts" had gotten Chester Arthur to be president.

Guiteau's trial was most interesting, as he brought to court with him shenanigans and buffoonery. He asked people watching for advice, spoke out against his defense attorney, sang to the court, and claimed the doctors were the true murderers of Garfield.

Well the last part wasn't so far off.

But the antics of Charles Guiteau could not save him, and he was hung in June of 1882.

He had thought he'd go down in history with everyone knowing his name... Go ask someone who Charles Guiteau is and you'll see how well that went for him.



I actually put more work into this assessment of Guiteau than I did in my final project for AP US History. So this must be worth like 110%!