The Election of 1872

Throughout his adult life, Ulysses S. Grant had been dogged by failure. Before finally achieving success as a Civil War general, he had been dismissed from the army in 1854 for heavy drinking, and then had failed as a farmer, real-estate agent, and bill collector. His administration was pockmarked by scandals involving Vice President Schuyler Colfax and high-ranking cabinet officers. A large contingent of Republicans was disillusioned with the Grant scandals and the president’s failure to promote civil service reform. Bowing to tradition and to his limited speaking skills, Grant remained silent in the campaign. But Greeley hit the campaign trail, giving more than two hundred speeches during an 11-day stretch. Grant interpreted the results as a personal victory, but many Republicans were simply voting against Greeley, and many Democrats refused to vote for him. Since Greeley’s death occurred before the presidential electors met to count their votes, a voting anomaly occurred.