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The first inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant as the
18th 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
took place on March 4, 1869, at the East Portico of the
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in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
This was the 21st
inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...
and marked the commencement of the first four-year term of
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
as president and the only term of
Schuyler Colfax Schuyler Colfax Jr. (; March 23, 1823 – January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25th speaker of the House ...
as
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. Chief Justice
Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...
administered the presidential oath of office. Outgoing president
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...
did not attend the inaugural ceremonies, as he and Grant refused to sit with each other in the carriage going to them. Johnson also refused go in a separate carriage. Instead, he was in the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
signing last-minute legislation. This was the fourth time in which an outgoing president boycotted his elected successor's inauguration, an event that wouldn't occur again until
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, when he boycotted Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021, 152 years later. Grant's 1869 inaugural parade was grander than any of those before him: special tickets were required for admission to the Capitol on inauguration day, eight full divisions of soldiers marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, and windows overlooking the parade route sold for very high prices. That evening, a ball was held in the Treasury Building.


Grant's inaugural address

There are three main points that President Grant put forward in his Inauguration Address, which he had entirely written on his own. Grant started off his Inauguration Address by discussing how the laws should be enforced and what an ideal executive branch should look like,
On all leading questions agitating the public mind I will always express my views to Congress and urge them according to my judgment, and when I think it advisable will exercise the constitutional privilege of interposing a veto to defeat measures which I oppose; but all laws will be faithfully executed, whether they meet my approval or not.
I shall on all subjects have a policy to recommend, but none to enforce against the will of the people. Laws are to govern all alike--those opposed as well as those who favor them. I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.
Grant then went into the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and reassured the American citizens that he would fight to retire the debt from the war.
A great debt has been contracted in securing to us and our posterity the Union. The payment of this, principal and interest, as well as the return to a specie basis as soon as it can be accomplished without material detriment to the debtor class or to the country at large, must be provided for. To protect the national honor, every dollar of Government indebtedness should be paid in gold, unless otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract. Let it be understood that no repudiator of one farthing of our public debt will be trusted in public place, and it will go far toward strengthening a credit which ought to be the best in the world, and will ultimately enable us to replace the debt with bonds bearing less interest than we now pay. To this should be added a faithful collection of the revenue, a strict accountability to the Treasury for every dollar collected, and the greatest practicable retrenchment in expenditure in every department of Government.
Lastly, Grant fully endorsed the Fifteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1870, granting African Americans suffrage rights.
The question of suffrage is one which is likely to agitate the public so long as a portion of the citizens of the nation are excluded from its privileges in any State. It seems to me very desirable that this question should be settled now, and I entertain the hope and express the desire that it may be by the ratification of the fifteenth article of amendment to the Constitution."


Reactions to the inaugural address

Grant's inaugural address was well received by the American press and citizens. The address was recognized to be "brief, clear, emphatic, and to the purpose." The American public gained faith in Grant's administration as they believed that Grant had a full sense of responsibilities, but without misunderstanding or fear of what was in front of him.


European congratulatory telegrams

When Grant reached his headquarters after the inauguration, the following table telegrams were placed in his hands.


Inauguration observances in other cities

Following are some inauguration observances published in other American cities, more can be found through the link in the footnotes.


Indianapolis, March 4

"A prayer meeting, under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Association, was held at Masonic Hall to-day from 12 to 1 o'clock, invoking Divine blessings on the incoming Administration, all Christian denominations uniting."


San Francisco, March 4

"A salute was fired and the public buildings and the principal streets of the city were decorated with flags to-day, in honor of the inauguration of GRANT."


Nashville, March 4

"Grant's Inaugural address was circulated here at 3:30 pm today. It was sought for and read with avidity to suffrage is regarded as obscure; otherwise the address gives general satisfaction."


See also

*
Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant The presidency of Ulysses S. Grant began on March 4, 1869, when Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated as the 18th president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1877. The Reconstruction era took place during Grant's two terms of office. The Ku ...
* Second inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant *
1868 United States presidential election The 1868 United States presidential election was the 21st quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1868. In the first election of the Reconstruction Era, Republican nominee Ulysses S. Grant defeated Horatio Seymour of the ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Ulysses S. United States presidential inaugurations 1869 in Washington, D.C. 1869 in American politics Inauguration 1 March 1869 events