As president, Grant commanded the government the same way he led the army. Bringing part of his army staff into the White House, he allowed Radical Reconstruction to continue its course in the South, sometimes supporting it with military force.
Grant was not a president of the best. Associated with speculators. He unveiled his plan to monopolize the gold market, but it was too late to prevent the business chaos.
During his campaign for reelection in 1872, Grant was attacked by liberal republican reformers. He called them "narrow-minded men," with eyes so narrowly close that "they can look through the same street hole without blinking." The general's friends in the Republican Party came to be proudly known as "the Old Guard."
Ulysses S. Grant have suffered many scandals, leading to continual staff changes. In many of their commitments were low and accusations of corruption were widespread.
