Presidential Chronicles

Rutherford Hayes #9: Reform Efforts (1877-1881); Topics covered include: President of the United States, Inaugural Address, Currency reform, Specie Resumption Act, Bland-Allison Act, Labor relations, Railroad strikes and Federal intervention, Political patronage, Political bosses, Changes at the New York Customhouse, reform in the Interior Department, and the completion of the Washington Monument...

Rutherford Hayes #8: Abandoning Southern Blacks (1877-1879); Topics covered include: President of the United States, Inauguration and Address, Cabinet, life in the White House, removal of Federal troops and end of Reconstruction, and the impact of this decision Key people: Lucy Hayes, Ulysses Grant, Morrison Waite, John Sherman, William Evarts, Carl Schurz, Daniel Chamberlain, Wade Hampton, Franci...

Rutherford Hayes #7: The Most Controversial Election, and a Fateful Compromise (1876-1877); Topics covered include: Election of 1876, dispute in four states, Electoral Commission, Compromise of 1877, plans to end Reconstruction, confirmation of Rutherford Hayes as the President-elect of the United States Key people: Samuel Tilden, John Sherman, Daniel Chamberlain, Wade Hampton, James Garfield, Lew...

Rutherford Hayes #6: The Republican Nominee (1872-1876); Topics covered include: Loses run for Congress, Death of Sardis Birchard, Elected Governor (third term), National Conventions, and Republican nominee for President of the United States Key people: Henry Banning, Sardis Birchard, Lucy Hayes, Manning Hayes, Guy Bryan, Alphonso Taft, William Allen, Samuel Tilden, James Blaine, Roscoe Conkling,...

Rutherford Hayes #5: Politician (1865-1872); Topics covered include: Promotion to Major General; Presidential Reconstruction; conflict between the President and Radical Republicans; Congressman; reelected; resigns to run for Governor; Elected Governor (two terms), agenda includes civil service reform, support for war veterans and orphans, and the 15th Amendment; and happy to leave office Key peopl...

Rutherford Hayes #4: One of the Good Colonels (1862-1865); Topics covered include: Civil War, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Vicksburg, John Morgan's raids (Ohio), Battle at Cloyd's Mountain, nominated for Congress (and elected), Shenandoah Valley Campaign, Battle of Cedar Creek, promotion to Brigadier General, end of the war, assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and reflections on...

Rutherford Hayes #3: The Ohio 23rd (1861-1862); Topics covered include: Civil War, volunteers for Union Army, life in the Union Army, Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Judge Advocate, Battle of Giles Court House, Battle of South Mountain, serious wound (nearly dies), recuperates at home, promoted to Colonel, and supports Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation Key people: William Dennison, William...

Rutherford Hayes #2: Lucy, and a Cause (1849-1861); Topics covered include: Lawyer, Sons of Temperance, Meets and marries Lucy Webb, children together, personality of both, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Bleeding Kansas, joins Republican Party, death of sister Fanny, elected City Solicitor of Cincinnati, election of 1860, Southern secessions, inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, attack no Fort Sumter, Civil War...

Rutherford Hayes #1: Family, School, and the Law (1822-1849); Topics covered include: Youth and family, education, becomes lawyer, and visit to Texas Key people: Sophia Hayes, Fanny Hayes, Sardis Birchard, Isaac Webb, Guy Bryan, and William Henry Harrison For more information on the "Presidential Chronicles" series, please visit https://www.presidentialchronicles.com/ For more informatio...

Ulysses Grant #10: World Traveler, Bankruptcy, and Memoirs (1877-1885); Topics covered include: Around the world tour, reporting of John Young, continues tour across the United States, election of 1880, failure of Grant & Ward investment house, bankruptcy, agrees to write memoirs, diagnosed with cancer, completes memoirs (through end of Civil War), and dies shortly thereafter Topics covered in...

Ulysses Grant #9: Cabinet Corruption (1873-1877); Topics covered include: President of the United States, 2nd inaugural, family deaths, family weddings, dedication of Abraham Lincoln's tomb, Panic of 1873, Inflation Bill (veto), Resumption of Specie Act (signs), Centennial Exposition, details on several Cabinet scandals, and the election of 1876 Key people: Jesse Grant, Fred Dent, George Meade, He...

Ulysses Grant #8: Commanding General to Commander in Chief (1869-1873); Topics covered include: President of the United States, Cabinet, family in the White House, confronts effort to corner the gold market, foreign affairs (Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Britain), Indian relations, Black Codes, Enforcement Acts, aggressive prosecutions in the South, US v. Reese, and US v. Cruikshank Key people: Elihu W...

Ulysses Grant #7: The Miseries of the Johnson Administration (1865-1869); Topics covered include: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson sworn in as President, Civil War ends, victory celebration in Washington DC< accepts many gifts (including homes), Swing Around the Circle, conflict with President Johnson, refuses diplomatic assignment to Mexico, conflict over the Military Reconstru...

Ulysses Grant #6: Commanding General and Victory (1864-1865); Topics covered include: Civil War, promoted to Lieutenant General and Commanding General of the Union Army, strategy to win the war, Overland Campaign (including Battles at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, and Cold Harbor), crosses James River, siege at Petersburg, Battle of the Crater, William Sherman captures Atlanta, Abraham...

Ulysses Grant #5: Grant Fights, Grant Wins (1862-1864); Topics covered include: Civil War, changing military leaders, Emancipation Proclamation, order to evict Jews from theater and President Abraham Lincoln rescinding the order, Battle of Vicksburg, and Battle of Chattanooga Key people: George McClellan, Henry Halleck, Abraham Lincoln, Edwin Stanton, William Sherman, David Porter, Julia Grant, Fr...

Ulysses Grant #4: "Unconditional Surrender" Grant (1861-1862); Topics covered include: Civil War, volunteers, Colonel Illinois Militia, initial engagements, promoted to Brigadier General, Battle of Columbus (KY)/Belmont (MO), Battle of Fort Henry, Battle of Fort Donelson, receives nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant, promoted to Major General, Battle of Shiloh, conflict wi...

Ulysses Grant #3: Vagabond Years (1848-1861); Topics covered include: Marries Julia Dent, initial post-war military assignments, crosses Panama, Fort Vancouver, misses his family (now with two children), begins drinking, assigned Fort Humboldt, caught under the influence on duty, resigns commission, returns to St. Louis, fails at every business venture, frees the lone slave he had been gifted, ret...

Ulysses Grant #2: One of the Most Unjust Wars ever Waged (1844-1848); Topics covered include: Assigned to Fort Jessup and Camp Salubrity; asks Frederick Dent for daughter (Julia's) hand in marriage; Mexican War; Battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, becomes quartermaster, Monterrey (horsemanship on display), Veracruz, Molina del Rey, Chapultepec Castle, and San Cosme Gate; brevet promotion...

Ulysses Grant #1: My Ulysses (1822-1844); Topics covered include: Lineage, parents, tanning business, love of animals particularly horses, education, Military Academy at West Point, classmates, horsemanship at commencement, assigned Jefferson Barracks, and becomes engaged to Julia Dent Key people: Matthew Grant, Priscilla Grant, Noah Grant, Jesse Grant, Hannah (Simpson) Grant, Thomas Hamer, Fred D...

Andrew Johnson #10: The President on Trial (1868-1875); Topics covered include: President of the United States, impeachment trial in the Senate, found not guilty by one vote, end of presidential term, returns to Tennessee, elected to U.S. Senate, and dies Key people: Salmon Chase, Thaddeus Stevens, Benjamin Butler, Henry Stanbery, Benjamin Curtis, William Evarts, William Fessenden, John Grimes, Ly...

Andrew Johnson #9: High Crimes and Misdemeanors (1867-1868); Topics covered include: President of the United States, Conflict with Congress over Reconstruction, dismisses Phil Sheridan over objections of Ulysses Grant, suspends Edwin Stanton, Grant becomes Secretary of War ad interim, impeachment fails in the House, Stanton reinstated by the Senate, conflict with Grant over Stanton's reinstatement...

Andrew Johnson #8: Conflict with Congress Intensifies (1866-1867); Topics covered include: President of the United States, Conflict with Congress over Reconstruction, Swing Around the Circle, Congress overrides numerous Johnson vetoes, Military Reconstruction Act, Tenure of Office Act, initial efforts to impeach Johnson, and the acquisition of Alaska Key people: Edwin Stanton, Ulysses Grant, David...

Andrew Johnson #7: Battles over Reconstruction (1865-1866); Topics covered include: President of the United States, Presidential Reconstruction, conflicts with Congress, representatives from seceded states not seated in Congress, Freedman's Bureau, speech on Washington's birthday, vetoes and overrides, and perspective on Johnson's actions in light of stated plans of Abraham Lincoln Key people: Ben...

Andrew Johnson #6: Filling Lincoln's Shoes (1865); Topics covered include: President of the United States, Civil War ends, investigation of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, victory celebration in Washington DC, meetings with Congressmen regarding Reconstruction, Presidential Reconstruction, conflict with Radical Republicans in Congress, Black Codes, family in the White House, and the con...

Andrew Johnson #5: Lincoln's Second VP (1864-1865); Topics covered include: Military Governor of Tennessee, son Charles Johnson is killed, election of 1860, nominated for Vice President on the National Union ticket, Abraham Lincoln and Johnson win the election, completes revision to the Tennessee Constitution, humiliation at inauguration, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders his army, Linc...