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12 Axes Test
Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant

Eighteenth US president

Ulysses S. Grant’s political views

The eighteenth president, who used federal power against the Ku Klux Klan, backed the Fifteenth Amendment, settled the Alabama claims by arbitration and vetoed the Inflation Bill.

Presidency
18th, 1869–1877
Party
Republican
Lived
1822–1885
Scored on
7 of 12 axes

Strongest documented leanings

  1. Unitary80%
  2. Laissez-faire72%
  3. Irreligious70%
Where Grant stood on the twelve axes
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Where Grant stood on the twelve axes

Each bar is one axis, between its two poles. Only axes with a documented position are scored; the others are shown as faint stubs on the icon and listed below, never as neutral.

Based on his two terms from 1869 to 1877 and the Reconstruction laws he enforced. Corruption in his administration is part of the story but is not scored; only the record on the axes is.

  • Federal vs UnitaryUnitary 80%
    FederalUnitary

    Backed the Fifteenth Amendment, ratified on 3 February 1870, created the Department of Justice on 22 June 1870 and signed the Force Act of 31 May 1870.

  • Security vs FreedomSecurity 55%
    SecurityFreedom

    Suspended habeas corpus in nine South Carolina counties on 17 October 1871 to break the Ku Klux Klan, using the power the Klan Act of 20 April 1871 gave him.

  • Nationalism vs InternationalismInternationalism 52%
    NationalismInternationalism

    Signed the Treaty of Washington on 8 May 1871, which sent the Alabama claims to arbitration and won $15.5 million in 1872, but pressed the annexation of Santo Domingo, which the Senate rejected in 1870.

  • Militarist vs PacifistPacifist 60%
    MilitaristPacifist

    The Virginius affair of October 1873 set off war scares with Spain but ended quietly after Spain agreed to reparations, and the Alabama claims went to arbitration rather than war.

  • Assimilationist vs MulticulturalistAssimilationist 58%
    AssimilationistMulticulturalist

    His Peace Policy gave Indian agencies to church appointees and pressed the Sioux onto reservations, cutting wars from 101 in 1869 to 15 in 1875, while he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

  • Planned vs Laissez-faireLaissez-faire 72%
    PlannedLaissez-faire

    Vetoed the Inflation Bill on 22 April 1874 and signed the Resumption of Specie Act on 14 January 1875, which set 1 January 1879 for paper money to be redeemable in gold.

  • Irreligious vs ReligiousIrreligious 70%
    IrreligiousReligious

    Told the Army of the Tennessee at Des Moines on 29 September 1875 that no public money should go to sectarian schools and that religion belonged to the family, the church and the private school.

No documented position, so not scored: Democratic vs Autocratic, Collectivize vs Privatize, Isolationism vs Globalism, Progressive vs Traditional, and Acceleration vs Bioconservative.

What shaped the scores

Dated actions from the record. Each is tied to the axis it informs.

  1. The Fifteenth Amendment, which Grant worked to get ratified, becomes part of the Constitution.

    Federal vs Unitary

    Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant · Wikipedia

  2. Grant signs the first Enforcement Act, to protect Black voters from violence and intimidation.

    Federal vs Unitary

    Enforcement Acts · Wikipedia

  3. He signs the bill creating the Department of Justice.

    Federal vs Unitary

    Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant · Wikipedia

  4. He signs the Treaty of Washington, which sends the Alabama claims to an international tribunal.

    Nationalism vs Internationalism

    Treaty of Washington (1871) · Wikipedia

  5. He suspends habeas corpus in all nine South Carolina counties to break the Klan.

    Security vs Freedom

    Enforcement Acts · Wikipedia

  6. He vetoes the Inflation Bill that Congress passed on 14 April.

    Planned vs Laissez-faire

    Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant · Wikipedia

  7. At Des Moines he calls for free public schools with no public money for sectarian ones.

    Irreligious vs Religious

    Remarks at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Army of the Tennessee, Des Moines, Iowa · The American Presidency Project

Grant compared with other presidents

Measured on the axes both presidents are scored on, with the same rules as the quiz.

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Questions about Ulysses S. Grant’s politics

The eighteenth president, who used federal power against the Ku Klux Klan, backed the Fifteenth Amendment, settled the Alabama claims by arbitration and vetoed the Inflation Bill. On our twelve axes, the strongest documented leanings are Unitary 80%, Laissez-faire 72%, Irreligious 70%.

Those labels changed meaning over time, so this site describes Grant on twelve axes instead. On the economy, Grant’s record leans toward free markets and private provision. The scores above give the evidence behind each axis.

Ulysses S. Grant was a Republican. Grant was the 18th president, serving 1869–1877.

On the axes they are both scored on, Grant is closest to Calvin Coolidge, Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover and furthest from Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson.

It cut the number of wars with Native Americans from 101 in 1869 to 15 in 1875, but the Black Hills gold rush, the Modoc and Sioux wars and corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs undermined it, and Grant shrank some reservations.

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Sources and credits

Main source: First Inaugural Address of Ulysses S. Grant · The Avalon Project

Also read

Portrait: Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, c. 1870–1880 · Public domain

Scores are editorial estimates from the public record, not measurements. A place on this site is not praise.

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