If you’re wondering who became president after Andrew Johnson, the short answer is Ulysses S. Grant. He took the oath of office on March 4, 1869, becoming the 18th President of the United States.
But honestly? Just saying his name doesn't really cover it.
The transition from Johnson to Grant was basically a handoff from one of the most hated men in American history to a guy who was essentially a Victorian-era rockstar. Andrew Johnson had just barely survived impeachment. The country was a mess. Reconstruction was stalling, and the wounds of the Civil War were still very much wide open.
Grant didn’t just "succeed" Johnson; he was the corrective measure the country was screaming for.
Why Grant Was the Only Choice in 1868
By the time the 1868 election rolled around, the Republican party was done with Andrew Johnson. They didn't even nominate him. Instead, they turned to the man who had actually won the war: Ulysses S. Grant.
You’ve gotta understand how popular this guy was. People saw him as the "Saviour of the Union." His campaign slogan was "Let us have peace," which sounds simple, but it was exactly what a traumatized nation wanted to hear. He ended up crushing the Democratic nominee, Horatio Seymour, in the Electoral College (214 to 80), though the popular vote was actually a bit closer than you might expect.
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What’s interesting is that Grant didn’t even want to be a politician. He was a career soldier. He hated the backroom deals. But he felt a sense of duty to protect what he’d fought for on the battlefield.
What Actually Happened During Grant’s Presidency?
A lot of history books from the mid-20th century were pretty mean to Grant. They painted him as a clueless drunk who let his friends rob the government blind.
That narrative has shifted a lot lately.
Modern historians, like Ron Chernow in his massive biography Grant, have highlighted that while there was definitely corruption in his administration (we’ll get to that), Grant himself was a massive advocate for civil rights. He was basically the last president for a hundred years to really try and enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments in the South.
The War on the KKK
One of Grant’s biggest moves was creating the Department of Justice in 1870. Why? To go after the Ku Klux Klan. He sent federal troops into the South to break the KKK’s back, and for a few years, he actually succeeded in suppressing their violence. It was a bold move that most other 19th-century presidents wouldn't have dared to try.
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Economic Chaos and the "Whiskey Ring"
It wasn't all civil rights and heroism, though. Grant's presidency was plagued by scandals that he didn't always see coming.
- The Gold Ring: Two speculators, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, tried to corner the gold market, leading to "Black Friday" in 1869.
- The Whiskey Ring: A massive conspiracy of distillers and federal agents who were stealing millions in liquor taxes. Grant’s own private secretary was implicated.
- The Panic of 1873: A massive economic depression that lasted for years.
Basically, Grant was a Great Man who was kind of a bad judge of character. He trusted his old war buddies way too much, and they took advantage of him.
The Transition: Johnson vs. Grant
The vibes at the inauguration were incredibly awkward. Andrew Johnson was so bitter about Grant’s victory (and the fact that Grant had sided against him during the impeachment drama) that he refused to ride in the carriage with the new president-elect.
Johnson just stayed at the White House, signing last-minute papers, and then slipped away. He was the first outgoing president to skip his successor’s inauguration since John Quincy Adams.
It was a petty end to a tumultuous presidency, and it paved the way for Grant to try and rebuild the "broken circle" of the Union.
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Key Facts About the 18th President
If you're studying for a test or just curious, here's the quick-hit list of what Grant did after he took over for Johnson:
- Ratified the 15th Amendment: This guaranteed that the right to vote couldn't be denied based on race.
- Established Yellowstone: In 1872, he signed the act making Yellowstone the first National Park in the world.
- The Treaty of Washington: He settled long-standing disputes with Great Britain, basically preventing another war.
- Enforcement Acts: These were the laws he used to legally prosecute the KKK.
Why Should You Care Today?
Grant is often the "forgotten" great president. We remember Lincoln for the war and Washington for the start, but Grant was the guy who had to figure out how to make a post-slavery America actually work.
He wasn't perfect. He struggled with the "Indian Policy" of the time, and his administration's scandals are a textbook example of why "hiring your friends" is a bad idea in government. But compared to Andrew Johnson—who actively fought against civil rights—Grant was a visionary.
If you're looking to dive deeper into this era, your best bet is to look at the 1868 Election results state-by-state. It shows a country that was deeply divided, with Grant winning largely because of the newly enfranchised Black voters in the South.
Next Steps for History Buffs:
Check out the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. He wrote them while he was literally dying of throat cancer to make sure his family wouldn't be penniless. They are widely considered the best memoirs ever written by a U.S. President. You can find them for free on most public domain sites like Project Gutenberg.
Reading his own words gives you a much better sense of the man than any textbook ever could.