PRESIDENTIAL FEUDS, PART II

This was not the first clash between the two men. Shortly after the end of the Civil War, President Johnson sought to have Robert E. Lee arrested for treason, contrary to the surrender terms signed at Appomattox. Grant was furious that Johnson would even think about violating the term of the surrender that represented the nation’s solemn word of honor. When Lee appealed to Grant for help, Grant intervened on Lee’s behalf. He threatened to take his case to the people if the President did not drop his attempt to have Lee arrested. Johnson backed down, and Lee was not arrested.

Grant was elected in 1868 to succeed Johnson as President. The two had not reconciled by the time Grant was inaugurated President on March 4, 1869. President Johnson refused to ride with Grant, and therefore was not present at Grant’s inauguration. This had not happened since John Quincy Adams left town the night before the inauguration of Andrew Jackson in 1829.

The next great political feud involved two men who had been best of personal and political friends, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Teddy Roosevelt had been the incredibly popular President. Unfortunately, on election night in 1904, Teddy said he would not run for another term in 1908. In 1908, Teddy kept his word and retired. He virtually appointed his friend and Secretary of War William Howard Taft as his successor. With Teddy’s support, Taft won in a landslide. But shortly after Taft took office, the friendship, both political and personal, began to break apart until the two men became bitter enemies. In the next article, we will experience this political earthquake that changed not only our history, but also the history of the entire world.

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