Existing comment:
Drunkard?
Stories of Grant the Drunkard have become part of Grant folklore. Where did they originate? What is the truth regarding Grant's drinking? Historians continue to debate this issue, in part, because Grant publicly ignored the charges.
The closest Grant came to admitting a problem was a comment made in January 1864. He did not drink any alcoholic beverage at a dinner held in his honor, telling another guest: "I dare not touch it. Sometimes I can drink freely without an unpleasant effect; as others I could not take even a single of wine."
In the early years of their marriage, Ulysses and Julia were stations in Michigan and New York. At his second post, Ulysses joined a Sons of Temperance organization where he became an officer of the club. He provides no reasons for joining, though some have argued that he recognized his drinking problem and tried to curb it through membership in the society.
Political cartoons from the 1868 election did not associate Republican candidate Grant with drinking. By 1872, however, one cartoonist portrayed Grant as a ne'er do well drunkard in the Democratic effort to elect Horace Greeley. Few accusations of drinking were leveled against Grant while president and the issue subsided, only to be revived by historians in the 20th century.
"On one side we have he confusing testimony of contemporaries, along with long-standing innuendoes, rumor, and shady gossip. On the other side, in addition to contemporary testimony, we have Grant's unvarnished record -- a record that has stood the test of time and had stood scrutiny for generations.
"But we are stuck with the legend of Grant's drinking. Like [Washington and] the cherry tree and the dollar over the Rappahannock, it will stay with Americans forever."
-- Charles G. Ellington, "The Trial of US Grant: The Pacific Coast years, 1852-1854" |