In the years following the Civil War, politics struggled to
regain a sense of normality. Reconstruction was slowly adding the Confederacy
back to the Union and new civil rights laws introduced the African American
population to the polls. By the 1868 election, Virginia, Texas, and Alabama
were yet to be reinstated in the Union and were not allowed to vote. During
this time, the presidential campaigns had to be careful on how they presented
their candidate.
Grant and Colfax, Election of 1868 (courtesy of Wikimedia)
Grant himself did not do much campaigning. Most of the work
was done by the Republican Party which used the two slogans for the campaign:
“Vote as you shot” and “Let us have peace.”
“Vote as you shot” was directed towards the Union states
(directing it at the South would have been silly). As Grant was the leader of
the Union armies, his fame as a war hero was used to encourage people to vote
for him. Additionally, many of the voters in the North had been enlisted in the
Union army (due in part to the draft). Grant’s leadership had been proven in
war, and the Republican campaign strived to put this leader in the White House.
“Let us have peace” was original spoken by Grant after his acceptance
as candidate of the Republican Party. This line symbolized what Grant believed
in and what he sought to achieve. Peace was a desired thing across the
recovering nation and could appeal to all the people of the United States. “Let
us have peace” presented two different points:
First, it was an appeal to the desires of the general
public. After the bloody years of the Civil War and the turbulent period that
followed, the people of the reunited states were looking for a break. The
incumbent president, Andrew Johnson struggled to continue the reconstruction
started by President Lincoln. Johnson’s failure to connect with the politicians
led to divides in the national government. The people of America wanted a
strong leader that could reunite the nation and resolve many of the problems.
Grant was advertised as the candidate who would bring about a much wanted peace.
Second, it points out the accomplishment of Grant in
bringing about the end of the Civil War. Although Grant was the commanding
general of the Union army, he truly desired peace. When he was promoted to
General of the Army, he sought to swiftly bring an end to the war resulting in
the relentless chase of the Confederate Army and total warfare in the South.
While these tactics may seem violent, they ultimately hastened the end of the
war preventing additional years of bloodshed.
For Grant’s reelection campaign in 1872, his slogan was
“Grant us another term.” This statement uses the candidate’s name as a verb to
encourage voters to reelect him. The circumstances worked in their favor to
allow this clever wordplay. This slogan can also be seen as a continuation of
the ideas set forth in Grant’s first term. Grant achieved what he set out to do
and after his two terms as president, America was at peace again.
I have never really studied Grant's presidency and I think it is ironic that the slogan supporting a war general is about making peace. This was a very interesting campaign to pick, as the Reconstruction Era was a very confusing and unorganized time in America. I also find it cool that the general that led the battle on the South was able to gain a majority of the vote. As for his second campaign slogan, who doesn't love a good pun? Great analysis of a very interesting topic, seeing as Grant's presidency is usually neglected.
ReplyDeleteGrant doesn't really stand out as a president now, but from this post I can see that he definitely had some campaigns to make him stand out to voters back then. Knowing the situation around the time of Grant's presidency helps to understand how Grant's campaign worked and what he did as president, just as modern politicians campaign based on the issues that are current today, and it's interesting to see what issues were on people's minds back then.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying your blog pots Savern! I have always loved U.S history and you are giving me an entirely different way to look at the presidential races. I like how you showed that Grant's campaign idea worked and why it worked, the reasoning behind it. It was interesting to see how he used his name as his slogan for his reelection. I like how you pointed how he was able to achieve his goal of peace by the end of his second term. Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteThe more of these I read the more I'm seeing these as little rhetorical analysis'! Very fun. The one thing I would say is that as a reader my attention can start to stray as I'm reading a large chunk of text. Maybe it would be possible to include some more relevant images throughout I think that could improve an already wonderful blog :)
ReplyDeleteLike the people who commented above, I really am enjoying the progression of your blog. It's continually developing as a very interesting analysis of a variety of political slogans. You do very well to provide enough historical background to inform the reader without getting bogged down in the details. You move well in to rhetorical analysis that very skillfully breaks down the slogans.
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