CreamyGoodness
Well-Known Member
U.S. Grant has long been used by historians as an example of the worst presidents in American History. Other than the fact that he had been touted as the man who almost single-handedly won the Civil War for the North, one of the main reasons for his winning the election was the opposition.
Enter Horace Greely. An abolitionist firebrand who delighted in taking extreme positions, Mr. Greely's newspaper during the war featured correspondence from Mr. Karl Marx, a man he respected but disagreed with almost 100% of the time. Mr. Greely formed a short-lived political party called the Liberal Republicans (you cant make this shizz up) and chose his running mate, a man who criticized President Lincoln for not punishing the South as much as they deserved to be punished, and for not emancipating slaves in Missouri that were still under Confederate control.
Enter Mr. Benjamin Gatz Brown. A man whose alcoholism was so advanced that there are confirmed stories of him trying to butter a watermelon at a campaign picnic. One newspaper quotes him as saying "vote for Horse Greeny. He has the biggest head in North America!" upon which time he "committed an obscenity" in the lobby of his hotel. Lest you think Mr. Gatz Brown was prone to perversion, I am here to note that he merely mistook the hotel's potted palm for a chamber pot.
Mr. Greely would pass away before all votes were counted. The sad thing is that the Democratic party would win only one state in the election... Texas. Apparently, more people in America at the time would vote for a deceased person with a lunatic for a running mate than someone who opposed the war.
There is no moral to this story.
Enter Horace Greely. An abolitionist firebrand who delighted in taking extreme positions, Mr. Greely's newspaper during the war featured correspondence from Mr. Karl Marx, a man he respected but disagreed with almost 100% of the time. Mr. Greely formed a short-lived political party called the Liberal Republicans (you cant make this shizz up) and chose his running mate, a man who criticized President Lincoln for not punishing the South as much as they deserved to be punished, and for not emancipating slaves in Missouri that were still under Confederate control.
Enter Mr. Benjamin Gatz Brown. A man whose alcoholism was so advanced that there are confirmed stories of him trying to butter a watermelon at a campaign picnic. One newspaper quotes him as saying "vote for Horse Greeny. He has the biggest head in North America!" upon which time he "committed an obscenity" in the lobby of his hotel. Lest you think Mr. Gatz Brown was prone to perversion, I am here to note that he merely mistook the hotel's potted palm for a chamber pot.
Mr. Greely would pass away before all votes were counted. The sad thing is that the Democratic party would win only one state in the election... Texas. Apparently, more people in America at the time would vote for a deceased person with a lunatic for a running mate than someone who opposed the war.
There is no moral to this story.
