Ulysses S. Grant was a great Civil War general. But later, as President, he successfully waged a big economic and political battle, largely forgotten today, that was crucial to helping the U.S. become the greatest economic colossus in history.
This segment of What’s Ahead lays out why that fight has enormous relevance now, as the Federal Reserve, the White House and Congress play with fire regarding future inflation and economic stagnation.
The excess money printing that helped finance the Civil War led to a post-war bubble. When it burst, Congress overwhelmingly passed what was dubbed the “Inflation Bill,” which would have massively increased the money supply.
Grant was under intense pressure to sign it. “I was never so pressed in my life to do anything as to sign that bill, never.”
He vetoed it, and his powerful message prevented an override. Grant then ruled out future inflation by putting the U.S. firmly on the road to a return to the gold standard.
Said Grant’s foremost biographer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow, “In this way, Grant’s decision … set the stage for America’s emergence as the world’s supreme industrial power.”
Grant prevented the U.S. from going the inflationary route of so many other nations.
The key issues then are very much with us today.
