Post-Civil War era: Ulysses S. Grant

The Civil War between 1861-1865 provided many military heroes to the victors, the Union army. Names such as William T. Sherman, George H. Thomas, Joshua L. Chamberlain, Ambrose Burnside, George Meade, Philip Sheridan, and the most revered of them all, Ulysses Simpson Grant. Incumbent Andrew Johnson was not about to be nominated as the Republican candidate in 1868, and Grant was the obvious choice due to his popularity in the North. Countering Grant was New York Governor Horatio Seymour, who had often opposed many of Lincoln's actions during the war. The election was actually pretty close considering Grant's popularity and some southern states not voting since they had not been reconstructed. Grant won easily in the electoral college, but the popular vote only tallied 52% for Grant. Grant's presidency has often been labeled as a failure and one of the worst in history. There were many scandals that hindered Grant, but he still won again easily in the 1872 election due to his popularity, this time over Horace Greeley, newspaper editor from NY. This item pictured is a token/medal showing Grant on the front and the year 1868. On the back it reads "If it Takes All Summer," one of his famous 1864 slogans from Virginia. Many Grant items are rare and hard to come by, unless it is a token or medal like this one, which are usually under $50. Items for Horatio Seymour and Horace Greeley are also rare and often require the buyer to spend over $100 on any single item.