Some examples of corruption in the grant administration?

Answer 1

The Grant administration was politically corrupt in that it was full of liars and self-indulgent swindlers. President Grant himself was known for being easily swayed by bribes and luxurires such as fine cigars, wines, and horses.

The first strike against Grant's cabinet was the occurence of the Crẻdit Mobilier scandal in which Union Pacific Railroad insiders formed Crẻdit Mobilier, a construction company, as a means to tap off the profits from the construction of the transcontinental railroad. The scheme earned the company's insiders millions of dollars from stockholders and the federal government. When suspicions arose and an investigation was to be launched, the company bribed various congressmen to ward off the investigation and succeeded. The scandal was exposed in 1872 and to the shock of many, Grant's vice president was one of the many found guilty of having been bribed with stocks.

Another major strike against the Grant administration was the major Stock Market crash infamously known as Black Friday in which Jim Fisk and Jay Gould attempted to corner the gold market with the help of Grant's brother-in-law, who promised to keep Grant from foiling their plan and allowing gold to be sold. However, Grant acted against his brother-in-law's advice and instead of allowing the price of gold to skyrocket (as Fisk and Gould had intended to happen so they could sell everything they had bid on for a large profit), Grant ordered the Treasury to release gold, which caused the price to plummet dramatically; this caused millions of Americans to suffer financially for years to follow.