Party: Republican
Fact One: This president appointed the first African-American diplomat: Ebenezer Bassett to Haiti.
Fact Two: Created the Department of Justice, which went after members of the KKK.
Fact Three: He wanted to add the Dominican Republic (known as Santo Domingo) as another American state. His thought was the island would be a valuable naval base, but also an option for African-Americans in the South to move, which would cripple the Southern economy and hopefully force Southern leaders to realize the value of the workforce and push through civil rights.
Fact Four: Signed a bill that raised the President’s salary from $25,000 to $50,000. Congress also received a raise and hidden in an appropriation bill was a bonus to Representatives for their prior two years. The public was not thrilled.
Fact Five: Created the first National Park: Yellowstone. Yay, but at the same time, he also vetoed a bill that would have made it illegal to hunt buffalo (except for Native Americans). He thought the end of the buffalo would mean the Native Americans would stay on reservations and the fighting between them and settlers would end.
Quotes:
“Let no guilty man escape, if it can be avoided. No personal considerations should stand in the way of performing a public duty.”
“I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.”
“Declare Church and State forever separate and distinct, but each free within their proper spheres, and that all church property shall bear its own proportion of taxation.”
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