the new politics of the Grant era" caused them to "demand...an end to Reconstruction". It is the centrality of Reconstruction issues in Grant's political situation that has led to a great deal of oversight by historians. Grant's years in office cannot be understood if the politics of the Gilded Age is separated from the politics of Reconstruction. Both were primary features of the 1870's, and in order to understand Grant's political situation, historians must recognize how fundamental the inconsistency was between the reformers' revered conception of government by the best educated and the notion of black rule in the South, the latter being an essential part of Grant's program. The president's dedication to Reconstruction, which endured even after most national leaders declared it misguided, produced a civil rights record which, according to Richard N. Current, made Grant, "in a certain respect, one of the greatest presidents" with whom "only Lyndon B. Johnson can even be compared..." A look at all of the pressing issues during the Grant administration, but especially Reconstruction, clearly indicates that the portrait of politics during the 1870's as a mere matter of who practiced a less desirable system of patronage and who advocated civil service reform is seriously distorted. The traditional verdict on the Grant presidency does not even begin to appear logical until one accepts the flawed assumption that the corruption / civil service reform issue was more important than such issues as Reconstruction, international crises, Indian affairs, and the multitude of economic matters, all combined. As William B. Hesseltine admits in his definitive study of President Grant, "Grant's enemies....stuffed the ballot boxes of history against Grant..." ...
