Excerpt from "A Complete and Graphic Account of the Crédit Mobilier Investigation" from Behind the Scenes in Washington

Published in 1873; reprinted on Making of America Books (Web site)

Evidence mounts against the vice president of the United States

"The people do not wish to believe him guilty; but they are appalled by the terrible mass of circumstantial evidence against him.…"

Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885; served 1869–77), the Union general who led the North to victory in the American Civil War (1861–65), was pressed into politics by those seeking a fresh start after the troubled presidency of Andrew Johnson (1808–1875; served 1865–69) (see...