Whiskey Ring

The Whiskey Ring scandal, along with other alleged abuses of power by the Republican party, contributes to national weariness of Reconstruction, which will end after Grant's presidency with the Compromise of 1877.

The Whiskey Ring, a conspiracy among distillery owners, had begun in St. Louis but was also organized in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Peoria.

Before they were caught, a group of mostly Republican politicians had been able to siphon off millions of dollars in federal taxes on liquor; the scheme involved an extensive network of bribes involving distillers, rectifiers, gaugers, storekeepers, and internal revenue agents.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow, working without the knowledge of the President or the Attorney General, had broken the tightly connected and politically powerful ring in 1875 using secret agents from outside the Treasury department to conduct a series of raids across the country on May 10, 1875.

The trials begin at Jefferson City, Missouri, in October, 1875.

Ultimately, one hundred and ten convictions are made and over three million dollars  in taxes are recovered.

President Grant appoints General John Brooks Henderson (a former U.S.

Senator from Missouri) to serve as special prosecutor in charge of the indictments and trials, but Grant will eventually fire Gen. Henderson for challenging Grant's interference in the prosecutions; he will replace Henderson with attorney James Broadhead.

The Whiskey Ring is seen by many as a sign of corruption under the Republican governments that had taken power across the nation following the American Civil War.

General Orville E. Babcock, the private secretary to the President, is indicted as a member of the ring — for this reason, President Grant, although not directly involved in the ring, will come to be seen as emblematic of Republican corruption, and later scandals involving his Secretary of War William W. Belknap will only confirm that perception.