The Forgettable Presidents

 A construction company that Union Pacific Railroad hired to build the transcontinental railroad  Really Credit Mobilier was being run by executives of Union Pacific (T. Durant)  Credit Mobilier overcharged Union Pacific for its work  348% profits!  Gave stock to Congressmen & VP Schuyler Colfax to keep it quiet  Uncovered by newspaper  72 million given for a 53 million railroad

 Treasury agents (IRS) and whiskey distributors scammed the US government out of millions of tax revenue from whisky  In 1875, Grant in a reforming mood wrote, "Let no guilty man escape."  In 1875, Grant’s personal secretary and chief treasury clerk indicted

 1860 Financiers Gould and Fisk got close to Grant’s brother in law and then Grant himself  Got Grant to hire an assistant Treasury Secretary connected to Gould and Fisk  “insider information” on gold prices and when to buy and sell  Huge panic after Grant found out

 Over 40 family members in government appointments and employment

Which image better describes the late 19 th century?

 Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt made $$$, beautiful mansions, new/modern factories, America’s economy grows…. BUT  1890, 11 million of the nation's 12 million families earned less than $1200 per year  of this group, the average annual income was $380, well below the poverty line  Corruption and manipulation with political machines (Are we really a democracy?)  Corruption in the national government….