10 Outrageous But Forgotten Political Scandals
8. The Whiskey Ring
In 1875 the Whiskey Ring scandal was exposed. A group of politicians tied to President Grant’s administration managed to siphon off millions of dollars of liquor revenue into their pockets through a system of bribes involving distillers, rectifiers, gaugers, storekeepers, and internal revenue agents. US Secretary of the Treasury Benjamin Bristow uncovered ring using secret agents from outside the Treasury Department. The Whiskey Ring was viewed as exemplary of the kind of abuses of power that had followed the Republican rise to power after the Civil War. It was a major factor in ending Grant’s presidency, through the Compromise of 1877.
He was never Prime Minister. He was the President.