William Worth Belknap: An American Disgrace

Edward S. Cooper

Jan 2003 · Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press

About this ebook

This is the biography of a man willingly corrupted by the demands of Washington society and of two wives who demanded social prominence. By virtue of his excellent Civil War record, Belknap became President Grant's Secretary of War. The excesses of the Gilded Age were in full flower. Railroad barons, gold speculators, arms dealers, land speculators, and purveyors of goods for the army flocked to Washington seeking contracts and favors. Cabinet members vied with each other to provide the most lavish entertainments on their meager salaries. Some Cabinet Officers were rich, Belknap was poor. Graft was rampant and Belknap found ways to have his share. Soon money was flowing into his coffers and his wives could dress in Parisian gowns, live in mansions, give receptions for 1,200 people at a time, and each wife, in succession, would be named queen of Washington society by the newspapers. But a day of reckoning did come with his impeachment and resignation in disgrace. This is not just the story of one or more grafter from the Gilded Age of the Grant administration. The effects of the Belknap scandal are still felt today.