COMMENTARY: Another president got caught first by long arm of the law

By Berl Falbaum

A little levity and some relief from the sad and painful spectacle of having a former president indicted and arraigned on criminal charges:

Former president Donald Trump finally has a legitimate complaint about the media but he has yet to make it.

The media continually describe Trump as the first former president in U.S. history to be indicted — charged with a crime — but have said little, if anything, about a former sitting president who was arrested. Yep, that’s right.  

My guess is that Trump is not strong on U.S. history. Let’s remember he believed that Frederick Douglass, the famous abolitionist in the mid-1800s, was still alive; thought that Andrew Jackson, who died in 1845, some 16 years before the Civil War broke out, could have stopped the conflict; and identified the wrong war during which the Star-Spangled Banner was written.

Trump also told us that George Washington won the Revolutionary War because he captured the airports.  Those were the airports with cellphone parking lots.

So, we doubt that Trump knows he is not the only president arrested by the long arm of the law. The other one: Ulysses S. Grant, also a Republican and Civil War hero. When? 1872. The crime? Speeding in his horse-drawn carriage.

Here is a summary of the story as reported by the Smithsonian Magazine and a few other media sources.

A black police officer, William Henry West, stopped Ulysses S. Grant, our 18th president (1869-77), for speeding in Washington, telling the president, that he was not only “violating the law by speeding along [the] street” but also setting a poor example for the other gentlemen of the city.

When Grant was stopped by West, The Evening Star reported that Grant “was driving a pair of fast steppers and he had some difficulty in halting them, but this he managed to do.”

Grant apologized and promised to “hold [his] team down to the regulation speed.” Grant took off, repeating that he would be more responsible in the future.

But he violated his “promise” the very next day; West, again, caught the president driving too fast in his carriage — “burning up the roadway” while racing with friends — and once more pulled him over.

Grant defended himself, stating, “Hang it, officer. These animals of mine are thoroughbreds, and there is no holding them.”

West held fast, stating:  “I cautioned you yesterday, Mr. President, about fast driving, and you said, sir, that it would not occur again.   I am very sorry, Mr. President, to have to do it, for you are the chief of the nation, and I am nothing but a policeman, but duty is duty, sir, and I will have to place you under arrest.”

Grant consented to being taken to the police station, even asking West about his Civil War experiences during their ride.

Grant assured West he would not face any repercussions for the arrest, “as he admired a man who did his duty,” The Star wrote.

At the station, Grant paid $20 ($493.18 in today’s dollars) in collateral — the charge was a misdemeanor — then watched as six racing friends, some of them prominent government officials, protested their arrests.

All seven men were ordered to appear in court the next day but Grant failed to show up, forfeiting his $20 collateral.

The other defendants lambasted West’s “outrageous conduct ... in daring to arrest gentlemen out for a pleasant drive.” After hearing testimony from 23 women “of the most refined character,” all of whom testified against the drivers, the judge ordered the six men present to pay heavy fines. Though the convicted appealed the decision, a higher court upheld it.

The men’s attempt to get West fired failed. Meanwhile, Grant sent a messenger to the chief of police “complimenting West on his fearlessness in making arrests and [making] it plain that he would not allow any harm to come to West.”

Thus, Trump is not alone in being a U.S. president charged with a crime. But I do have some questions for which I could not find answers. They include:

—Was West a Democrat or Republican?

—Was Grant caught in a speed trap organized by Democrats?

—Was West investigated for letting Grant off the hook the first time?

—Did anyone call for the appointment of a special prosecutor?

—Did anyone in Congress suggest impeachment procedures?

—How much over the speed limit did Grant drive his horses?  What was the speed limit?

—Why did Grant speed?  Did he have a Stormy Daniels-like passenger in the carriage and he was anxious to get home?

—Was Grant tipsy? He was known to like his liquor.  When Union officers complained about Grant’s drinking during the Civil War, Lincoln, who admired Grant’s military skills, inquired what brand of liquor was Grant’s favorite. Lincoln said he was curious because he wanted to send “barrels” of it to his other officers.

—Did Grant sign on to the conspiracy theory that held Democrats were feeding his horses high-energy hay?

—Was Grant more law abiding after being fined?

And finally, did Grant charge that the entire story was “fake news?”
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Berl Falbaum is a veteran political columnist and author of 12 books.