After the Civil War America entered the era of Reconstruction which was part of a larger era known as the Gilded Age. During this time political corruption stank to high heaven.

Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War hero, was elected president, and he got himself into trouble, but so did every politician during that time. And let's not forgot where those politicians got all their encouragement for corruption: folks like Boss Tweed.

I argue that all of this should have been expected after such a disorienting event like the Civil War.