lengthy speech was used as the political platform for the Liberal Republican Party and launched the short-lived political career of Horace Greeley as the party's presidential candidate in the 1872 United States presidential election. Grant as reformer Historian Louis Arthur Coolidge noted that although Grant had critics, including Sumner, concerning presidential patronage, he was the first president to advocate and sign into law civil service reform legislation, doing the latter on March 4, 1871. Grant said that the "elevation and purification of civil service of the government will be hailed with approval by the whole people of the United States". The historians H. Wayne Morgan and Ari Hoogenboom say that Grant's presidential reputation for corruption has been exaggerated. Grant placed leading reformer George William Curtis as head of the civil service commission set up to establish regulations, in order to ensure the best person qualified would hold office. In addition to signing the civil service reform, Grant first limited and eventually abolished the moiety system in which private citizens contracted as Treasury revenue agents and received a percentage of delinquent taxes assessed and collected. Modern definitions The Liberal Republicans called corruption in government "Grantism" from 1873 until 1875. The Liberal Republicans ceased to exist after the reforming Democratic Party assumed a majority in the United States House of Representatives from 1875 to 1881. After assuming control of the House for the 44th Congress, the Democrats launched a series of corruption investigations into the Grant administration from 1875–1876. Today, "Grantism" is defined as any political corruption and greed in government. During Grant's presidency, many of his associates took part in price skimming and tax evasion. More generally, "Grantism" may also refer to "big business" undermining democratic control of local and national government. References Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant Presidential scandals in the United States Political corruption in the United States Grant administration controversies Eponymous political ideologies 1822 births 1885 deaths