Books and Manuscripts

Washington, D.C., March 9, 1871. One sheet folded to make four pages, 7 7/8 x 5 in. (200 x 127 mm). Autograph letter on Executive Mansion stationery, signed by Ulysses S. Grant, as President of the United States, to his close friend and financier, Anthony Joseph Drexel of Philadelphia: "Your favor of/yesterday is received, and/also the Madeiri of/which it advises. Mrs./Grant & I had intended/to visit you tomorrow,/all to remain over Sunday/when I expected to return/here and Mrs. Grant go/in to New York to do/her Spring shopping. I/I find however that it/will be out of the question/for me to leave here now,/and Mrs. Grant thinks/she prefers delaying her/visit for a week to have me/along. On Friday (to-morrow)/well I think you may/expect to be annoyed with/our company, probably/including Miss Felt,/Millie & Jun./Mrs. Grant sends love/to Mrs. Drexel and joins/me in Kindest regards/to/yourself./Truly Yours/U.S. Grant./A.J. Drexel, Esqr/Phila Pa." Creasing from original folds; separated along center vertical fold.

President Grant and company stayed with the Drexel's the following weekend of the 17th, and attended a dinner hosted by the Irish-Catholic fraternal club, the Hibernian Society.

Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826-93) was an American banker, and founder of Drexel, Morgan & Co. (now J.P. Morgan), as well as Drexel University, and is considered one of the most influential and successful financiers following the Civil War.

Ulysses S. Grant had a long, and according to Drexel biographer Dan Rottenberg, "subtle" relationship with Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826-93). They met through their mutual friend, the publisher and co-owner of the Philadelphia Public Ledger with Drexel, George William Childs (1829-94). Grant often stayed with the Drexels at their Philadelphia and Long Branch, New Jersey homes, and often solicited advice from Drexel on personal and national financial matters, and at one time even offered him the position of Secretary of the Treasury, which he turned down. As Rottenberg writes about the sometimes close nature of their relationship, "Grant often sought Tony's advice, especially on Grant's occasional visits to Philadelphia. But the general appears to have had closer camaraderie with George Childs as well as some of Tony's rival bankers, such as Joseph Seligman and even Jay Cooke, most of whom were eager to encourage Grant's friendship. Tony, by contrast, appears to have kept Grant at a respectable arm's length." (p. 116, The Man Who Made Wall Street: Anthony J. Drexel and the Rise of Modern Finance, 2006). According to Rottenberg, following Grant's two terms in office, Grant's dependence on Drexel increased, and he often relied on him to manage his troubled finances, and on more than one occasion Drexel held private fundraisers on the Grant's behalf. When Grant died of throat cancer in 1885, Drexel was one of his pallbearers, but as Rottenberg concludes, "in retrospect Tony's friendship with Grant was largely a byproduct of Tony's friendship with George Childs. Tony was, after all, a private man, reluctant to pursue public figures. Instead he cultivated private allies, like Junius and Pierpont Morgan..." (p. 117).