Whiskey Ring

Related to Whiskey Ring: Credit Mobilier, Panic of 1873, Tweed Ring, Resumption Act of 1875

A conspiracy of distillers and government officials during the administration of President Grant to defraud the government of the excise taxes. The frauds were detected in 1875 through the efforts of the Secretary of the Treasury B. H. Bristow, and most of the offenders were convicted.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by G. & C. Merriam Co.

References in periodicals archive ?

When President Grant was asked why he appointed McDonald supervisor of internal revenue he responded, "I was aware that he was not an educated man, but he was a man that had seen a great deal of the world and of people, and I would not call him ignorant exactly, he was illiterate." McDonald organized and ran the Whiskey Ring but he always credited Grant with the initiation of the Ring declaring that the president "actually stood god-father at its christening." The demise of the Ring rivals anything that the real or fictional Elliot Ness and his "Untouchables" ever accomplished during the prohibition era in America.

John McDonald and the Whiskey Ring

Ellis's approach is deeply historical, and his efforts to make sense of the contemporary presidency are informed by considerations of Barbary pirates, the 1864 Hodges letter, and the Whiskey Ring, among other historical factors.

The Development of the American Presidency

From Credit Mobilier to Black Friday, the Whiskey Ring to the Belknap impeachment, President Grant experienced firsthand the deleterious impact special interest groups can have on government.

Those damn lobbyists

Bunting covers Grant's presidency, including the Salary Grab, Belknap Scandal, Whiskey Ring, and other embarrassments that rocked the country.