What was the Whiskey Ring Scandal? (apex)

The Whiskey Ring Scandal - one of the two corrupted scandals that was associated with the Ulysses S. Grant's presidential administration during the years of 1868 to 1877 and It was exposed in 1875. This scandal began St. Louis, but was organized in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Peoria. Plus it was involved with the diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy amount government agents, politicians, whiskey distillers, and distributors.

The Whiskey Ring was a collusion between a group of American politicians and whiskey distillers during the Grant's administration. The Republican politicians then worked with the Chicago, St. Louis and Milwaukee distillers to commit massive fraud with excise duties levied by the federal government on whiskey. Instead of going into the state treasury, these excise duties mainly flowed into the pockets of the stokers, who in return paid bribes to the politicians.

Explanation:

In 1875, US Finance Minister Benjamin H. Bristow put an end to the Ring's practices by employing secret agents from outside his department. 110 men were sentenced and more than $3 million in taxes reclaimed.

The Whiskey Ring was seen by many as a symptom of corruption in the Republican governments that led the country after the Civil War. The scandals even cast a shadow on President Grant's reputation because of his weak attitude in the cases; for example, when his private secretary was convicted on the Whiskey Ring, he received a pardon from Grant. Partly as a result of Grant's attitude, the government's mistrust began to take hold of the population and in particular of the Reconstruction - which ended after Grant's second term due to the 1877 Compromise.