LMNOP

The Mayor wants a Reconstruction-era President, the Mayor gets a Reconstruction-era President.

Today we look to 1868 and the election of one Ulysses S. Grant, who is notable because although he was a bad president, he tried really darn hard.

Although there is no way to overlook the widespread graft and corruption that occurred on his presidential watch —it was at the time unprecedented in scope— he was in no way a beneficiary of it. "My failures have been errors of judgment," the popular former Civil War general admitted, "not of intent." (Source)

Come on, Grant!  If you're going to preside over a totally sketchy administration, you should at least get something out of it, like some sweet brass cuff links or whatever it was people thought was cool in the 19th century!

Grant's opponent in the Election of 1868 was Horatio Seymour, and in this case it seems like he actually would not have been an improvement.  To the right, check out the slogan Seymour ran under.

That should be sufficient evidence that Grant was the superior choice.

In fact, it turns out that one of the only bright points of Grant's presidency was his progress on Civil Rights.  From the same site quoted above:

More important, the 18th president now receives plaudits for his aggressive prosecution of the radical reform agenda in the South. His attempts to quash the Ku Klux Klan (suspending habeas corpus in South Carolina and ordering mass arrests) and his support for the Civil Rights Act of 1875 were controversial and may have produced only short-lived gains for African-Americans, but Grant's intentions were laudable and brave.

And this concludes my two-day attempt to be all historical and whatnot.  I guess the main lesson is that being well-meaning but ineffectual gets you nowhere, but being extremely racist (even with a catchy slogan) will get you even less.