Ulysses S. Grant

18th President  

Terms served: 2 (1869–1877)

A friend in need: First president to combat American anti-Semitism

While previous presidents occasionally had a Jew serving as a small, discrete part of their administration, President Ulysses S. Grant showed a level of comfort working alongside Jews that was unheard of at this point in history. In addition to being the first American president to designate a Jewish ambassador to fight anti-Semitism (a term most non-Jews were not familiar with), one of President Grant’s first acts in office was the appointment of Simon Wolf, a leading Jewish attorney and B’nai B’rith leader, to the integral position of recorder of deeds (the official who recorded and maintained public property ownership records). He also attempted to defy his party and nominated a Jewish banker, Joseph Seligman, for the cabinet position of Secretary of the Treasury, which would have been historic. (Mr. Seligman turned the president down.)

Throughout his two terms in the White House, President Grant appointed a record-breaking 50 Jews to his government — more than all his predecessors combined — and made the idea of identifiably Jewish people serving in positions of power more acceptable to the American public.

He showed warmth and affection for Jews who were not in positions of power as well. In an era before politically-advantageous photo ops, President Grant accepted the invitation of a local shul, Adas Yisroel, to attend their shul’s dedication. The congregation was thrilled, and rented a sofa for the president to sit on during the Rabbi’s speech. At the end of the event, the president donated $10 to the synagogue’s building fund — the equivalent of $230 today. Shortly after leaving office, Ulysses S. Grant became the first American ex-president to visit Jerusalem as part of his round-the-world tour.

The president also responded quickly to reports of persecutions against Jews in Europe. He spoke out forcefully against a czarist edict expelling thousands of Jews from Bessarabian boundary areas of Russia in 1869 in the wake of the Crimean War. Showing a willingness to risk damaging Russo-American relations (which were on the upswing after the Alaskan purchase two years earlier), the president directly contacted Russia and stated that he would “take pleasure in being the medium to revoke the ukase [czarist decree],” and was ready to bring the matter to Congress. As a result of the implied threat, Czar Alexander II revoked the expulsion order.

While the president was known for his anti-Semitic expulsion of the Jewish residents of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky as a General in the Civil War, he publicly expressed regret over his actions. Perhaps his behavior as president was an attempt to make amends.

Rutherford B. Hayes

9th President

Terms served: 1 (1877–1881)

A friend in need:  Advocate of religious accommodations for Shabbos and Yom Tov

 Rutherford B. Hayes was the first president to ensure that a Jew had the right to observe Shabbos while working for the federal government.

The aforementioned Simon Wolf, President Grant’s recorder of deeds, published a book entitled The Presidents I Have Known from 1860-1918, in which he recounts a case where the president became aware of a shomer Shabbos woman who was denied a position in the Department of the Interior because of her refusal to work on Shabbos. The outraged president hired her directly, allowed her to have the day off on Shabbos, and was quoted as saying that “anyone who would rather forgo a job than violate the Sabbath was a good citizen and worthy of the appointment.”

President Hayes had a long history of believing in accommodations for Jewish holidays. In 1862, during the Civil War, a group of Jewish Union Army soldiers from the 23rd Ohio Infantry Regiment (who were stationed in West Virginia) were given leave to celebrate Pesach. Their commanding officer, Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, was the one to enable their Yom Tov celebration. This was not a universal Union policy; other Jews stationed elsewhere weren’t as fortunate.

That seder was described by Joseph A. Joel, a 19-year-old private from Cleveland, Ohio, in The Jewish Messenger.

“Our next business was to find some suitable person to proceed to Cincinnati, Ohio, to buy us matzos. Our sutler [a tradesman who follows the army and provides soldiers food and dry goods for an extra fee], being a coreligionist and going home to that city, readily undertook to send them. We were anxiously awaiting to receive our matzos and about the middle of the morning of Erev Pesach, a supply train arrived in camp, and to our delight brought seven barrels of matzos. On opening them, we were surprised and pleased to find that our thoughtful sutler had enclosed two Haggadahs and prayer-books…. We obtained two kegs of cider, a lamb, several chickens, and some eggs. Horseradish or parsley we could not obtain, but in lieu we found a weed, whose bitterness, I apprehend, exceeded anything our forefathers ‘enjoyed.’ ”

Grateful for the accommodation, Joel formed a close friendship with his commanding officer — a relationship that endured for the next three decades. In fact, copies of their correspondence are preserved in the Hayes Presidential Library. Hayes ended one letter by writing: “I shall always cherish you as one of the true friends, and shall be interested in whatever befalls you.”

Years later, Joel named his firstborn son after the president, calling him Rutherford B. Hayes Joel. Below is Hayes’ reply to the invitation to the bris.

My Dear Joel:

I am very glad to hear from you that Mrs [sic] Joel & little Rutherford are well. You would have heard from me before, but I felt uncertain as to the fact. I got your note so late that I feared my reply would not be in time for the Ceremony and supposed in that case you might have changed your purpose. I am proud of your partiality, and shall always regard with great interest the progress of the young gentleman. I shall try to remember him in some substantial way. Let him be as brave and honorable as his father and he will be a credit to his parents and namesake. — Mrs [sic] H. is in Cinti. My duty requires me in my Uncles [sic] illness to remain here through the Summer & perhaps permanently. — The office I shall decline. — Kind wishes to Mrs [sic] J. & “Ruddy” —

Sincerely

R.B. HAYES

Theodore Roosevelt

25th President

Terms served: 2 (1901–1909)

A friend in need: First president to appoint a Jew to the cabinet

While Ulysses S. Grant destigmatized having Jewish people as part of his administration, President Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to appoint a Jew — Oscar S. Straus, as Secretary of Commerce and Labor — to a presidential cabinet. (Mr. Straus’s successful appointment is also notable because cabinet positions require Senate approval.) Oscar Straus was the brother of Isadore and Nathan Straus, the co-owners of Macy’s Department Stores and the founders of Abraham and Strauss (A&S, a department store chain that was incorporated into Macy’s in 1995). Isadore perished on the Titanic while saving other passengers, and Nathan, who was in Israel at the time distributing charity to Jewish communities there, is memorialized by the city of Netanya, which is named for him.

While attempting to recruit Straus to take the position, Roosevelt was quoted as saying to him: “…I want you to become a member of my cabinet. I have a very high estimate of your character, your judgment, and your ability, and I want you for personal reasons… I want to show Russia and some other countries what we think of Jews in this country.”

Roosevelt’s statement was in response to the Kishinev pogrom, which took place in modern-day Moldova on April 19, 1903. The Russian residents accused their Jewish neighbors of murdering a child for matzos, and the blood libel devolved into a horrific pogrom in which a bloodthirsty mob slaughtered 49 Jews, injured more than 500, plundered and destroyed 700 houses, ransacked 600 businesses, and left 10,000 homeless.

After the news of the pogrom reached the White House on May 21, 1903, the president asked Secretary of State John Hay to consult with Elihu Root, the Secretary of War, and George B. Cortelyou, the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, to see “if it would be advisable for me to personally contribute one hundred dollars (the equivalent of $3600 today) to some fund for the relief of the Russian Jews.” Roosevelt was discouraged from making the personal donation due to the political implications.

Protests were held in numerous US cities, including New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco; US newspaper editorials (in non-Jewish papers as well) harshly condemned the violence and the inaction of the Russian government and called on the US government to take a harsher line on Russia. The Jewish organization, B’nai B’rith, presented a petition to President Theodore Roosevelt, who cabled it to the Russian foreign minister; the petition had been signed by some 12,500 Americans, including senators and governors. Knowing the futility of merely sending the petition, the President went further: He added his own personal letter condemning the slaughter:

“I need not dwell upon a fact so patent as the widespread indignation with which the American people heard of the dreadful outrages upon the Jews in Kishineff (sic). I have never in my experience in this country known of a more immediate or a deeper expression of sympathy for the victims and of horror over the appalling calamity that had occurred. It is natural that while the whole civilized world should express such a feeling it should yet be most intense and most widespread in the United States; for of all the great powers I think I may say that the United States is that country in which from the beginning of its national career, most has been done in the way of acknowledging the debt due to the Jewish race and of endeavoring to do justice to those American citizens who are of Jewish ancestry and faith.”

When the czar predictably refused to receive the petition, the President’s letter was published worldwide, drawing great attention to the Jewish cause. In his State of the Union Address of 1904, Roosevelt pointedly denounced Russia for its treatment of Jews. Despite being dissuaded the first time around, Theodore Roosevelt became the first president known to donate personal funds to a Jewish cause: after winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to settle the Russo-Japanese War in 1906, he contributed the huge sum of $4,000 (roughly $140,000 in 2024) from his prize money to the National Jewish Welfare Board.

Lyndon B. Johnson

36th President

Terms served: 1 (1963–1969)

A friend in need: Risked his career and freedom to smuggle Jews to safety during World War II

While his legacy is complicated by the actions he took during the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson was a true friend to Israel and to his Jewish constituents.

In 1937, a young Lyndon B. Johnson was deeply concerned about the worsening conditions for Jews in Europe. As congressman, he defied American immigration laws to help as many German and Polish Jews as he could get to safety. He managed to procure a pile of signed immigration papers to get 42 Jews out of Warsaw. But that wasn’t enough for him. According to historian James M. Smallwood, Congressman Johnson used legal and sometimes illegal methods to smuggle hundreds of Jews into Texas, using Galveston as the entry port. “He raised enough money to buy false passports and fake visas in Cuba, Mexico, and other Latin American countries, and smuggled boatloads and planeloads of Jews into Texas. He hid them in the Texas National Youth Administration… Johnson saved at least four or five hundred Jewish lives, possibly more.”

As a senator, he supported every aid package to Israel, and enjoyed warm relations with Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. In a conversation with the press, he professed to hold deep admiration for Israel and its people. “I may not worry as much as Eshkol does about Israel,” he stated, “but I do worry as deeply.”

President Johnson approved the sale of weapons to Israel in 1966, which ultimately aided Israel in defeating the Egyptian and Arab armies in the 1967 Six-Day War. Under Johnson’s administration, the United States became Israel’s main ally and primary arms supplier. While President John F. Kennedy was the first president to approve the sale of defensive US weapons to Israel, Johnson was the first to approve offensive weapons like tanks and fighter jets. He never pressured Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the American policy to turn a blind eye to Israel’s nuclear reactor in Dimona started under his administration.

Lyndon B. Johnson was raised with tremendous concern for the Jewish people. As a young boy, he watched his politically active father and grandfather risk their personal safety to seek clemency for a fellow Texan, Leo Frank, the Jewish victim of a blood libel in Atlanta, Georgia. In a case that led to the formation of the Anti-Defamation League, Frank was lynched by a mob in 1915 for allegedly murdering a young employee, Mary Phagan, at the pencil factory he managed. Angry that a Christian family would attempt to defend a Jew, the Ku Klux Klan in Texas threatened to murder the Johnsons for their actions.

In a speech to the B’nai B’rith, President Johnson explained his affinity for the Jewish people: “Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and they have a common faith in a democratic way of life…. Most if not all of you have very deep ties with the land and with the people of Israel, as I do, for my Christian faith sprang from yours… the Bible stories are woven into my childhood memories as the gallant struggle of modern Jews to be free of persecution is also woven into our souls.”

George Washington & Haym Salomon: Myths and Truths

From chopping down cherry trees to eating apple pies, many “facts” that we know about George Washington are actually anecdotes passed down throughout the centuries. One factoid that tends to be shared in most yeshivah social studies classes is the story about George Washington and Haym Salomon — the first documented Jewish immigrant from Poland to the US and the most prominent financier of the American Revolution.

Myth: “Send for Haym Salomon!”

Right before the Battle of Yorktown, the American army was on the verge of ruin: bankrupt and facing mutiny, the army had no money for food, supplies or back pay. George Washington dramatically called out: “Send for Haym Salomon!” And Haym Salomon successfully raised $20,000, which allowed the colonies to win the war. According to some versions, Washington’s message reached Salomon in shul on Yom Kippur, and he made an appeal to the minyan on top of his donation of thousands of dollars.

Reality:

Haym Salomon had always been a revolutionary, and gained a reputation as a true patriot when he used his incarceration as an “American spy” to actually undermine the British by helping their Hessian troops desert and their military prisoners escape. After escaping himself and settling in Pennsylvania, he became a loan broker (and gave interest-free loans to many of the founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe — none of whom ever repaid him). At that point, Salomon became a prominent backer of the American Revolution, both by donating his own funds and raising huge sums of money for this purpose. The exact details of the incident described above are not confirmed by any source, however it is estimated that Haym Salomon raised $650,000 in 1790s currency (over $22 million in 2024), some of it his own, and the government refused to repay him despite his (and later his descendants’) best efforts. Haym Salomon died four years after the war ended — as a pauper — in debtor’s prison.

Myth: Haym Salomon’s Reward: The Magen David on the One Dollar Bill

As the story continues, Salomon’s $20,000 fundraising haul singlehandedly allowed the revolution to succeed. Afterwards, a grateful George Washington approached him and asked what he would like as a personal reward for his services to the Continental Army, and Salomon humbly responded that “he wanted nothing for himself, but he would like something for his people.”

“This something for his people,” according to urban legend, is the Magen David depicted on the one dollar bill.

Reality:

This never happened. For starters, the dollar was initially a coin, until the Mint switched to paper currency in 1861 — well after both men died. There is extensive historical record documenting the creation of the dollar bill, and there is no reference to Haym Salomon, or Jewish people for that matter, at all. The Great Seal (the picture with the eagle and the stars) wasn’t printed on dollars until 1935, and the stars were designed as a homage to the first American flag.

Most importantly, George Washington never approached Haym Salomon with a thank you, or an offer of reimbursement. (A statue was erected of Salomon in the 1930s — but as a way to combat rising anti-Semitism by showing Jewish contributions to the country. He did receive a commemorative postal stamp in 1975 as well.)

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1034)