645 – “I have no prejudice against sect or race, but want each individual to be judged by his own merit.”

–Ulysses S Grant, 18th President of the United States of America

Context: Written in a letter where Grant explains the situation regarding his issuing of General Order No. 11, which expelled all Jews from his military district. He says he issued the order when upset after being  reprimanded over reports that some people, who happened to be Jewish, were accused of crossing the Union lines, in defiance of an earlier order, to sell black market goods, specifically cotton. He says that he regrets the order, and that he did not defend it then, and would not defend it now. For full context, the full letter can be read online through the link in the source.

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473 – “For honest merit to succeed amid the tricks and intrigues which are now so lamentably common, I know is difficult; but the honor of success is increased by the obstacles which are to be surmounted. Let me triumph as a man or not at all.”

–Rutherford B Hayes, 19th President of the United States of America