Donald Trump has become the media talk in the recent period as the first current or former US president to face criminal charges, and he may be formally arrested, on Tuesday, when he appears before a court in New York, but according to reports, he will not be the first current or former US president to be arrested.
It was reported American Public Radio website (NPR) and The Washington Post that the 18th President of the United States, Ulysses Grant, who held the presidency from 1869 to 1877 is in fact the first president to be arrested while in power.
And this happened in 1872 when Grant was speeding off in a horse-drawn carriage in the American capital, Washington, before he was stopped by an officer of African descent named William West.
The officer at the time was, according to Washington Postinvestigates the run-over of a mother and her child by speeding vehicles in the area, only to see Grant speeding up and order him to stop.
Officer West kept the arrest story for decades, before breaking it to the Washington Evening Star in 1908, which republished excerpts from it in the Washington Post.
And the newspaper says that when the officer realized that the one who stopped him was the President of the United States, he told him, “Mr. President! I want to inform you that you are violating the law. Your speedy driving of the vehicle, sir, sets an example for other gentlemen.”
And the chief replied, “I know I was going too fast. I promise I won’t do that again.”
The next day, the same officer saw President Grant again speeding in his carriage. He stopped him and the President said to him, “Do you think I broke the speeding laws?” West replied, “So sorry, Mr. President, that I have to do this, because you are the head of the nation. And I am only a policeman, but duty is due, sir, I shall have to put you under arrest.”
And took him to the police station with other offenders.
This account was confirmed by the former chief of the Metropolitan Police, Cathy Lanier, who said that Grant had been stopped 3 times for speeding.
The “NPR” report says that the president apologized to the officer, who felt embarrassed, and told him, “You should arrest me. Don’t feel bad about it.”
She points out that after his detention at the police station, the officers of the department were not sure that charges could be brought against a president in power.
The next day, the violators were tried, and the judge sentenced them to pay “heavy fines” and gave them a “severe reprimand”, but the president was not among them, as he did not attend the court session.
Grant was, According to the White HouseBefore being elected president in 1869, he led the Union Army in the Civil War against the Confederate States. During his presidency, he worked to abolish the remnants of slavery.
And “NPR” says that Grant had previously stated that he wanted to become president only to make sure that the civil war was really successful, and it is remarkable that Officer West was of African descent.