{UAH} HILARIOUS: D.C. Police Once Gave the President a Speeding Ticket

D.C. Police Once Gave the President a Speeding Ticket

Benjamin R. Freed

Library of Congress

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier went on WTOP for her regular "Ask the Chief" interview. In today's segment, though, she was asked to describe a few funny stories in the history of the Metropolitan Police Department.

One of Lanier's examples should ring hard for anyone who has found themselves on the losing end of the District's ongoing fight against speeding. But it turns out that anyone can get a speeding ticket in this town, even the president of the United States. Lanier mentioned that during his presidency, Ulysses S. Grant was pulled over and cited for driving his horse-drawn coach dangerously fast. An MPD officer, Lanier said, fined the president and impounded the vehicle.

The story struck us as perhaps a bit apocryphal, but it all checks out. It's unclear in what year the traffic incident happened, but early in his presidency, Grant ran afoul of the fuzz. Not only that, it's not as though Grant was being chauffeured around Washington. The 18th president preferred to drive himself.

"The story goes that he loved horses and he loved to ride fast and he literally went fast through the city," says John F. Marszalek, the executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Collection at Mississippi State University. "In one instance this Washington policeman pulled him over."

The MPD officer's name was William West, according to Significa, a 1983 compendium of weird facts about historical figures. Grant was driving his horse-drawn coach down M Street NW at such a great speed, that after West grabbed the horse's bridle, it took half a block to stop the hasty president.

West, according to Marszalek, was so embarrassed when he discovered he had pulled over Grant that he offered to ignore the infraction. But Grant was magnanimous.

"The story goes that Grant says, 'I was speeding, you caught me and I'll pay the ticket,' " Marszalek says. At the time, speeding tickets were payable by a $5 fine. It was not Grant's first.

But racing through the streets was something of a favorite hobby of Grant's. Even after being elected, he did not want to give up his life as a horseman. That Grant was able to blow off steam by racing through the streets of Washington is especially notable considering he was inaugurated just four years after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in a public venue, to say nothing of the protective measures that surround modern-day U.S. presidents.

In fact, Grant rather liked to show off his equestrian skills, Marszalek says. In 1866, while being dragged along on a political junket through New York City with President Andrew Johnson, Grant found himself riding in a carriage through Central Park. Grant challenged the driver of Johnson's coach to a road race to the top of the parks' Great Hill and won handily.

"Grant beat them because he had such a better handle on the horse," Marszalek says.

Of course, the presidential speeding ticket might have been well-taken. A few years later, according to Marszalek, Grant's driving skills led to a rather terrible incident. While traveling outside of Washington, the president's coach ran over a young boy's foot by accident. Grant wrote a letter apologizing and wishing the boy a speedy recovery, but was not ticketed for the run-in.

ULYSSES GRANT SPEEDING INCIDENT

The most informative article about the incident was one that we found in The Washington Post, written by J. LeCount Chestnut on November 7th, 1925.

William West is the horseman who once arrested a president. He forced President Ulysses S. Grant to go with him to the police station where he booked the chief executive on charges of speeding. Grant was driving his favorite team of horses at what West thought was excessive speed. He ordered the president to stop, chased him down, gave him a lecture in approved modern traffic cop style, and then arrested him.

Grant and West became solid pals after the incident, and in one of their frequent chats West informed the president that he, too, was a speed maniac, and that while off duty he had been arrested more than 20 times for speeding. West owned a stable of fine horses that at once attracted Grant's admiration, and provided for the two men a strong bond of common interest.

…

The day before Grant's arrest a woman with a 6-year-old child had been seriously injured at West's corner by a driver of fast horses. washington, after a series of such accidents, was conducting the same campaign against "reckless driving" of horses that modern metropolitan cities are engaging in today to check auto speeding. Grant had chosen the wrong time to dash by the corner of 13th and M Sts. his team thundering along at a furious pace. West shouted, the president's team was brought to a standstill, and West approached him. "Well, officer, what do you want with me?" Grant asked.

"Mr. President," was the reply, " I want to tell you that you were violating the law by driving at reckless speed. Your fast driving, sir, has set the example for a lot of other gentlemen. It is endangering the lives of the people who have to cross the street in this locality. Only this evening a lady was knocked down by one of the racing teams."

"I am very sorry," said President Grant, "and I'll promise that hereafter I will hold my team down to the regulation speed. Is the lady who was run down seriously hurt?"

But the very next day, however, the good intentions were forgotten, and General Grant came racing down 13th St. fast as ever. When hailed, he turned into M St. and was almost at 14th before he could stop. As West approached, Grant said, "Do you think, officer, that I was violating the speed laws?"

"I certainly do, Mr. President," answered West, not a bit softened by the president's query. "I cautioned you yesterday, Mr. President, about fast driving, and you said, sir, that it would not occur again. I am very sorry, Mr. President, to have to do it, for you are the nation's chief executive, but my duty is plain, sir: I shall have to place you under arrest!"

--

Gwokto La'Kitgum

----------------------------------------------------------------

"I want first-time offenders to think of their appearance in my courtroom as the second-worst experience of their lives … circumcision being the first." Judge Judy

--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com