Former President Donald Trump made history Thursday by being the first president, previous or current, to be indicted, but former President Ulysses S. Grant was the first to be arrested, Washington, D.C. police confirmed.
Police arrested Grant over a misdemeanor crime in 1872 at the corner of 13th and M streets NW in the nation’s capital after he was caught speeding in his horse-drawn carriage, then-D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier confirmed to WTOP News in October 2012. A September 1908 edition of the Washington Evening Star told the story with the headline, “Only Policeman Who Ever Arrested a President,” according to The Washington Post.
“[Grant] actually was racing his buggy on M street, where he was taken into custody,” Lanier told WTOP at the time. “We seize his horse and buggy.”
“The metropolitan police department actually stopped and cited Ulysses S. Grant three times for speeding,” Lanier continued, according to the outlet.
“Gen. Grant was an ardent admirer of a good horse and loved nothing better than to sit behind a pair of spirited animals,” the Star reported, according to WaPo. “He was a good driver, and sometimes ‘let them out’ to try their mettle.”
A lot of folks are overlooking Ulysses S. Grant’s speeding violation and it shows. https://t.co/C1asVhpniu
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) March 30, 2023
The policeman who arrested Grant was named William H. West, a black man who served in the Civil War, according to WaPo.
West had allegedly been probing an incident in which a mother and her child were run over by a speeding carriage and badly hurt. While West was out on the street investigating, a group of speeding carriages came toward him, one of which was driven by Grant, according to the outlet. (RELATED: ‘Hand Picked By Bragg’: Trump Lashes Out At Judge Expected To Oversee Arraignment)
The policeman warned Grant to watch his speed on the road, which the then-president promised to do, WaPo reported. The next evening, Grant allegedly sped on the road so fast that it took him an entire block to stop, according to the outlet.
“I am very sorry, Mr. President, to have to do it, for you are the chief of the nation, and I am nothing but a policeman, but duty is duty, sir, and I will have to place you under arrest,” West told Grant upon his arrest, WaPo reported.
After police brought Grant to the station, they were undecided on whether they could charge a sitting president if he had not been impeached, Lanier told WTOP. Police allowed the president to pay a fine and return to the White House. According to WaPo’s report, Grant did not show up to a trial that took place the following day for the then-president and others involved in the alleged speeding incident.
Fast forward to 2023: A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump for his alleged role in a $130,000 hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office opened an investigation in 2022 and is overseeing the case.
The former president is expected to be arraigned in a New York court Tuesday. Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, said Friday that the former president will not plead guilty or be handcuffed.
Trump predicted his arrest in a March 18 post on Truth Social, calling on supporters to protest.