Editing James A. Garfield (section)

===Tariffs and finance===
[[File:US-$1-LT-1862-Fr-16c.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|left|The greenback despised by Garfield]]
Throughout his political career, Garfield favored the gold standard and decried attempts to increase the money supply through the issuance of paper money not backed by gold, and later, through the [[free silver|free and unlimited coinage of silver]].{{sfn|Caldwell|1965|pp=205–218}} In 1865, he was put on the [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|House Ways and Means Committee]], a long-awaited opportunity to focus on financial and economic issues. He reprised his opposition to the greenback, saying, "Any party which commits itself to paper money will go down amid the general disaster, covered with the curses of a ruined people."{{sfn|Peskin|1978|p=261}} In 1868 Garfield gave a two-hour speech on currency in the House, which was widely applauded as his best oratory to that point; in it, he advocated a gradual resumption of specie payments, that is, the government paying out silver and gold, rather than paper money that could not be redeemed.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|p=268}}

Tariffs had been raised to high levels during the Civil War. Afterward, Garfield, who made a close study of financial affairs, advocated moving toward free trade, though the standard Republican position was a protective tariff that would allow American industries to grow. This break with his party likely cost him his place on the Ways and Means Committee in 1867, and though Republicans held the majority in the House until 1875, Garfield remained off that committee. Garfield came to chair the powerful [[House Appropriations Committee]], but it was Ways and Means, with its influence over fiscal policy, that he really wanted to lead.{{sfn|Rutkow|2006|pp=31–32}} One reason he was denied a place on Ways and Means was the opposition of the influential Republican editor [[Horace Greeley]].{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=265, 327}}
[[File:Ulysses S Grant by Brady c1870-restored.jpg|thumb|right|150px|upright=0.8|alt=Photographic portrait of Grant|'''President U.S. Grant'''<br>[[Mathew Brady]] ''1870'']]
Starting in January 1870, Garfield, then chairman of the [[House Banking Committee]], led an investigation into the [[Black Friday (1869)|Black Friday]] Gold Panic scandal.{{sfn|Calhoun|2017|p=146}} In 1869, during Grant's first term in office, two New York conspirators, [[Jay Gould]] and [[James Fisk (financier)|James Fisk]], launched a scheme to corner the gold market. The conspiracy was broken on Friday, September 24, 1869, when Grant and Treasury Secretary [[George Boutwell]] released gold into the market, causing widespread financial panic. During the investigation, rumors spread that Grant's family might have been involved. In order not to force Grant's wife to testify, Garfield had a private meeting with Grant at the White House. When Garfield showed Grant testimony about him and his family, Grant thanked Garfield but refused to read it or give a response.{{sfn|Calhoun|2017|pp=125, 146}} Grant personally resented Garfield for investigating Black Friday and his wife Julia concerning possible involvement in the scandal.{{sfn|Smith|2001|pp=550-551}}

Garfield's investigation and final majority report, released on September 12, 1870, were thorough but found no indictable offenses and exonerated Grant and Julia of wrongdoing.{{sfnm|Calhoun|2017|1p=146|Smith|2001|2pp=550-551}} Garfield thought the scandal was enabled by the greenbacks that financed the speculation.{{sfnm|McFeely|1981|1p=328|Peskin|1978|2p=311|Calhoun|2017|3p=146|Smith|2001|4pp=550-551}} Garfield was not at all enthused about President Grant's reelection in 1872—until Greeley, who emerged as the candidate of the Democrats and [[Liberal Republican Party (United States)|Liberal Republicans]], became the only serious alternative. Garfield said, "I would say Grant was not fit to be nominated and Greeley is not fit to be elected."{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=350–351}} Both Grant and Garfield were overwhelmingly reelected.{{sfn|Peskin|1978|pp=350–351}}