The Quiet Below the Flag

On Power, Profit, and the Death of Shame in Washington

The man promised to drain the swamp. Instead, he paved it and built a hotel. He called it sacrifice. The numbers said otherwise.

Back in office and now a convicted felon, he stood atop a government stripped of watchdogs and filled with loyalists. He made sure the rules didn’t apply to him—and they didn’t. He said so, and no one stopped him.

The money came in. From Qatar. From crypto. From countries that once needed permission, now needing only proximity. His sons took meetings. They signed deals. They laughed at the idea of restraint. Why hold back when the crowd doesn’t boo anymore?

There were once hearings for this sort of thing. Now there are podcasts. A man called it corruption, but only “seemed like.” That was as far as outrage went—an implied shrug wrapped in audio. Nothing stuck long enough to matter. The country was too tired. Too wired. Too numb.

The president said he was too rich to need more money. But he took it anyway. Planes. Partnerships. A $1.2 billion jump in net worth. The figures were public. The silence was louder.

A judge called it the most brazen abuse of office in history. But history doesn’t press charges. The Justice Department had new management. Oversight was out to lunch. Ethics had a Do Not Disturb sign on the door.

Some protested. Some posted. The rest adjusted.

He had changed the rules, and then made it clear there were no rules. Not for him. Not anymore.

The swamp didn’t disappear. It became private property. Membership required influence. Entry was granted in Bitcoin or blood loyalty.

Above it all, the flag still waved. But beneath it, the silence had settled. Cold. Heavy. Permanent.

And no one moved to fix it.

During the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877), several scandals and instances of corruption tarnished his administration. Some of the most notable examples include:
The Belknap Impeachment Scandal (1876)

William W. Belknap, Grant's Secretary of War, was involved in a scandal that led to his impeachment.

Belknap was accused of taking bribes from Indian trading post operators in exchange for granting them lucrative contracts to trade with Native American reservations.

When the scandal broke, Belknap resigned in disgrace in 1876, but the House of Representatives still impeached him. The Senate acquitted him despite the strong evidence of corruption.

During Andrew Jackson’s presidency (1829–1837), corruption and cronyism were significant concerns, though they often stemmed from his patronage system rather than outright financial fraud. Here are some of the most notable examples:

The "Indian Removal" and Land Speculation

The Indian Removal Act (1830), one of Jackson’s most controversial policies, forced Native American tribes to cede their lands and relocate westward. While Jackson justified this as a means to open land for white settlers, it benefited land speculators, including some of Jackson’s closest allies.

Certain government officials, land companies, and private investors took advantage of the forced removal by acquiring valuable lands at low prices before selling them at inflated rates.