For Independence Dav

we recall the unofficial

Jewish advisers of

U.S. presidents — and

when they fought.

heJews were in a justifiable snit. A top mil-
itary commander had just issued orders that
most considered blatantly anti-Semitic, and they
demanded to know just what the president was

T

going to do about it.
The White House was bombarded with letters,
and influentialJews came to Washington and urged
their friends in high places to intercede.
The year was 1862, the president was Abraham
Lincoln and the military leader was Gen. Ulysses S.
Grant, the commander of the Department ofTennessee.

The indignant Jewish reaction to Grant's infamous Order No. 11, which expelled Jews from the
area under his command, may have been the first example of something that would become com-

monplace a century later:. organized Jewish political influence in the White House.
How that power evolved over more than two centuries . is a success story unparalleled in
Jewish history — with some setbacks along the way and plenty of twists and turns. This
Independence Day, the JEWISH NEWS takes a look into the interaction that community lead-

ers have had with this nation's chief executive from the country's early years through today.

JAMES D. BESSER Washington Correspondent

7/2
1999