Adams was the strongest candidate but was jockeyed out of place and the nomination was given to Horace Greeley, able enough as editor of the "New York Tribune" but impossible as a candidate for the presidency.
The Democratic party accepted him as their candidate also, although he had been a lifelong opponent of Democratic principles and policies.

But disgusted Liberals either returned to the Republican ranks or stayed away from the polls, and many Democrats did likewise.

Under these circumstances the reelection of Grant was a foregone conclusion.

There was certainly a potential majority against Grant, but the opposition had failed to organize, while the Republican machine was in good working order, the Negroes were voting, and the Enforcement Acts proved a great aid to the Republicans in the Southern States.
One good result of the growing liberal sentiment was the passage of an Amnesty Act by Congress on May 22, 1872.

By statute and by the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress had refused to recognize the complete validity of President Johnson's pardons and amnesty proclamations, and all Confederate leaders who wished to regain political rights had therefore to appeal to Congress.