The following quote was included by George Erickson in the Lake Superior Freethinkers Newsletter for March 2013. I found a more complete extract by a Google search.
"Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and private schools entirely supported by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate."
- President Ulysses S. Grant, Des Moines, Iowa, 1876
From "Ulysses S. Grant: the Separation of Church and School", Encyclopedia Britannica Profiles: The American Presidency http://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-9116880
The rest of the speech in the article is worth reading. In some parts he sounds like modern Republicans, but in other parts he is far removed from what modern Republicans practice.
