 Grant met with prominent black leaders for consultation, and signed a bill into law that guaranteed equal rights to both blacks and whites in Washington, D.C.In Grant's two terms he strengthened Washington's legal capabilities to directly intervene to protect citizenship rights even if the states ignored the problem.He worked with Congress to create the Department of Justice and office of solicitor general, led by Attorney General Amos Akerman and the first Solicitor General Benjamin Bristow.