president ulysses s. grant biography

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant served as U.S. general and commander of the Union armies during the late years of the American Civil War, later becoming the 18th U.S. president.

(1822-1885)

Who Was Ulysses S. Grant?

Ulysses S. Grant was entrusted with the command of all U.S. armies in 1864 and relentlessly pursued the enemy during the Civil War . In 1869, at age 46, Grant became the youngest president in U.S. history. Though Grant was highly scrupulous, his administration was tainted with scandal. After leaving the presidency, he commissioned Mark Twain to publish his best-selling memoirs.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Hiram Ulysses Grant BORN: April 27, 1822 DIED: July 23, 1885 BIRTHPLACE: Point Pleasant, Ohio SPOUSE: Julia Dent (1848-1885) CHILDREN: Frederick, Ulysses Jr., Ellen, Jesse ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Taurus

Early Years

Origins of “u.s.” grant nickname.

His famous moniker, "U.S. Grant," came after he joined the military.

Grant was born Hiram Ulysses and went by Ulysses as a child. However, when he arrived at West Point, he expected to be listed on the sheet of incoming cadets by his birth name and was surprised to learn there was no H.U. Grant on the roll call but a U.S. Grant. The clerical error had been made by the Ohio Congressman who nominated Grant to West Point, who may have accidentally combined Grant’s middle name with his mother’s maiden name, Simpson.

Not wanting to make a fuss as a new arrival at West Point and risk being rejected, Grant agreed to go along with the name change but later joked that the “S” in his name stood for nothing. Fellow soldiers at West Point called the newly christened U.S. Grant “Sam,” a shortened version of Uncle Sam.

Wife and Family

After graduation from West Point, Lieutenant Grant was stationed in St. Louis, Missouri, where he met his future wife, Julia Dent, the sister of Grant’s West Point roommate. Grant proposed marriage in 1844, but both families were unhappy with the match. Grant’s abolitionist father disapproved of the Dents owning enslaved people, and Julia’s father considered Grant a low-paid soldier with little prospect of financial success.

The couple initially kept their engagement secret, but Grant eventually won over Julia’s father, and the pair received permission to marry. Their plans were interrupted by the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, which led to a nearly four-year separation. They finally wed in 1848 and would have four children: Frederick (1850), Ulysses Jr., known as “Buck" (1852), Ellen, known as “Nellie” (1855), and Jesse (1858).

The Grants were a close couple, and the frequent separations early in the marriage due to Grant’s military postings affected them both, particularly Ulysses, whose loneliness and isolation from his family likely exacerbated his drinking. During Grant’s Civil War service, Julia often visited him at army camps, sometimes bringing their children. When Grant became president, she bloomed into a popular first lady, hosting social receptions while remaining a close advisor to her husband, even meeting with cabinet members and politicians.

Early Military Career

During the Mexican-American War , Grant served as a quartermaster, efficiently overseeing the movement of supplies. Serving under General Zachary Taylor and later under General Winfield Scott, he closely observed their military tactics and leadership skills. After getting the opportunity to lead a company into combat, Grant was credited for his bravery under fire. He also developed strong feelings that the war was wrong and that it was being waged only to increase America's territory for the spread of slavery.

In 1852, he was sent to Fort Vancouver, in what is now Washington State. He missed Dent and his two sons—the second of whom he had not yet seen at this time—and thusly became involved in several failed business ventures to get his family to the coast, closer to him.

He began to drink, not unlike other soldiers—and many other Americans—in an era where alcohol consumption rates were much higher than today. Grant’s thin frame and small stature meant he showed the effects of alcohol quicker than many others. Grant developed a reputation for drinking that dogged him throughout his military career. Still, most of these episodes occurred, especially in the early years of his service, when he was separated from his family and sent to ever-more isolated army postings that left him bored and lonely with little else to do.

In the summer of 1853, Grant was promoted to captain and transferred to Fort Humboldt on the Northern California coast, where he had a run-in with the fort's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Buchanan. On July 31, 1854, Grant resigned from the Army amid allegations of heavy drinking and warnings of disciplinary action.

In 1854, Grant moved his family back to Missouri, but the return to civilian life led him to a low point. He tried to farm land given to him by his father-in-law, but this venture proved unsuccessful after a few years. Grant then failed to find success with a real estate venture and was denied employment as an engineer and clerk in St. Louis. To support his family, he was reduced to selling firewood on a St. Louis street. Finally, in 1860, he humbled himself and worked in his father's tannery business as a clerk, supervised by his two younger brothers.

Ulysses S. Grant and Slavery

Like many of his contemporaries, Grant’s involvement with slavery was complicated. An abolitionist father raised him and personally professed his dislike of slavery. But he married the daughter of a slave-holding plantation owner, and the Dent family’s enslaved population often worked alongside Grant at the farm he built on land given to him by his father-in-law. In the late 1850s, he was transferred ownership of an enslaved man, William Jones. In 1859, Grant freed Jones despite severe financial difficulties that might otherwise have led him to sell Jones for a profit.

While Grant’s service in the Civil War was initially inspired by his desire to defend and reunite the Union, he supported Abraham Lincoln’s decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved peoples in Confederate states that had seceded. When the Proclamation went into effect in January 1863, Grant ensured the newly freed formerly enslaved were cared for when they reached Union lines and encouraged Lincoln to allow formerly enslaved men to join the Union Army, which he believed would significantly weaken the Confederate cause.

American Civil War

On April 12, 1861, Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. This rebellion sparked Grant's patriotism, and he volunteered his military service. Again, he was initially rejected for positions, but with the aid of an Illinois congressman, he was appointed a colonel and took command of an unruly 21st Illinois volunteer regiment. Applying lessons he'd learned from his commanders during the Mexican-American War, Grant saw that the regiment was combat-ready by September 1861. By that point, he had been promoted to brigadier general.

When Kentucky's fragile neutrality fell apart in the fall of 1861, Grant and his volunteers took the small town of Paducah, Kentucky, at the mouth of the Tennessee River. In February 1862, in a joint operation with the U.S. Navy, Grant's ground forces applied pressure on Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, taking them both. These battles are the earliest significant Union victories of the American Civil War. After the assault on Fort Donelson, Grant earned the moniker "Unconditional Surrender Grant" and was promoted to major general of volunteers.

READ MORE: How Ulysses S. Grant Earned the Nickname "Unconditional Surrender Grant"

Battle of Shiloh

In April 1862, Grant moved his army cautiously into enemy territory in Tennessee in what would later become known as the Battle of Shiloh (or the Battle of Pittsburg Landing), one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles. Confederate commanders Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard led a surprise attack against Grant's forces, with fierce fighting occurring at an area known as the "Hornets' Nest" during the first wave of assault. Confederate General Johnston was mortally wounded, and his second-in-command, General Beauregard, decided against a night assault on Grant's forces. Reinforcement finally arrived, and Grant defeated the Confederates during the second day of battle.

The Battle of Shiloh proved to be a watershed for the American military and a near disaster for Grant. Though President Abraham Lincoln supported him, Grant faced heavy criticism from members of Congress and the military brass for the high casualties, and for a time, he was demoted. A war department investigation led to his reinstatement.

Vicksburg Siege

The Union war strategy called for taking control of the Mississippi River and cutting the Confederacy in half. In December 1862, Grant moved overland to take Vicksburg —a key fortress city of the Confederacy—but Confederate cavalry raider Nathan Bedford Forest stalled his attack due to getting bogged down in the bayous north of Vicksburg. In his second attempt, Grant cut some, but not all, of his supply lines, moved his men down the western bank of the Mississippi River, and crossed south of Vicksburg. Failing to take the city after several assaults, he settled into a long siege, and Vicksburg finally surrendered on July 4, 1863. Grant was named major general of the regular U.S. Army.

Though Vicksburg marked Grant's most outstanding achievement thus far and a morale boost for the Union, rumors of Grant's heavy drinking followed him through the rest of the Western Campaign. Grant suffered from intense migraine headaches due to stress, which nearly disabled him and only helped to spread rumors of his drinking, as many chalked up his migraines to frequent hangovers. However, his closest associates said that he was sober and polite and displayed deep concentration, even amid a battle. When confronted by these rumors, President Abraham Lincoln was unperturbed, reportedly offering to send a case of Grant’s favorite whisky to other Union generals in the hope of achieving Grant’s stunning military results.

Battle for Chattanooga

In January 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, freeing enslaved peoples in the Confederate states that had seceded from the Union.

In October 1863, Grant took command at Chattanooga, Tennessee. The following month, from November 22 to November 25, Union forces routed Confederate troops in Tennessee at the battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, known collectively as the Battle of Chattanooga . The victories forced the Confederates to retreat into Georgia, ending the siege of the vital railroad junction of Chattanooga—and ultimately paving the way for Union General William Tecumseh Sherman 's Atlanta campaign and march to Savannah, Georgia, in 1864.

Union Victory

Grant saw the military objectives of the Civil War differently than most of his predecessors, who believed that capturing territory was most important to winning the war. Grant adamantly believed that taking down the Confederate armies was most important to the war effort and, to that end, set out to track down and destroy General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

In March 1864, Grant was named lieutenant general of the U.S. Army (the first person to achieve this rank since George Washington) and given command of all U.S. armies. He quickly set out to congruent Lee, and from March 1864 until April 1865, Grant doggedly hunted for Lee in the forests of Virginia, all the while inflicting unsustainable casualties on Lee's army.

On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered his army, marking the end of the Civil War. The two generals met at a farm near the village of Appomattox Court House, and a peace agreement was signed. In a generous gesture, Grant allowed Lee's men to keep their horses and return to their homes, taking none of them as prisoners of war.

During the post-war reorganization, Grant was promoted to full general and oversaw the military portion of Reconstruction . In 1867, Grant was caught up in a scandal involving Republican Andrew Johnson's fight with the Radical Republican wing of his party. Johnson tried to remove his Secretary of War, who had often sided with the Radical Republican wing over the more robust implementation of Reconstruction in the South and initially tried to replace him, Grant, all without the necessary Congressional approval. During the subsequent uproar, Grant resigned from the position. Still, Johnson’s determination to proceed with his plan with a different appointee made him the first U.S. president to be impeached.

Despite having never been elected to any previous political office, in 1868, Grant ran for president on the Republican ticket and was elected the 18th president of the United States. When he entered the White House the following year, Grant was not only politically inexperienced but also—at the age of 46—the youngest president theretofore.

Grant had many achievements as president, pushing through ratification of the 15th Amendment , creating the forerunner to the National Weather Service and America’s first national park (Yellowstone), instituting the first Civil Service Commission (aimed at replacing the corrupt patronage system that controlled many government jobs), working with Native American leaders to develop a peace plan in the West and naming Eli Parker as the first Native American head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Grant also oversaw the creation of the U.S. Justice Department, using the new department, in part, to help strengthen and enforce laws aimed at curbing the rise of the newly formed Ku Klux Klan.

However, Grant’s administration faced numerous setbacks, including a prolonged economic depression in 1873. Though scrupulously honest, Grant became known for appointing people who were not of good character, and his presidency today is often more remembered for its notable scandals than its successes. In 1869, two Wall Street speculators (whom Grant knew from before becoming president) attempted to corner the gold market and ensnare Grant in their scheme, leading to a financial panic. In 1875, Grant’s private secretary was embroiled in a scandal that intended to deprive the federal government of millions of dollars in revenues from liquor taxes, and even Grant’s brother was later involved in a kickback scheme involving military contracts. By the end of his second term, several members of Grant’s cabinet had been accused of taking bribes. Grant called for proper legal investigations for those involved, and during his final address to Congress in 1876, he discussed his lack of political experience upon entering the office and the resulting issues during his presidency, noting , “Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent.”

Final Years and Death

After leaving the White House, Grant's lack of success in civilian life continued once again. He became a partner of the financial firm Grant and Ward only to have his partner, Ferdinand Ward, embezzle investors' money. The firm went bankrupt in 1884, as did Grant. That same year, Grant learned that he had throat cancer, and though his military pension was reinstated, he was strapped for cash.

Grant began selling short magazine articles about his life and then negotiated a contract with a friend, famed novelist Mark Twain , to publish his memoirs. The two-volume set sold 300,000 copies, becoming a classic work of American literature. Ultimately, the work earned Grant's family nearly $450,000.

READ MORE: The Unlikely Friendship of Mark Twain and Ulysses S. Grant

Grant died on July 23, 1885—just as his memoirs were being published—at 63, in Mount McGregor, New York. He was buried in New York City, with more than 1.5 million attending his funeral. His temporary burial site was greatly expanded and became popularly known as Grant’s Tomb, the largest mausoleum in North America. In 1914, Grant became the face of the U.S. Treasury’s $50 bill, and in 1922, to mark the centennial of his birth, the U.S. Mint released gold dollars and silver half dollars featuring Grant, partly to raise funds to preserve his Ohio birthplace.

Grant’s reputation has seen notable shifts over time. While many of his contemporary Americans lauded him for his Civil War service and liked Grant personally, the scandals surrounding his presidency led him to be ranked among the most unsuccessful presidents in history. Historians and writers began reappraising Grant's legacy in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. They noted his success in preserving the Union in the post-war years that saw it roiled by debates over the federal government’s role in southern Reconstruction. He has been lauded for his attempted civil service reforms, his vigorous defense of the civil liberties of African Americans, and his policy towards Native Americans (Grant favored giving them American citizenship nearly 50 years before that became a reality). A highly skilled military commander, Grant could not translate those talents to the presidency, with both his personal and political naivete regarding those surrounding him obscuring his notable achievements.

• Whatever may have been my political opinions before, I have but one sentiment now. That is, we have a government, and laws and a flag and they must all be sustained.
• I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.
• [My] failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent.
• A verb is anything that signifies to be; to do; to suffer; I signify all three.
• It occurred to me at once that [my enemy] had been as much afraid of me as I had been of him. This was a view of the question I had never taken before; but it was one I never forgot afterwards.
• I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.
• I never wanted to get out of a place as much as I did to get out of the presidency.
• No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.
• I don't know anything of party politics, and I don't want to.
• I know only two tunes: One of them is 'Yankee Doodle' and the other isn't.
• The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.
• I can't spare this man—he fights.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us !

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

U.S. Presidents

Donald Trump

President Joe Biden’s Life in Photos

A History of Presidential Assassination Attempts

Ronald Reagan

How Ronald Reagan Went from Movies to Politics

Teddy Roosevelt’s Stolen Watch Recovered by FBI

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Thomas Jefferson

A Car Accident Killed Joe Biden’s Wife and Baby

These Are the Major 2024 Presidential Candidates

Oppenheimer and Truman Met Once. It Went Badly.

Who Killed JFK? You Won’t Believe Us Anyway

Mobile Menu Overlay

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Ulysses S. Grant

The 18th President of the United States

The biography for President Grant and past presidents is courtesy of the White House Historical Association.

In 1865, as commanding general, Ulysses S. Grant led the Union Armies to victory over the Confederacy in the American Civil War. As an American hero, Grant was later elected the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877), working to implement Congressional Reconstruction and to remove the vestiges of slavery.

Late in the administration of Andrew Johnson, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant quarreled with the President and aligned himself with the Radical Republicans. He was, as the symbol of Union victory during the Civil War, their logical candidate for President in 1868.

When he was elected, the American people hoped for an end to turmoil. Grant provided neither vigor nor reform. Looking to Congress for direction, he seemed bewildered. One visitor to the White House noted “a puzzled pathos, as of a man with a problem before him of which he does not understand the terms.”

Born in 1822, Grant was the son of an Ohio tanner. He went to West Point rather against his will and graduated in the middle of his class. In the Mexican War he fought under Gen. Zachary Taylor.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Grant was working in his father’s leather store in Galena, Illinois. He was appointed by the Governor to command an unruly volunteer regiment. Grant whipped it into shape and by September 1861 he had risen to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers.

He sought to win control of the Mississippi Valley. In February 1862 he took Fort Henry and attacked Fort Donelson. When the Confederate commander asked for terms, Grant replied, “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.” The Confederates surrendered, and President Lincoln promoted Grant to major general of volunteers.

At Shiloh in April, Grant fought one of the bloodiest battles in the West and came out less well. President Lincoln fended off demands for his removal by saying, “I can’t spare this man–he fights.”

For his next major objective, Grant maneuvered and fought skillfully to win Vicksburg, the key city on the Mississippi, and thus cut the Confederacy in two. Then he broke the Confederate hold on Chattanooga.

Lincoln appointed him General-in-Chief in March 1864. Grant directed Sherman to drive through the South while he himself, with the Army of the Potomac, pinned down Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

Finally, on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Lee surrendered. Grant wrote out magnanimous terms of surrender that would prevent treason trials.

As President, Grant presided over the Government much as he had run the Army. Indeed he brought part of his Army staff to the White House.

Although a man of scrupulous honesty, Grant as President accepted handsome presents from admirers. Worse, he allowed himself to be seen with two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk. When Grant realized their scheme to corner the market in gold, he authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to sell enough gold to wreck their plans, but the speculation had already wrought havoc with business.

During his campaign for re-election in 1872, Grant was attacked by Liberal Republican reformers. He called them “narrow-headed men,” their eyes so close together that “they can look out of the same gimlet hole without winking.” The General’s friends in the Republican Party came to be known proudly as “the Old Guard.”

Grant allowed Radical Reconstruction to run its course in the South, bolstering it at times with military force.

After retiring from the Presidency, Grant became a partner in a financial firm, which went bankrupt. About that time he learned that he had cancer of the throat. He started writing his recollections to pay off his debts and provide for his family, racing against death to produce a memoir that ultimately earned nearly $450,000. Soon after completing the last page, in 1885, he died.

Learn more about Ulysses S. Grant’s spouse, Julia Dent Grant .

Stay Connected

We'll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better.

Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden.

• History Classics
• Your Profile
• Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
• This Day In History
• History Podcasts
• History Vault

Ulysses S. Grant

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 30, 2020 | Original: October 29, 2009

Ulysses Grant (1822-1885) commanded the victorious Union army during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and served as the 18th U.S. president from 1869 to 1877. An Ohio native, Grant graduated from West Point and fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). During the Civil War, Grant, an aggressive and determined leader, was given command of all the U.S. armies. 

After the war, he became a national hero, and the Republicans nominated him for president in 1868. A primary focus of Grant’s administration was Reconstruction, and he worked to reconcile the North and South while also attempting to protect the civil rights of newly freed black slaves. While Grant was personally honest, some of his associates were corrupt and his administration was tarnished by various scandals. After retiring, Grant invested in a brokerage firm that went bankrupt, costing him his life savings. He spent his final days penning his memoirs, which were published the year he died and proved a critical and financial success.

Ulysses Grant’s Early Years

Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio . The following year, he moved with his parents, Jesse Grant (1794-1873) and Hannah Simpson Grant (1798-1883), to Georgetown, Ohio, where his father ran a tannery.

Did you know? Thousands of people worldwide donated a total of $600,000 for the construction of Grant's tomb in New York City. Known officially as the General Grant National Memorial, it is America's largest mausoleum and was dedicated on April 27, 1897, the 75th anniversary of Grant's birth.

In 1839, Jesse Grant arranged for his son’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point . The congressman who appointed Grant mistakenly believed his first name was Ulysses and his middle name was Simpson (his mother’s maiden name). Grant never amended the error and went on to accept Ulysses S. Grant as his real name, although he maintained that the “S” did not stand for anything.

In 1843, Grant graduated from West Point, where he was known as a skilled horseman but an otherwise undistinguished student. He was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Infantry, which was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri , near St. Louis. The following year, he met Julia Dent (1826-1902), the sister of one of his West Point classmates and the daughter of a merchant and planter.

After seeing action in the Mexican-American War , Grant returned to Missouri and married Julia in August 1848. The couple eventually had four children: Frederick Dent Grant, Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., Nellie Grant and Jesse Root Grant. In the early years of his marriage, Grant was assigned to a series of remote army posts, some of them on the West Coast, which kept him separated from his family. In 1854, he resigned from the military.

Grant and Sherman Lead the Union

Two unlikely leaders, Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman become the most essential Union commanders in the Civil War.

Grant’s Troubled Presidency

Grant’s presidency was marred by political scandal, clashes with Native Americans and continued violence throughout the Reconstruction South.

Ulysses Grant and the Civil War

Now a civilian, Ulysses Grant was reunited with his family at White Haven, the Missouri plantation where Julia had grown up. There he made an unsuccessful attempt at farming, followed by a failed stint in a St. Louis real estate office. In 1860, the Grants moved to Galena, Illinois , where Ulysses worked in his father’s leather goods business.

After the Civil War began in April 1861, Grant became a colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteers. Later that summer, President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) made Grant a brigadier general. Grant’s first major victory came in February 1862, when his troops captured Fort Donelson in Tennessee . When the Confederate general in charge of the fort asked about terms of surrender for the Battle of Fort Donelson , Grant famously replied, “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.”

In July 1863, Grant’s forces captured Vicksburg, Mississippi , a Confederate stronghold. Grant, who was earning a reputation as a tenacious and determined leader, was appointed lieutenant-general by Lincoln on March 10, 1864, and given command of all U.S. armies. He led a series of campaigns that ultimately wore down the Confederate army and helped bring the deadliest conflict in U.S. history to a close. On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert Lee (1807-1870) surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia , effectively ending the Civil War.

Five days later, on April 14, Lincoln was assassinated by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Grant, and his wife had been invited to accompany the president that night but declined in order to visit family.

Ulysses S. Grant: An Interactive Map of His Key Civil War Battles

Grant is credited with winning the Civil War and preserving the American Union. This map charts his achievements during the nation’s most wrenching conflict.

From War Hero to President

Following the war, Ulysses Grant became a national hero, and in 1866 was appointed America’s first four-star general at the recommendation of President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875). By the summer of 1867, tensions were running high between Johnson and the Radical Republicans in Congress, who favored a more aggressive approach to Reconstruction in the South. 

The president removed a vocal critic of his policies, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814-1869), from the Cabinet and replaced him with Grant. Congress charged that Johnson was in violation of the Tenure of Office Act and demanded Stanton’s reinstatement. In January 1868, Grant resigned the war post, thereby breaking with Johnson, who was later impeached but acquitted by a single vote in May 1868.

That same month, the Republicans nominated Grant as their presidential candidate, selecting Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885), a U.S. congressman from Indiana , as his running mate. The Democrats chose former New York governor Horatio Seymour (1810-1886) as their presidential nominee, paired with Francis Blair (1821-1875), a U.S. congressman from Missouri. In the general election, Grant won by an electoral margin of 214-80 and received more than 52 percent of the popular vote. At age 46, he became the youngest president-elect in U.S. history up to that time.

Ulysses Grant in the White House

Ulysses Grant entered the White House in the middle of the Reconstruction era, a tumultuous period in which the 11 Southern states that seceded before or at the start of the Civil War were brought back into the Union. As president, Grant tried to foster a peaceful reconciliation between the North and South. He supported pardons for former Confederate leaders while also attempting to protect the civil rights of freed slaves. 

In 1870, the 15th Amendment , which gave black men the right to vote, was ratified. Grant signed legislation aimed at limiting the activities of white terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan that used violence to intimidate blacks and prevent them from voting. At various times, the president stationed federal troops throughout the South to maintain law and order. Critics charged that Grant’s actions violated states’ rights, while others contended that the president did not do enough to protect freedmen.

In addition to focusing on Reconstruction, Grant signed legislation establishing the Department of Justice, the Weather Bureau (now known as the National Weather Service) and Yellowstone National Park, America’s first national park. He also tried, with limited success, to improve conditions for Native Americans. 

7 Reasons Ulysses S. Grant Was One of America’s Most Brilliant Military Leaders

What he lacked in knowledge of military art and science, he made up for with tenacity and grit.

How Lincoln and Grant’s Partnership Won the Civil War

Abraham Lincoln was disappointed by most of his generals—but not Ulysses S. Grant.

The Key Way West Point Prepared Ulysses S. Grant for the Civil War

An uninspired student at the prestigious military academy, Grant met more than 50 future Civil War generals—both comrades and foes—while there.

Grant’s administration made strides in foreign policy by negotiating the 1871 Treaty of Washington, which settled U.S. claims against England stemming from the activities of British-built Confederate warships that disrupted Northern shipping during the Civil War. The treaty resulted in improved relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. Less successful was Grant’s failed attempt to annex the Caribbean nation of Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican Republic).

In 1872, a group of Republicans who opposed Grant’s policies and believed he was corrupt formed the Liberal Republican Party. The group nominated New York newspaper editor Horace Greeley (1811-1872) as their presidential candidate. The Democrats also nominated Greeley, hoping the combined support would defeat Grant. Instead, the president and his running mate Henry Wilson (1812-1875), a U.S. senator from Massachusetts , won the general election by an electoral margin of 286-66 and received close to 56 percent of the popular vote.

During Grant’s second term, he had to contend with a lengthy and severe depression that struck the nation in 1873 as well as various scandals that plagued his administration. He also continued to grapple with issues related to Reconstruction. Grant did not seek a third term, and Republican Rutherford Hayes (1822-1893), the governor of Ohio, won the presidency in 1876.

Ulysses Grant Scandals

Ulysses Grant’s time in office was marked by scandal and corruption, although he himself did not participate in or profit from the misdeeds perpetrated by some of his associates and appointees. During his first term, a group of speculators led by James Fisk (1835-1872) and Jay Gould (1836-1892) attempted to influence the government and manipulate the gold market. The failed plot resulted in a financial panic on September 24, 1869, known as Black Friday. Even though Grant was not directly involved in the scheme, his reputation suffered because he had become personally associated with Fisk and Gould prior to the scandal.

Another major scandal was the Whiskey Ring, which was exposed in 1875 and involved a network of distillers, distributors and public officials who conspired to defraud the federal government of millions in liquor tax revenue. Grant’s private secretary, Orville Babcock (1835-1884), was indicted in the scandal; however, the president defended him and he was acquitted.

Grant’s presidency occurred during an era dominated by machine politics and the patronage system of political appointments, in which politicians rewarded their supporters with government jobs and the employees, in turn, kicked back part of their salaries to the political party. In order to combat the corruption and inefficiency that resulted from this system, Grant established a civil service commission to develop more equitable methods for hiring and promoting government workers. However, civil service reform faced opposition from Congress and members of Grant’s administration, and by 1876 the commission’s funding was cut off and reform rules such as standardized exams were discontinued. Lasting reform did not take hold until 1883 when President Chester Arthur (1829-1886) signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act.

10 Things You May Not Know About Ulysses S. Grant

One of the most influential Americans of the 19th century, Grant led the Union Army to victory during the Civil War and later helped steer the nation through Reconstruction during two terms as president.

President Ulysses S. Grant: Known for Scandals, Overlooked for Achievements

The Civil War hero left the White House under a cloud, but he also made substantial contributions—like passing the 15th Amendment.

Bankrupt and Dying from Cancer, Ulysses S. Grant Waged His Greatest Battle

Aided by Mark Twain, the former president and Civil War hero raced to complete a literary masterpiece that saved his wife from destitution.

Ulysses Grant’s Later Years

After leaving the White House in March 1877, Ulysses Grant and his family embarked on a two-year trip around the world, during which they met with dignitaries and cheering crowds in many of the countries they visited. At the 1880 Republican National Convention, a group of delegates voted to nominate Grant for president again; however, James Garfield (1831-1881), a U.S. congressman from Ohio, ultimately earned the nomination. He would go on to win the general election and become the 20th U.S. president before being assassinated in 1881.

In 1881, Grant bought a brownstone on New York City’s Upper East Side. He invested his savings in a financial firm in which his son was a partner; however, the firm’s other partner swindled its investors in 1884, causing the business to collapse and bankrupt Grant. To provide for his family, the former president decided to write his memoirs. In late 1884, he was diagnosed with throat cancer.

Grant died at age 63 on July 23, 1885, in Mount McGregor, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains, where he and his family were spending the summer. His memoirs, published that same year by his friend Mark Twain (1835-1910), became a major financial success.

More than a million people gathered in New York City to witness Grant’s funeral procession. The former president was laid to rest in a tomb in New York City’s Riverside Park. When Julia Grant died in 1902, she was buried beside her husband.

Ulysses Grant Quotes

“The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who have helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.”

“In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten. Then he who continues the attack wins.”

“There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice.”

“The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.”

Sign up for Inside History

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details : Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us

Ulysses S. Grant

A brief life of ulysses s. grant.

Ulysses S. Grant’s ancestors first came to America in 1630, Englishman Mathew Grant landing in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

Grant was always extremely proud of his forebears, but the most important individuals in his lineage were his mother and father.

His father Jesse spent part of his early years living in the home of the father of the famous abolitionist, John Brown. His quiet mother Hannah Simpson Grant came from Pennsylvania parents who were die-hard Jacksonian Democrats. The two married in June of 1821, and their first born, Hiram Ulysses Grant, was born on April 27, 1822. It was only later when the congressman who nominated him for West Point erroneously recorded him as Ulysses S. Grant that he was able to shed the embarrassment of his true initials: H.U.G.

Grant’s father sent him to the United States Military Academy where he graduated 21 st  out of a class of 39, excelling in mathematics. The last year at West Point he roomed with Frederick Dent the son of a slave-holding family from St. Louis, Missouri. Grant, whose family was opposed to slavery, regularly rode to the Dent plantation and there he met Julia Dent. They agreed to marry in May of 1844, but the Mexican-American War intervened, and the marriage did not happen until August 22, 1848.

The marriage resulted in four children: three boys and a girl. Because Grant remained in the army, the family was frequently separated, and Grant suffered from depression. When he was stationed far from his family at Fort Humboldt in the wilds of California, it is rumored that he drank so heavily that his commanding officer forced him out of the army. He returned to St. Louis and unsuccessfully attempted to earn a living in a variety of occupations. Finally in 1860, his overbearing father gave him a job as store clerk in his Galena, Illinois tannery business.

While he was living in Galena, the Civil War exploded, but Grant had difficulty getting into the conflict. Finally, his success as an Illinois records clerk resulted in the state’s governor giving him command of an undisciplined regiment, to reform them. He did and from that point on, his track was upward. He gained success at places like Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga. Lincoln named him commander of all Union armies in 1864. His fight against Robert E. Lee in Virginia and his mild surrender terms at Appomattox, made him a national hero.

When the presidential election of 1868 came along, Grant had no real rival for the office as he soundly defeated Horatio Seymour. He was re-elected in 1872, easily defeating newspaper editor Horace Greeley. He was also the only president between Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson to try to insure full rights as citizens for the former slaves. He worked hard to destroy the Ku Klux Klan and also tried to deal with the difficult economic Panic of 1873. As is often the case after a war, Grant had to deal with corruption during his time in office, although he himself was never accused of any wrong doing.

When he completed his term in office, Grant became the first American president to make a world tour, being received by enthusiastic crowds and world leaders throughout Europe and Asia. Upon his return, there were numerous calls for him to run for the presidency again in 1880, but this attempt proved unsuccessful.

Grant then became president of a Mexican-American Railroad Company. All sorts of publishers also wanted him to write his memoirs, but he repeatedly refused. Then in 1883, he fell on the ice outside his New York home and permanently damaged his left leg. A charlatan fleeced him out of all his money, forcing him to agree, finally, to write his memoirs. He agreed to work with publisher-business agent Mark Twain. Then because of years of smoking cigars, he developed throat cancer. In spite of his terrible pain, he was able to finish his memoirs, dying just days after finishing them in July 1885. His 1885 funeral was and remains the largest such event in American history, and “Grant’s Tomb” remains an important fixture in American popular consciousness.

Ulysses Grant was immensely popular during his lifetime, but, for a time, was considered a butcher general and a corrupt president. He was regularly ranked at the bottom of all American presidents. He is today considered one of the most significant people in American history.

What can we help you find?

While we certainly appreciate historical preservation, it looks like your browser is a bit too historic to properly view whitehousehistory.org. — a browser upgrade should do the trick.

Main Content

Ulysses S. Grant

On April 27, 1822, Ulysses S. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio. Grant’s father, Jesse, was a tanner and an abolitionist. Grant received an education from several private schools and later attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. After graduating in the middle of his class, Grant was stationed in Missouri where he visited with his former classmate and friend, Fred Dent. During the visit, Grant met Fred’s sister, Julia, and fell in love with her. In 1848, they married and would go on to raise four children together.

After the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, Grant fought under General Zachary Taylor before resigning from the military in 1854. Julia, Ulysses, and their children moved back to her father’s plantation, White Haven, in Missouri. Grant became a plantation manager, overseeing the enslaved and free laborers while working alongside them. While there are no known documents or letters related to a bill of sale, Grant did emancipate a man named William Jones in 1859. According to the signed manumission, Jones was “purchased by me [Grant] of Frederick Dent.” Jones is the only known enslaved individual who was owned by Grant—though his decision to free William rather than sell him, especially as he struggled financially, suggests that Grant had personal discomfort with slave ownership. Julia, however, had no qualms about using enslaved labor within her household and she considered those owned by her father Frederick Dent as her own. Click here to learn more about the enslaved households of President Ulysses Grant.

At the onset of the Civil War, the Grants were living in Illinois after the family suffered more financial setbacks in Missouri. Ulysses was working in his father's leather store in Galena when Governor John Wood appointed him commander of an unruly volunteer regiment. By September 1861, Grant had instilled order and discipline within the unit and was rewarded with a promotion to brigadier general of the volunteer force.

In his new position, Grant captured Fort Henry and attacked Fort Donelson. When the Confederate commander asked for Grant’s terms, he replied, "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." The Confederates surrendered, and President Abraham Lincoln promoted Grant to major general of volunteers. A few months later, Grant secured a hard-fought victory at the Battle of Shiloh, one of the bloodiest battles in the Western Theater. The casualties concerned some officials enough to call for Grant’s removal. President Lincoln defended Grant by saying, "I can't spare this man, he fights."

Grant then turned his attention to Vicksburg—its location on the banks of the Mississippi River made it a key city for moving troops and supplies. On July 4, 1863, Confederate troops surrendered to Grant after a two-month siege, even though many had considered the fort at Vicksburg impregnable. Grant then followed this success by capturing Chattanooga and its important railroad depot, pushing Confederates back into Georgia. In March 1864, Lincoln appointed Grant general-in-chief. Grant’s success can be credited to his military strategies and maneuvers, which made him remarkably different from his predecessors. He engaged the enemy in all theatres, drawing them into the open while exhausting their resources. His tactical planning and pursuit of General Robert E. Lee’s forces brought the war to a close on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House. With Lincoln’s approval, General Grant offered generous terms of surrender that would prevent treason trials and executions.

During the years immediately following the war, General Ulysses S. Grant criticized President Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction plan and aligned himself with Radical Republicans. In the 1868 election, Grant, a military hero and symbol of the Union victory, won in a landslide.

President Grant sent federal troops to the South to enforce civil rights legislation and protect African Americans from civil and political violence. With the assistance of Congress, Grant created the Department of Justice and instructed Attorney General Amos T. Akerman to suppress the newly formed Ku Klux Klan’s efforts to disenfranchise and terrorize black communities.

Although personally a man of unquestioned honesty, Grant’s reputation suffered from those around him. The president was often seen with two of his friends, speculators Jay Gould and James Fisk. When Grant discovered their scheme to corner the market in gold, he authorized Secretary of the Treasury George Boutwell to sell enough gold to undermine their plans. The speculation had already damaged the American economy, however, and Grant took the blame for his poor judgment in associates. Some Republican reformers seized on the scandal, accused the administration of corruption, and nominated Horace Greeley for president. The general's allies in the Republican Party were able to fend off these attacks and Grant was reelected with an overwhelming majority of the vote in 1872. However, scandal continued to follow his administration, most notably in 1875 with the discovery of the Whiskey Ring. This was an extensive network of distillers, intermediaries, and government officials who engaged in bribery and extortion to avoid federal taxes on liquor. President Grant’s private secretary, Orville E. Babcock, was indicted as part of the investigation but later acquitted when Grant testified on his behalf.

After retiring from the presidency, Grant’s long history of financial struggles continued. He joined a financial firm, which went bankrupt, and then learned he was suffering from throat cancer in late 1884. He worked furiously to write his memoirs to pay off his debts and provide for his family. These memoirs, completed just before he died on July 23, 1885, earned nearly $450,000. Grant’s autobiography was lauded for its lucid prose and compelling story. Grant argued that the Mexican-American War and the expansion of slavery ultimately drove the country toward civil war. It is still regarded as one of the best first-hand accounts of the Civil War.

Related Information

• Julia Grant

Portrait Painting

You might also like, the american presidents song.

The origin of the "American Presidents" by Genevieve Ryan Bellaire is somewhat unique. One year, Genevieve's father asked her to memorize the order of the Presidents of the United States for Father's Day. As she did, she began to come up with rhymes to help her remember each President. After sharing this method with her family, they told her that

The Presidents and the Theatre

Read Digital Edition Foreword, William SealeThe Man Who Came to Dinner at the White House: Alexander Woollcott Visits the Roosevelts, Mary Jo Binker The Curse of the Presidential Musical: Mr. President and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Amy HendersonFord's Theatre and the White House, William O'Brien The American Presidents and Shakespeare, Paul F. Boller Jr.Opera for the President: Superstars and Song in

International Presidents’ Day Wreath Laying

Carriages of the presidents.

Before the twentieth century, the presidents' vehicles were not armored-plated or specially built. Their carriages were similar to those of citizens of wealth. Often they were gifts from admirers. George Washington had the most elaborate turn out of the presidents for state occasions, sporting a cream-colored carriage drawn by six matched horses "all brilliantly caparisoned." Coachmen and footmen wore livery

Presidents at the Races

No sport created more excitement, enthusiasm and interest in the colonial period and the early republic than horse racing. Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson took immense pride in their horses and bred them to improve the bloodlines of saddle, work, carriage and racehorses. Early presidents loved horse racing, the most popular sport in America at that time. George Washington,

The Presidents and Sports

Read Digital Version Forward by William SealeThe Presidents and Baseball: Presidential Openers and Other Traditions by Frederic J. FrommerUlysses S. Grant's White House Billiard Saloon by David RamseyTheodore Roosevelt: The President Who Saved Football by Mary Jo BinkerHoover Ball and Wellness in the White House by Matthew SchaeferCapturing A Moment in Time: Remembering My Summer Photographing President Eisenhower by Al

Queen Elizabeth II and America’s Presidents

Featuring David Charter

St. John’s, the Church of the Presidents

Featuring Rev. Robert Fisher, Rector at St. John’s Church

Blair House: The President’s Guest House

Featuring The Honorable Capricia Marshall, Ambassador Stuart Holliday, and Matthew Wendel

Presidential Leadership Lessons

Featuring Talmage Boston

The Historic Stephen Decatur House

In 1816, Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr. and his wife Susan moved to the nascent capital city of Washington, D.C. With the prize money he received from his naval feats, Decatur purchased the entire city block on the northwest corner of today’s Lafayette Square. The Decaturs commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, one of America’s first professional architects, to design and buil

250 Years of American Political Leadership

Featuring Iain Dale, award-winning British author and radio and podcast host

The Official 2024 White House Christmas Ornament

• Grounds & Garden
• First Ladies
• VP Residence
• Historical Tour
• African-American History Month
• Presidents & Baseball
• Grounds and Garden
• Easter Egg Roll
• Christmas & Holidays
• State of the Union
• Historical Association
• Presidential Libraries
• Air Force One

Presidents by Name

Presidents by Date

View Flash Version

• Humanities ›
• History & Culture ›
• American History ›
• U.S. Presidents ›

Ulysses Grant - Eighteenth President of the United States

PhotoQuest / Getty Images

• U.S. Presidents
• Important Historical Figures
• Native American History
• American Revolution
• America Moves Westward
• The Gilded Age
• Crimes & Disasters
• The Most Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
• African American History
• African History
• Ancient History and Culture
• Asian History
• European History
• Latin American History
• Medieval & Renaissance History
• Military History
• The 20th Century
• Women's History
• M.A., History, University of Florida
• B.A., History, University of Florida

Ulysses Grant's Childhood and Education

Grant was born on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio. He was raised in Georgetown, Ohio. He grew up on a farm. He went to local schools before attending the Presbyterian Academy and then being appointed to West Point. He was not necessarily the best student though he was good at math. When he graduated, he was placed in the infantry.

Family Ties

Grant was the son of Jesse Root Grant, a tanner and merchant along with a strict North American 19th-century anti-enslavement activist. His mother was Hannah Simpson Grant. He had three sisters and two brothers. 

On August 22, 1848, Grant married Julia Boggs Dent, the daughter of a St. Louis merchant and enslaver. The fact that her family owned enslaved people was a point of contention for Grant's parents. Together they had three sons and one daughter: Frederick Dent, Ulysses Jr., Ellen, and Jesse Root Grant. 

Ulysses Grant's Military Career

When Grant was graduated from West Point, he was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. In 1846, America went to war with Mexico . Grant served with General Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott . By the end of the war he was promoted to first lieutenant. He continued his military service  until 1854 when he resigned and tried farming. He had a hard time and eventually had to sell his farm. He did not rejoin the military until 1861 with the outbreak of the Civil War .

U.S. Civil War

At the beginning of the Civil War , Grant rejoined the military as a colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry. He captured Fort Donelson , Tennessee in February 1862 which was the first major Union victory. He was promoted to major general. He had other victories at Vicksburg , Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. In March 1864, he was made the commander of all Union forces. He accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox , Virginia on April 9, 1865. After the war, he served as Secretary of War (1867-68).

Nomination and Election

Grant was unanimously nominated by the Republicans in 1868. The Republicans supported Black suffrage in the south and a less lenient form of reconstruction than that espoused by Andrew Johnson . Grant was opposed by Democrat Horatio Seymour. In the end, Grant received 53% of the popular vote and 72% of the electoral vote. In 1872, Grant was easily renominated and won over Horace Greeley despite the many scandals that occurred during his administration.

Events and Accomplishments of Ulysses Grant's Presidency

The largest issue of Grant's presidency was  Reconstruction . He continued occupying the South with federal troops. His administration fought against states who denied Black people the right to vote. In 1870, the fifteenth amendment was passed providing that no one could be denied the right to vote based on race. Further in 1875, the Civil Rights Act was passed which ensured that Black Americans would have the same right to use inns, transportation, and theaters among other things. However, the law was ruled unconstitutional in 1883.

In 1873, an economic depression occurred that lasted five years. Many were unemployed, and many businesses failed.

Grant's administration was marked by five major scandals.

• Black Friday - September 24, 1869. Two speculators,  Jay Gould  and  James Fisk , tried to buy up enough gold to corner the gold market while keeping Grant from dumping federal gold on the market. They drove up the price of gold quickly before Grant realized what was going on and was able to add enough gold onto the market to bring the price down. However, many investors and businesses were ruined because of this.
• Credit Mobilier - 1872. In order to cover up stealing money from the Union Pacific Railroad, officers of the Credit Mobilier company sold stocks cheaply to members of Congress.
• Grant's Secretary of the Treasury, William A. Richardson gave special agent John D. Sanborn the job of collecting delinquent taxes allowing Sanborn to keep 50% of what he collected.
• Whiskey Ring - 1875. Many distillers and federal agents were keeping money that was being paid as liquor taxes. Grant called for punishment but protected his own personal secretary.
• Belknap Bribery - 1876. Grant's Secretary of War, W. W. Belknap was taking money from traders selling at Native American posts.

However, through all of this, Grant still was able to get renominated and reelected to the presidency.

Post-Presidential Period

After Grant retired from the presidency, he and his wife traveled throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. He then retired to Illinois in 1880. He helped his son by borrowing money to set him up with a friend named Ferdinand Ward in a brokerage firm. When they went bankrupt, Grant lost all his money. He ended up writing his memoirs for money to help his wife before he died on July 23, 1885.

Historical Significance

Grant is considered to be one of the worst presidents in America's history. His time in office was marked by major scandals, and therefore he was not able to accomplish much during his two terms in office.

• 9 Presidents Who Were War Heroes
• Which Presidents Were Republican?
• One-Term US Presidents
• William Howard Taft Biography: 27th President of the United States
• Theodore Roosevelt Fast Facts
• Chart of the Presidents and Vice Presidents
• John Tyler, Tenth President of the United States
• Martin Van Buren - Eighth President of the United States
• Chester A Arthur: Twenty-First President of the United States
• James K. Polk, 11th President of the United States
• Presidential Retirement Benefits and Pension
• 10 of the Most Influential Presidents of the United States
• Biography of Millard Fillmore: The 13th President of the United States
• 10 Interesting Facts About James Buchanan
• Quotes From Andrew Jackson
• Famous Quotes From Woodrow Wilson