--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ulysses S. Grant
18th President of the United States
In office
March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877
Vice President Schuyler Colfax (1869–1873) Henry Wilson (1873–1875)
None (1875–1877)
Preceded by Andrew Johnson
Succeeded by Rutherford B. Hayes
Ulysses S. Grant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant) (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) served as the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As general-in-chief of the Union Army during the American Civil War, he led the North to victory against the Confederate States in the Civil War.
Following his graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1843, Grant served as a lieutenant in the Mexican–American War from 1846 to 1848. After he had resigned from the army in 1854, he struggled to make a living and worked as a real estate agent, laborer and county engineer. In 1861, he joined the Northern effort in the Civil War. Rapidly earning a reputation as one of the North's most aggressive generals Grant rose quickly through the ranks. He was appointed lieutenant general by President Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He implemented a strategy of simultaneous attacks aimed at destroying the South's military and its economy. In 1865, after mounting a successful war of attrition against the Confederacy, he accepted the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House.
Enormously popular after the Union's victory, Grant was elected to the presidency in 1868. Reelected in 1872, he became the first president to serve two full terms since Andrew Jackson did so 40 years earlier. As president, Grant led Reconstruction by signing and enforcing civil rights laws and fighting Ku Klux Clan violence.He helped rebuild the Republican Party in the South, an effort which resulted in the election of African Americans to Congress and state governments for the first time.
Despite its accomplishments, Grant's administration was marred by economic turmoil and scandal. Its response to the Panic of 1873 was heavily criticized. Grant often appointed corrupt or incompetent men to political positions and did little to hold them accountable. To counter corruption charges, Grant appointed reformers to clean up graft in the government. One reformer, Benjamin Bristow, prosecuted the Whiskey Ring. Grant left office in 1877 and sought to improve his damaged reputation.
After leaving office, he embarked upon a two-year world tour and in 1880 made a failed bid for a third term. In 1884, broke and near death, Grant wrote his enormously successful memoirs. Two days after completing the manu, Grant died at the age of 63. Presidential historians have ranked Grant poorly for his tolerance of corrupt cabinet members. His reputation has improved among some scholars impressed by his support for civil rights and concern for African Americans and Native Americans.
