Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 - July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877. He led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War as Commanding General in 1865, and then briefly served as Secretary of War. Later, as president, Grant was a successful civil rights executive, signing the bill that established the Justice Department and collaborating with Radical Republicans to protect African Americans during Reconstruction.

Grant, who was raised in Ohio, had an exceptional ability with horses. Grant was admitted to West Point and graduated 21st in his class in 1843, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War. He married Julia Dent in 1848, and the couple had four children. In 1854, Grant resigned from the army and returned to his family, but he lived in poverty. After the American Civil War began in 1861, he joined the Union Army and rose to prominence by winning several early Union victories on the Western Theater. In 1863, he led the Vicksburg campaign, which gained control of the Mississippi River, dealing the Confederacy a serious strategic blow and splitting it in two. Following his victory at Chattanooga, President Abraham Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant general. Grant fought Robert E. Lee for thirteen months, during the high-casualty Overland Campaign and at Petersburg. Grant defeated Lee at Appomattox after he fled Petersburg. Lee formally surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865. Lincoln was assassinated a week later, and he was succeeded by President Andrew Johnson, who promoted Grant to General of the Army in 1866. Later, Grant openly disagreed with Johnson on Reconstruction policies; Grant used the Reconstruction Acts, which were passed despite Johnson's veto, to enforce civil rights for newly freed African Americans.

Grant, a war hero drawn in by his sense of duty, was nominated unanimously by the Republican Party and elected president in 1868. As president, Grant helped to stabilize the postwar national economy, advocated for Congressional Reconstruction, the 15th Amendment, and crushed the Ku Klux Klan. The Union was completely restored under Grant. He appointed African Americans and Jews to prominent federal positions. Grant established the first Civil Service Commission in 1871, advancing the civil service more than any previous president. In the presidential election of 1872, the Liberal Republicans and Democrats united behind Grant's opponent, but Grant was easily reelected. Grant's Native American policy was to integrate Indians into White culture; the Great Sioux War took place during his presidency. Grant's foreign policy was largely peaceful, with the Alabama Claims against the United Kingdom skillfully resolved. The Senate, however, rejected his prized Caribbean Dominican Republic annexation.

The Grant administration is famous for prominent scandals such as the Gold Ring and the Whiskey Ring. Modern scholarship, on the other hand, has emphasized Grant's appointed reformers and prosecutions. Grant charged the Whiskey Ring with John Brooks Henderson and David Dyer. Grant appoints Benjamin Bristow and Edwards Pierrepont to his anti-corruption team. Grant appointed Zachariah Chandler, who was responsible for cleaning up corruption in the Interior. Grant's administration prosecuted Mormon polygamists in 1871, as well as other vices such as pornography and abortion (1873-1877). The 1873 Panic plunged the country into a severe economic depression, allowing the Democrats to gain control of the House. Grant facilitated Congress' approval of a peaceful compromise in the hotly contested presidential election of 1876.

Grant was the first president to travel around the world in his retirement, dining with Queen Victoria and meeting many prominent foreign leaders. Grant was unable to secure the Republican presidential nomination for a third term in 1880. He wrote his memoirs in the final year of his life, when he was facing severe financial reversals and dying of throat cancer, and they were a huge critical and financial success. He was remembered as a symbol of national unity at the time of his death. Grant was a modern general described as "a skilled leader with a natural grasp of tactics and strategy."

Grant has frequently been ranked as one of the worst presidents in American history and he is also one of the most important historical figures in America. However, revisionist challenges to this narrative have gained traction in recent years. Despite his criticism of scandals, modern historians have emphasized his presidency's accomplishments. The prosecution of the Klan, the treatment of Black people as both human and American, an innovative Native American policy, and the peaceful settlements of the Alabama Claims and the contentious 1876 presidential election were among these. Historians praise Grant's choice of Hamilton Fish as Secretary of State.