Ulysses S. Grant
April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877, and the Commanding General of the Union Army who led it to victory in the American Civil War in 1865. His 1863 Vicksburg campaign gave Union forces control of the Mississippi River, and after his victory at Chattanooga President Lincoln promoted him to command all Union armies. A West Point graduate (1843), he had earlier served in the Mexican–American War.
Biography
Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio in 1822. He graduated from West Point, served in the Mexican–American War, and resigned from the army in 1854, struggling in civilian life before the Civil War.
He rose quickly in the West, taking Forts Henry and Donelson in 1862, surviving Shiloh, and capturing Vicksburg in 1863, which gave the Union control of the Mississippi. After his victory at Chattanooga, Lincoln made him general-in-chief in 1864. He directed the war against Lee in Virginia and accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
He served two terms as the 18th president, from 1869 to 1877. He supported Reconstruction and used federal power against the Ku Klux Klan, but his administration was damaged by corruption scandals. Ruined by a failed business, he wrote his memoirs while dying of cancer and died in 1885.
Offices held
George B. McClellan Succeeded by
Samuel Baldwin Marks Young
Edwin Stanton Succeeded by
John Schofield
Andrew Johnson Succeeded by
Rutherford B. Hayes
Military service
- Jul 1, 1843 – Jul 31, 1854 United States Army commissioned; resigned
- Jun 17, 1861 – Mar 4, 1869 United States Army rejoined; colonel 21st Illinois
- Union Army
