Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) is the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877) following his dominant role in the second half of the Civil War.

Under Grant, the Union Army defeats the Confederate military and effectively ends the war with the surrender of Robert E. Lee's army at Appomattox.

As president, he leasd the Radical Republicans in their effort to eliminate all vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery; he effectively destroys the Ku Klux Klan in 1871.

His reputation is marred by his repeated defense of corrupt appointees, and by the deep economic depression (called the "Panic of 1873") that dominate his second term.

Although his Republican Party split in 1872 with reformers denouncing him, Grant is easily reelected.

By 1875, the conservative white Southern opposition regain control of every state in the South and as he leaves the White House in March 1877 his policies are being undone.

Reconstruction ends on a note of failure as the civil rights of blacks does not remain secure.

A career soldier, he graduates from the United States Military Academy at West Point and serves in the Mexican–American War.

When the Civil War begins in 1861, Grant trains Union volunteer regiments in Illinois.

In 1862, as a general, he fights a series of battles and is promoted to major general after forcing the surrender of a large Confederate army and gaining control of Kentucky and most of Tennessee.

He then leads Union forces to victory after initial setbacks in the Battle of Shiloh, earning a reputation as an aggressive commander.

In July 1863, after a long, complex campaign, Grant defeats five uncoordinated Confederate armies (capturing one of them) and seizes Vicksburg.

This famous victory gives the Union full control of the Mississippi River, splits off the western Confederacy, and opens the way for more Union triumphs.

After another win at the Battle of Chattanooga in late 1863, President Abraham Lincoln makes him lieutenant general and commander of all of the Union Armies.

As commanding general of the army, Grant confronts Robert E. Lee in a series of very bloody battles in 1864 known as the Overland Campaign that ends bottling up Lee at Petersburg, outside the Confederate capital of Richmond.

During the siege, Grant coordinates a series of devastating campaigns launched by William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and George Thomas.

Finally breaking through Lee's trenches, the Union Army captures Richmond in April 1865.

Lee surrenders his depleted forces to Grant at Appomattox as the Confederacy collapses.

Although Lee's allies denounce Grant in the 1870s as a ruthless butcher who won by brute force, most historians have hailed his military genius.

Grant's two consecutive terms as President stabilize the nation after the American Civil War and during the turbulent Reconstruction period that follows.

As president, he enforces Reconstruction by enforcing civil rights laws and fighting Ku Klux Klan violence.

Grant wins passage of the Fifteenth Amendment; giving constitutional protection for African-American voting rights.

He uses the army to build the Republican Party in the South, based on black voters, Northern newcomers ("Carpetbaggers") and native white supporters ("Scalawags.")

As a result, African Americans are represented in the U.S. Congress for the first time in American history in 1870.

Grant's reputation as president by 1875 is at an all-time high for his previous veto of the Inflation Bill, the passage of the Resumption of Specie Act, and Secretary Bristow's successful raids that shut down the Whiskey Ring.

Grant's foreign policy, led by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish, implements International Arbitration, settles the Alabama Claims with Britain and avoids war with Spain over the Virginius Affair.

His attempted annexation of the Dominican Republic fails.

Grant's response to the Panic of 1873 and the severe depression that follow is ineffective.

More than any other president, Grant has to respond to Congressional investigations into financial corruption charges of all federal departments.

In 1876, Grant's reputation is damaged by his White House deposition defending his personal secretary Orville Babcock, indicted in the Whiskey Ring graft trials, and his Secretary of War William W. Belknap's resignation, impeachment by the House, and trial in the Senate over receiving profit money from the Fort Sill tradership.

After leaving office, Grant embarks on a two-year world tour that includes many enthusiastic royal receptions.

In 1880, he makes an unsuccessful bid for a third presidential term.

His memoirs are a critical and popular success.

Historians until recently have given Grant's presidency the worst rankings; however, his reputation has significantly improved because of greater appreciation for his foreign policy and civil rights achievements, particularly: avoiding war with Britain and Spain, the Fifteenth Amendment, persecution of the Ku Klux Klan, enforcement of voting rights, and his Indian Peace Policy.

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