Ulysses S.

Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; /ˈhaɪrəm juːˈlɪsiːz/ HY-rəm yoo-LIS-eez; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an
American military leader who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As president, Grant was
an effective civil rights executive who created the Justice Department and worked with the Radical Republicans to protect
African Americans during Reconstruction. As Commanding General, he led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil
War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as Secretary of War.

Raised in Ohio, Grant possessed an exceptional ability with horses, which served him well through his military career. He
was admitted to West Point, graduated 21st in the class of 1843 and served with distinction in the Mexican–American War.
In 1848, he married Julia Dent, and together they had four children. Grant abruptly resigned his army commission in 1854
and returned to his family, but lived in poverty for seven years. He joined the Union Army after the Civil War broke out in
1861 and rose to prominence after winning several early Union victories on the Western Theater. In 1863 he led the
Vicksburg campaign, which gained control of the Mississippi River. President Abraham Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant
general after his victory at Chattanooga. For thirteen months, Grant fought Robert E. Lee during the high-casualty Overland
Campaign and at Petersburg. On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. A week later, Lincoln was
assassinated and was succeeded by President Andrew Johnson, who promoted Grant to General of the Army in 1866. Later
Grant openly broke with Johnson over Reconstruction policies; Grant used the Reconstruction Acts, which had been passed
over Johnson's veto, to enforce civil rights for recently freed African Americans.

A war hero, drawn in by his sense of duty, Grant was unanimously nominated by the Republican Party and was elected
president in 1868. As president, Grant stabilized the post-war national economy, supported ratification of the 15th
Amendment, and crushed the Ku Klux Klan. He appointed African Americans and Jewish Americans to prominent federal
offices. In 1871, Grant created the first Civil Service Commission, advancing civil service more than any prior president. The
Liberal Republicans and Democrats united behind Grant's opponent in the presidential election of 1872, but Grant was
handily re-elected. Grant's Native American policy was to assimilate Indians into the White culture; the Great Sioux War was
fought during his term. In Grant's foreign policy, the Alabama claims against Great Britain were peacefully resolved, but his
prized Caribbean Dominican Republic annexation was rejected by the Senate.

Scandals were prevalent in Grant's federal offices. Grant's responses to corruption charges were mixed, at times defending
the culprits, particularly his war-time comrade Orville E. Babcock. But Grant also appointed reformers, such as John Brooks
Henderson and David Dyer, who prosecuted the Whiskey Ring. Other reformers Grant appointed included Benjamin Bristow
and Edwards Pierrepont, who served as Grant's anti-corruption team. The Panic of 1873 plunged the nation into a severe
economic depression that allowed the Democrats to win the House majority. In the intensely disputed presidential election
of 1876, Grant facilitated the approval by Congress of a peaceful compromise.