Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877) as well as military commander during the civil war and post-war reconstruction periods. Under the command of Grant, the union army defeated the confederate military and ended the confederate states of America. His image as a war hero was tarnished by corruption scandals during his presidency. Grant began his life long career as a soldier after graduating from the United States military academy in 1843. Fighting in the Mexican American war, he was a close observer of the techniques of generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. He retired from the army in 1854, and then struggled to make a living in St. Louis. After many financial setbacks, he finally moved to Galena, Illinois where he worked as a clerk in his father's tannery shop, making Galena his permanent legal home.
In 1861, after the American civil war broke out, he joined the union war effort, taking charge of training new regiments and then engaging the enemy near Cairo, Illinois. In 1862 he fought a series of major battles and captured a confederate army, earning a reputation as an aggressive general and allowing the union to seize control of most of Kentucky and Tennessee. In July 1863, after a long complex campaign he captured Vicksburg, captured another confederate army, and took control of the Mississippi river, splitting the confederacy and opening the way for more union victories and conquests. Lincoln promoted him, and gave him charge of all the union armies. as general-in-chief of the union armies from 1864 to 1865, Grant confronted Robert E. Lee in a series of very high casualty battles known as the overland campaign that ended in a stalemate siege at Petersburg. During the siege, Grant coordinated a series of devastating campaigns launched by William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and George Thomas. Finally breaking through Lee's trenches at Petersburg, the union army captured Richmond, the confederate capital in April 1865. Lee surrendered to grant at Appomattox; the confederacy collapsed and the civil war ended.
During reconstruction, Grant remained in command of the army and implemented the congressional plans to reoccupy the south and hold new elections in 1867 with black voters that gave republicans control of the southern states. Enormously popular in the north after the union's victory, he 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 forty years earlier. As president, he led reconstruction by signing and enforcing civil rights laws and fighting Ku Klux Klan 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 these civil rights accomplishments, Grant's presidency was marred by economic turmoil and multiple scandals. His response to the panic of 1873 and the severe depression that followed was heavily criticized. His low standards in cabinet and federal appointments and lack of accountability generated corruption and bribery in seven government departments. In 1876, his reputation was severely damaged by the graft trials of the whiskey ring. He left office at the low point of his popularity.
After leaving office, Grant embarked on a two-year world tour that was received favorably with many royal receptions. In 1880 he made an unsuccessful bid for a third presidential term. In 1884, broke and dying of cancer, he wrote his enormously successful memoirs. Historians have ranked his administration poorly due to tolerance of corruption. His presidential reputation has improved among scholars impressed by the administration's support for civil rights for freed slaves.
Presidency 1869–1877
The second president from Illinois, Grant was elected the 18th president of the United States in 1868, and was re-elected to the office in 1872. He served as president from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1877. In his re-election campaign, Grant benefited from the loyal support of Harper's weekly political cartoonist Thomas Nast.
Although there were initial scandals in his first term, Grant remained popular in the country and was re-elected a second term in 1872. His notable accomplishments as president include the enforcement of civil rights for African Americans in the reconstruction states, the treaty of Washington in 1871, and the resumption of specie act in 1875. Grant's reputation as president suffered from scandals caused by many corrupt appointees and personal associates and for the ruined economy caused by the panic of 1873.