Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, was born in 1822 in Georgetown, Ohio, to a family of tanners. He graduated from West Point in 1843 and became a prominent figure in the U.S. Army. He married Julia Dent in 1848 and moved around the country due to his military career, eventually settling in Galena, Illinois, where he attempted to find success in the leather business. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Grant played a crucial role in recruiting and training troops, ultimately leading to his appointment as lieutenant general and full command over all U.S. armies by 1864.
Grant’s strategic planning and leadership skills led to numerous victories throughout the Midwest during the Civil War, culminating in the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in April 1865. After the war, Grant was nominated for president of the United States and won the election in 1868. He was known for bringing in many leaders from the Army to assist with Reconstruction efforts and ratified the 15th amendment, granting Black men the right to vote. Grant also signed legislation to limit the activities of White terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and established Yellowstone National Park as America’s first national park.
Despite facing various scandals during his presidency, Grant won re-election in 1872 and served another four years in office. After leaving the White House, he worked for a financial firm before being diagnosed with throat cancer. Grant died in 1885 at the age of 63 at his family cottage in New York. He was laid to rest in New York City’s Riverside Park, where his wife Julia joined him in burial roughly 17 years later. The mausoleum where the Grants were buried is the largest in North America and serves as a testament to the nation’s gratitude for Grant’s role in ending the Civil War and working to heal a divided nation.
