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Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885)

In Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States of America, the following requirements are stipulated for those wishing to hold the office of the President of the United States.

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

18th President of the United States (1869–1877)

Late in the administration of Andrew Johnson, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant quarreled with the President and aligned himself with the Radical Republicans. He was, as the symbol of Union victory during the Civil War, their logical candidate for President in 1868.

When he was elected, the American people hoped for an end to turmoil. Grant provided neither vigor nor reform. Looking to Congress for direction, he seemed bewildered. One visitor to the White House noted "a puzzled pathos, as of a man with a problem before him of which he does not understand the terms."

Born in 1822, Grant was the son of an Ohio tanner. He went to West Point rather against his will and graduated in the middle of his class. In the Mexican War he fought under Gen. Zachary Taylor.

Ulysses S. Grant:
Source: University of Virginia: Miller Center of Public Affairs, Ulysses S. Grant, 27 November 2009 <www.millercenter.virginia.edu>.
18th President of the United States
Born:	April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio.
Nickname:	"Hero of Appomattox"
Education:	U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York (graduated 1843)
Religion:	Methodist
Marriage:	August 22, 1848, to Julia Boggs Dent (1826–1902)
Children:	Frederick Dent (1850–1912), Ulysses Simpson (1852–1929), Ellen Wrenshall (1855–1922), Jesse Root (1858–1934)
Career:	Soldier
Political Party:	Republican
President:	2 terms (8 years) from PRESSERVEDATE.
Age at inauguration:	46
Died:	July 23, 1885, Mount McGregor, New York.
Interred:	Grant’s Tomb, New York, New York.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Grant was working in his father's leather store in Galena, Illinois. He was appointed by the Governor to command an unruly volunteer regiment. Grant whipped it into shape and by September 1861 he had risen to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers.

He sought to win control of the Mississippi Valley. In February 1862 he took Fort Henry and attacked Fort Donelson. When the Confederate commander asked for terms, Grant replied, "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." The Confederates surrendered, and President Lincoln promoted Grant to major general of volunteers.

At Shiloh in April, Grant fought one of the bloodiest battles in the West and came out less well. President Lincoln fended off demands for his removal by saying, "I can't spare this man--he fights."

Official Presidential Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant
by unknown, late 1800s.
Image: www.whitehouse.gov. 19 Mar 2013.
Other posters, photographs, and prints

For his next major objective, Grant maneuvered and fought skillfully to win Vicksburg, the key city on the Mississippi, and thus cut the Confederacy in two. Then he broke the Confederate hold on Chattanooga.

Lincoln appointed him General-in-Chief in March 1864. Grant directed Sherman to drive through the South while he himself, with the Army of the Potomac, pinned down Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Finally, on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House, Lee surrendered. Grant wrote out magnanimous terms of surrender that would prevent treason trials.

As President, Grant presided over the Government much as he had run the Army. Indeed he brought part of his Army staff to the White House.

Although a man of scrupulous honesty, Grant as President accepted handsome presents from admirers. Worse, he allowed himself to be seen with two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk. When Grant realized their scheme to corner the market in gold, he authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to sell enough gold to wreck their plans, but the speculation had already wrought havoc with business.

During his campaign for re-election in 1872, Grant was attacked by Liberal Republican reformers. He called them "narrow-headed men," their eyes so close together that "they can look out of the same gimlet hole without winking." The General's friends in the Republican Party came to be known proudly as "the Old Guard."

Grant allowed Radical Reconstruction to run its course in the South, bolstering it at times with military force.

After retiring from the Presidency, Grant became a partner in a financial firm, which went bankrupt. About that time he learned that he had cancer of the throat. He started writing his recollections to pay off his debts and provide for his family, racing against death to produce a memoir that ultimately earned nearly $450,000. Soon after completing the last page, in 1885, he died.

Source: The White House: Presidents, Ulysses S. Grant 19 March 2013 <www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents>.

Presidential $1.00 coin:

U.S. Mint Image

Presidential Dollars
Collector's Archive

Born in 1822, Ulysses S. Grant was the son of an Ohio tanner. He went to West Point and fought in the Mexican War under General Zachary Taylor. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Grant was appointed to command an unruly volunteer regiment. By September 1861, he had risen to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers. President Lincoln later promoted him to major general of volunteers. After he won battles at Vicksburg, Miss., and Chattanooga, Tenn., Lincoln appointed him general-in-chief in March 1864. Finally, on April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered.

As the symbol of Union victory during the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant was the Republican Party’s logical candidate for President in 1868. As President, he allowed radical Reconstruction to run its course in the south, bolstering it at times with military force. Under his administration, Yellowstone was established as the first national park and Congress passed a bill calling for equal pay for women and men holding similar jobs in federal government agencies. The happiest day of the Grant presidency was May 21, 1874, when his daughter Nellie was married in an extravagant White House wedding. After retiring from the presidency, Grant learned that he had cancer of the throat. At the suggestion of author Mark Twain, he started writing his memoirs to help pay off his debts and provide for his family; Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant became a best-seller. The book is today considered one of the finest military autobiographies ever written. Soon after completing the last page, he died on July 23, 1885.

Coinage Legislation under Ulysses S. Grant

Act of March 3, 1871: Provided for the redemption of copper and other token coins.
Act of February 12, 1873: Revised and amended laws relative to the United States Mint, assay offices and U.S. coinage. It officially established the United States Mint as a bureau of the Department of the Treasury.
Act of January 29, 1874: Authorized coinage to be executed at the United States Mint for foreign countries.
Act of June 22, 1874: Contained sections relating to coinage and made changes to a variety of activities, functions and procedures of the United States Mint.
Act of March 3, 1875: Authorized the coinage of a 20-cent piece of silver.
Act of April 17, 1876: Contained provisions regarding coinage to provide for deficiencies in the Printing and Engraving Bureau of the Treasury Department.
Act of July 22, 1876: Joint resolution for the issue of silver coins.
Act of January 16, 1877: Contained counterfeiting provisions.

United States Mint Directors appointed by Ulysses S. Grant

James Pollock of Pennsylvania, 1869 - 1873
Richard Henry Linderman of Pennsylvania, 1873 - 1878

Source: The United States Mint, Ulysses S. Grant Presidential $1 Coin. 19 March 2013 <www.USMint.gov>

Presidential state dollars: Information about design of the Presidential $1 Coins.

Presidential $1 Coins: Release information regarding the Official U.S. Mint Presidential $1 Coins.

Additional Information

The Presidents
Collection DVD

United States Presidents: List of all United States Presidents from NETSTATE.COM.

Ulysses S. Grant America's Story from America's Library, the Library of Congress.

Ulysses S. Grant: Biography from Public Broadcasting System's American Experience.

The Ulysses S. Grant Information Center: A Comprehensive and Well-Organized Website for Students and Those Interested in Learning About the Famous Civil War General and 18th President of the United States. Marie Kelsey, College of St. Scholastica.

Ulysses S. Grant: National Park Service's Log Cabin program.

U.S. Grant Historic Sites: Galena state historic sites.

A Place Called Home: Ulysses S. Grant is known as the victorious Civil War general who saved the Union and the 18th President of the United States. Few people know about his rise to fame or his personal life. National Park Service, National Historic Site.

Grant Cottage: Official website. New York State Historic Site, Wilton, N.Y.

Hardscrabble: The House that Grant Built: National Park Service's National Historic Site.

General Grant National Memorial: The final resting place of President Ulysses Simpson Grant and his wife, Julia, is the largest mausoleum in North America. National Park Service, National Memorial.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) American President: An Online Reference Resource from the Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. In-depth information reviewed by prominent scholars on each President and administration.

Ulysses S. Grant First Inauguration, March 4, 1869: Presidential Inaugurations is presented by the Library of Congress, and other governmental departments, in collaboration with the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School. This presentation includes diaries and letters of presidents and of those who witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music.

Ulysses S. Grant Second Inauguration, March 4, 1873 : Presidential Inaugurations is presented by the Library of Congress, and other governmental departments, in collaboration with the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School.

Ulysses S. Grant A Site to Complement C-SPAN's 20th Anniversary Television Series, American Presidents: Life Portraits.

Times Topics: Ulysses S. Grant News about Ulysses S. Grant. Commentary and archival information about Ulysses S. Grant from The New York Times.

The Career of a Soldier: Obituary from The New York Times, July 24, 1885

Ulysses S. Grant: Presidents of the United States, Internet Public Library 2.

Grant Homepage: The Keya Morgan Collection.

Ulysses S. Grant: A Resource Guide The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with Ulysses S. Grant. This resource guide compiles links to digital materials related to Grant such as manuscripts, letters, broadsides, government documents, and images that are available throughout the Library of Congress Web site.

The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant The digital collection consists of 31 volumes of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, political cartoons, and sheet music from the larger collection. Mississippi State University Libraries.

Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant: by Ulysses S. Grant. Free copy of Grant's memoirs (multiple formats) made available by Project Gutenberg.

Ulysses S. Grant
Mike Venezia

Ulysses S. Grant (Getting to Know the US Presidents), by Mike Venezia. 32 pages. Publisher: Children's Press(CT) (September 2004) Reading level: Grades 3-4.

Mike Venezia mixes facts with humor to introduce the presidents of the United States to students. This unique introduction highlights the life and times of President Ulysses S. Grant. Venezia uses funny and serious anecdotes to help students understand and realize that presidents are very real people. On each page is either a painting, an engraving, a map, a portrait, or a comical caricature that enhances the text. Captions are included with each that explains the historical paintings and portraits. For reports or pleasure, students will enjoy.

Ulysses S. Grant
America's NUMBth President
Lesli J. Favor

Ulysses S. Grant: America's NUMBth President, by Lesli J. Favor, Ph.D. 112 pages. Publisher: Scholastic Library Publishing (September 2003) Reading level: Grades 6-8. PREDESCFROMPUBLISHER.

A brief "Fast Facts" includes: time line, glossary, historic sites, Web sites, and index. Books for further reading. Tables of all the presidents noting dates of office, birth, and death, and birth-place.