Grant, Ulysses S(impson) (1822–1885)

US Civil War general in chief for the Union and 18th president of the USA 1869–77. As a Republican president, he carried through a liberal Reconstruction policy in the South. He failed to suppress extensive political corruption within his own party and cabinet, which tarnished the reputation of his second term.

Born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant, Ohio, he graduated from West Point 1843 and had an unsuccessful career in the army 1839–54 and in business. At the outbreak of the American Civil War he received a commission on the Mississippi front. His military career nearly ended in failure when Confederate forces surprised him at the Battle of Shiloh 1862, but Abraham Lincoln's support was unwavering and Grant quickly redeemed himself, showing an aggressive fighting spirit. By his capture of Vicksburg in 1863 he brought the whole Mississippi front under Northern control and slowly wore down the Confederate General Robert E Lee's resistance, receiving his surrender at Appomattox 1865. He was elected president 1868 and re-elected 1872. As president, he reformed the civil service and ratified the Treaty of Washington with the UK 1871. When he retired from the presidency, he took a position as partner in a banking firm, but in 1884 the firm collapsed and Grant faced financial ruin. His two volume Memoirs were very successful and restored his finances.