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 ) following his success as a commander in the American Civil War . Under Grant , the Union Army defeated the Confederate military ; the war , and secession , ended with the surrender of Robert E . Lee ' s army at Appomattox . As president , he led the Radical Republicans in their effort to eliminate vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery , protect African American citizenship , and defeat the Ku Klux Klan . In foreign policy , Grant sought to increase American trade and influence while remaining at peace with the world . His reputation was marred by his defense of corrupt appointees , and by the United States ' first industrial age economic depression ( called the Panic of 1873 ) that dominated his second term . Although his Republican Party split in 1872 with reformers denouncing him , Grant was easily reelected . By 1875 the conservative white Southern opposition regained control of every state in the South and as Grant left the White House in March 1877 his policies were being undone . A career soldier , Grant graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the Mexican – American War . When the Civil War began in 1861 , Grant rejoined the Union army . In 1862 , he was promoted to major general and sucessfully took control of Kentucky and most of Tennessee . Grant then led Union forces to victory after initial setbacks in the Battle of Shiloh , earning a reputation as an aggressive commander . In July 1863 , Grant defeated Confederate armies and seized Vicksburg , giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and dividing the Confederacy in two . After the Battle of Chattanooga in late 1863 , President Abraham Lincoln promoted Grant to lieutenant general and commander of all of the Union armies . As commander , Grant confronted Robert E . Lee in a series of bloody battles in 1864 , which ended with Grant trapping Lee at Petersburg , Virginia . During the siege , Grant coordinated a series of devastating campaigns launched by generals William Tecumseh Sherman , Philip Sheridan , and George Henry Thomas in other theaters . Finally breaking through Lee ' s trenches , the Union Army captured Richmond in April 1865 . Lee surrendered his depleted forces to Grant at Appomattox as the Confederacy collapsed . Most historians have hailed Grant ' s military genius , despite losses of men . After the war , Grant served two terms as president and worked to stabilize the nation after the Civil War and during the turbulent Reconstruction period that followed . He enforced civil rights laws and fought Ku Klux Klan violence . Grant encouraged passage of the Fifteenth Amendment , giving protection for African - American voting rights . He used the army to build the Republican Party in the South , based on black voters , Northern newcomers ( " Carpetbaggers " ) and native white supporters ( " Scalawags " ) . As a result , African - Americans were represented in the Congress for the first time in American history in 1870 . Although there were some gains in political and civil rights by African Americans in the early 1870s , by the time Grant left office in 1877 , conservatives in the South had regained control of state governments , while most blacks lost their political power for nearly a century . Reformers praised Grant ' s Indian peace policy that reduced Indian violence and created the Board of Indian Commissioners . . In the long run , however , even his supporters agree that most of his policies were unsuccessful . Grant ' s reputation fell as the economy plunged into a deep economic depression , called the Panic of 1873 . After the Democrats gained control of the House in 1875 , Grant had to respond to a series of Congressional investigations into bribery charges of two cabinet members . Grant had to respond to Congressional investigations into financial corruption charges of all federal departments . Grant ' s foreign policy , led by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish , settled the Alabama Claims with Britain and avoided war with Spain over the Virginius Affair , but his attempted annexation of the Dominican Republic failed . Grant ' s response to the Panic of 1873 gave some financial relief to New York banking houses , but was ineffective in stopping the five - year industrial depression that followed . After leaving office , Grant embarked on a two - year world tour that included many enthusiastic receptions . In 1880 , he made an unsuccessful bid for a third presidential term . However , his memoirs , written as he was dying , were a critical and popular success . His death prompted an outpouring of national mourning . Historians have , until recently , ranked Grant as nearly the worst president , focusing on scandals of corrupt appointees and the unstable economy . While still below average , his reputation among scholars has significantly improved in recent years because of greater appreciation for his commitment to civil rights , moral courage in his prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan , and enforcement of voting rights . Early life and family . Hiram Ulysses Grant was born in Point Pleasant , Ohio on April 27 , 1822 to Jesse Root Grant , a tanner and businessman , and Hannah ( Simpson ) Grant . Jesse Grant was a Whig in politics with abolitionist sentiments . In the fall of 1823 , the family moved to the village of Georgetown in Brown County , Ohio . Raised in a Methodist family devoid of religious pretentiousness , Grant prayed privately and was not an official member of the church . Unlike his younger siblings , Grant was neither disciplined , baptized , nor forced to attend church by his parents . One of his biographers suggests that Grant inherited a degree of introversion from his reserved , even " uncommonly detached " mother ( she never took occasion to visit the White House during her son ' s presidency ) . Grant developed an unusual ability to work with , and control , horses in his charge , and became known as a capable horseman . When Grant was 17 , Congressman Thomas L . Hamer nominated him for a position at the United States Military Academy ( USMA ) at West Point , New York . Hamer mistakenly wrote down the name as " Ulysses S . Grant of Ohio . " At West Point , he adopted this name with a middle initial only . His nickname became " Sam " among army colleagues at the academy , since the initials " U . S . " also stood for " Uncle Sam " . The " S " , according to Grant , did not stand for anything , though Hamer had used it to abbreviate his mother ' s maiden name . The influence of Grant ' s family brought about the appointment to West Point , while Grant himself later recalled " a military life had no charms for me " . Grant stood 5 feet 1 inches and weighed 117 lbs when he entered West Point . Grant later said that he was lax in his studies , but he achieved above average grades in mathematics and geology . Although Grant had a quiet nature , he established a few intimate friends at West Point , including Frederick Tracy Dent and Rufus Ingalls . While not excelling scholastically , Grant studied under Romantic artist Robert Walter Weir and produced nine surviving artworks . He also established a reputation as a fearless and expert horseman , setting an equestrian high - jump record that stood almost 25 years . He graduated in 1843 , ranking 21st in a class of 39 . Grant was glad to leave West Point and planned to resign his commission after serving the minimum term of obligated duty . Despite his excellent horsemanship , he was not assigned to the cavalry , as assignments were determined by class rank , not aptitude . Grant was instead assigned as a regimental quartermaster , managing supplies and equipment in the 4th Infantry Regiment , with the rank of brevet second lieutenant . Military career , 1843 – 1854 . Grant ' s first assignment after graduation took him to the Jefferson Barracks near St . Louis , Missouri in September 1843 . It was the nation ' s largest military bastion in the West , commanded by Colonel Stephen W . Kearny . Grant was happy with his new commander , but still looked forward to the end of his military service and a possible teaching career . Grant spent some of his time in Missouri visiting the family of his West Point classmate , Frederick Dent , and getting to know Dent ' s sister , Julia ; the two became secretly engaged in 1844 . Rising tensions with Mexico saw Grant ' s unit shifted to Louisiana that year as a part of the Army of Observation under Major General Zachary Taylor . When the Mexican – American War broke out in 1846 , the Army entered Mexico . Not content with his responsibilities as a quartermaster , Grant made his way to the front lines to engage in the battle , and participated as a " de facto " cavalryman at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma . The army continued its advance into Mexico . At Monterrey , Grant demonstrated his equestrian ability , carrying a dispatch through sniper - lined streets on horseback while mounted in one stirrup . President James K . Polk , wary of Taylor ' s growing popularity , divided his army , sending some troops ( including Grant ' s unit ) to form a new army under Maj . Gen . Winfield Scott . Scott ' s army landed at Veracruz and advanced toward Mexico City . The army met the Mexican forces at battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec outside Mexico City . At Chapultepec , Grant dragged a howitzer into a church steeple to bombard nearby Mexican troops . Scott ' s army was soon into the city , and the Mexicans agreed to peace not long after . In his memoirs , Grant later wrote that he had learned about military leadership by observing the decisions and actions of his commanding officers , and in retrospect identified himself with Taylor ' s style . At the time he felt that the war was a wrongful one and believed that territorial gains were designed to spread slavery throughout the nation ; writing in 1883 , Grant said " I was bitterly opposed to the measure , and to this day , regard the war , which resulted , as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation . " He also opined that the later Civil War was inflicted on the nation as punishment for its aggression in Mexico . On August 22 , 1848 , after a four - year engagement , Grant and Julia were married . They would have four children : Frederick Dent Grant ; Ulysses S . " Buck " Grant , Jr . ; Ellen Wrenshall " Nellie " Grant ; and Jesse Root Grant . Grant was assigned to several different posts over the ensuing six years . His first post - war assignments took him and Julia to Detroit and Sackets Harbor , New York , the location that made them the happiest . In the spring of 1852 , he traveled in to Washington , D . C . in a failed attempt to prevail upon the Congress to rescind an order that he , in his capacity as quartermaster , reimburse the military $ 1000 in losses incurred on his watch , for which he bore no personal guilt . He was sent west to Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Territory in 1852 , initially landing in San Francisco during the height of the California Gold Rush . Julia could not accompany him as she was eight months pregnant with their second child . The journey proved to be an ordeal due to transportation disruptions and an outbreak of cholera within the entourage while traveling overland through Panama . Grant made use of his organizational skills , arranging makeshift transportation and hospital facilities to take care of the sick . There were 150 fatalities including Grant ' s long - time friend John H . Gore . After Grant arrived in San Francisco he traveled to Fort Vancouver , continuing his service as quartermaster . To supplement a military salary inadequate to support his family , Grant , assuming his work as quartermaster so equipped him , attempted but failed at several business ventures . The business failures in the West confirmed Jesse Grant ' s belief that his son had no head for business , creating frustration for both father and son . In one case , Grant had even naively allowed himself to be swindled by a partner . These failures , along with the separation from his family , made for quite an unhappy soldier , husband and son . Rumors began to circulate that Grant was drinking in excess . In the summer of 1853 , Grant was promoted to captain , one of only fifty on active duty , and assigned to command Company F , 4th Infantry , at Fort Humboldt , on the northwest California coast . Without explanation , he shortly thereafter resigned from the army on July 31 , 1854 . The commanding officer at Fort Humboldt , brevet Lieutenant Colonel Robert C . Buchanan , a strict disciplinarian , had reports that Grant was intoxicated off duty while seated at the pay officer ' s table . Buchanan had previously warned Grant several times to stop his drinking . In lieu of a court - martial , Buchanan gave Grant an ultimatum to sign a drafted resignation letter . Grant resigned ; the War Department stated on his record , " Nothing stands against his good name . " Rumors , however , persisted in the regular army of Grant ' s intemperance . According to biographer McFeely , historians overwhelmingly agree that his intemperance at the time was a fact , though there are no eyewitness reports extant . Two of Grant ' s lieutenants corroborated this story and Buchanan confirmed it to another officer in a conversation during the Civil War . Years later , Grant said , " the vice of intemperance had not a little to do with my decision to resign . " Grant ' s father , again believing his son ' s only potential for success to be in the military , tried to get the Secretary of War , Jefferson Davis to rescind the resignation , to no avail . Civilian life . At age 32 , with no civilian vocation , Grant struggled through seven financially lean years . His father , Jesse , initially offered Grant a position in the Galena , Illinois branch of the tannery business , on condition that Julia and the children , for economic reasons , stay with her parents in Missouri , or the Grants in Kentucky . Ulysses and Julia were adamantly opposed to another separation , and declined the offer . In 1854 , Grant farmed on his brother - in - law ' s property near St . Louis , using slaves owned by Julia ' s father , but it did not succeed . Two years later , Grant and family moved to a section of his father - in - law ' s farm and , to give his family a home , built a house he called " Hardscrabble " . Julia hated the rustic house , which she described as an " unattractive cabin " . During this time , Grant also acquired a slave from Julia ' s father , a thirty - five - year - old man named William Jones . Having met with no success farming , the Grants left the farm when their fourth and final child was born in 1858 . Grant freed his slave in 1859 instead of selling him , at a time when slaves commanded a high price and Grant needed money badly . For the next year , the family took a small house in St . Louis where he worked , again without success , with Julia ' s cousin Harry Boggs , as a bill collector . In 1860 Jesse offered him the job in his tannery in Galena , Illinois , without condition , which Ulysses accepted . The leather shop , " Grant & Perkins " , sold harnesses , saddles , and other leather goods and purchased hides from farmers in the prosperous Galena area . He moved his family to a house in Galena that year . Grant was not politically active and never endorsed any candidate before the Civil War . His father - in - law was a prominent Democrat in Missouri , a factor that helped derail Grant ' s bid to become county engineer in 1859 , while his father was an outspoken Republican in Galena . In the 1856 election , Grant cast his first presidential vote for the Democrat , James Buchanan , saying he was really voting against John C . Frémont , the Republican . In 1860 , he favored the Democratic presidential candidate Stephen A . Douglas over Abraham Lincoln , and Lincoln over the Southern Democrat , John C . Breckinridge . Lacking the residency requirements in Illinois at the time , he could not vote . By August 1863 , during the Civil War , after the fall of Vicksburg , Grant ' s political sympathies fully coincided with the Radical Republicans ' aggressive prosecution of the war and for the abolition of slavery . Civil War . On April 13 , 1861 , the American Civil War began as Confederate troops attacked Union Fort Sumter in Charleston , South Carolina forcing its surrender . Two days later , Lincoln put out a call for 75 , 000 volunteers . A mass meeting was called in Galena to encourage recruitment . Recognized as the sole military professional in the area , Grant was asked to lead the meeting and ensuing effort . He proceeded to help recruit a company of volunteers and accompanied it to Springfield , the capital of Illinois . Illinois Governor Richard Yates offered Grant a position recruiting and training volunteer units , which he accepted , but Grant wanted a field command in the regular Army . He made multiple efforts with contacts ( including Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan ) to acquire such a position with no success . Meanwhile , Grant continued serving at the training camps and made a positive impression on the volunteer Union recruits . With the aid of his advocate in Washington , Elihu B . Washburne , Grant was promoted to Colonel by Governor Richard Yates on June 14 , 1861 , and put in charge of the unruly 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment . Transferred to northern Missouri , Grant was promoted by President Lincoln to Brigadier General , supported by Congressman Washburn , backdated to May 17 , 1861 . By the end of August 1861 , Grant was given charge of the southern Illinois , District of Cairo , by Maj . Gen John C . Fremont , an outside Lincoln appointment , who viewed Grant as " a man of dogged persistence , and iron will . " Grant ' s own demeanor had changed immediately at the outset of the war ; with renewed energies and confidence . He later recalled with apparent satisfaction that after that first recruitment meeting in Galena , ' I never went into our leather store again . . . " During this time Grant quickly perceived that the war would be fought for the most part by volunteers , and not professional soldiers . Forts Henry and Donelson . Grant ' s troops first saw action in late 1861 , starting out from his base at Cairo , Illinois , the strategic point where the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River and near the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers . The Confederate army was stationed in Columbus , Kentucky under Maj . Gen . Leonidas Polk . Maj . Gen . John C . Frémont ordered Grant to make " demonstrations " , not including attack , against the Confederate Army at Belmont . After Lincoln relieved Frémont from command , Grant attacked Fort Belmont taking 3 , 114 Union troops by boat on November 7 , 1861 . He initially took the fort , but his army was later pushed back to Cairo by the reinforced Confederates under Brig . Gen . Gideon J . Pillow . A tactical defeat , the battle nonetheless instilled much needed confidence in Grant and his volunteers . Following Belmont , Grant asked Maj . Gen . Henry Halleck for permission to move against Fort Henry on the Tennessee River ; Halleck agreed on condition that the attack be conducted with oversight by Union Navy Flag Officer Andrew H . Foote . Grant ' s troops , in close cooperation with Foote ' s naval forces successfully captured Fort Henry on February 6 , 1862 and nearby Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River on February 16 . Fort Henry , undermanned by Confederates and nearly submerged from flood waters , was taken over with few losses . However , at Fort Donelson , Grant and Foote encountered stiffer resistance from the Confederate forces under Pillow . Grant ' s initial 15 , 000 troops were joined by 10 , 000 reinforcements , against 12 , 000 Confederate troops at Fort Donelson . Foote ' s initial approach by Union naval ships were repulsed by Donelson ' s guns . The Confederates , who were surrounded by Grant ' s army attempted a break out , pushing Grant ' s right flank into disorganized retreat eastward on the Nashville road . Grant rallied his troops , resumed the offensive , retook the Union right and attacked Pillow ' s left . Pillow ordered Confederate troops back into the fort , relinquished command to Brig . Gen . Simon Bolivar Buckner who surrendered to Grant the next day . Grant ' s terms were repeated across the North : " No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted . " Grant became a celebrity in the North , now nicknamed " Unconditional Surrender " Grant . With these victories , President Abraham Lincoln promoted Grant to major general of volunteers . Shiloh . Grant ' s advance at Forts Henry and Donelson was the most significant advance into the Confederacy to date . His army , known as the Army of the Tennessee , had increased to 48 , 894 men and was encamped on the western side of the Tennessee River . Grant met with Brig . Gen . William T . Sherman , and they prepared to attack the Confederate stronghold of equal numbers at Corinth , Mississippi . The Confederates had the same thing in mind , and moved first at dawn on April 6 , 1862 , with a full attack on the Union Army at the Battle of Shiloh . The objective was to annihilate the western Union offensive in one massive assault . Over 44 , 000 Confederate troops , led by Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P . G . T . Beauregard , attacked the five divisions of Grant ' s army bivouacked nine miles south at Pittsburg Landing . Aware of the impending Confederate attack , Union troops sounded the alarm and readied for battle . The Confederates struck hard and pushed the Union Army back towards the Tennessee River . At the end of the day , the Union Army was vulnerable , and might have been destroyed had Beauregard ' s troops not been too exhausted to continue the fight . Avoiding panic , Grant and Sherman rallied their troops for a counterattack the next morning . With reinforcement troops from Maj . Gen . Don Carlos Buell and Maj . Gen . Lew Wallace ' s missing division , Grant succeeded in driving the Confederates back to the road from Corinth . Although he stopped short of capturing Beauregard ' s army , Grant was able to stabilize the Army of the Tennessee . The battle was the costliest of the war to date , with aggregate Union and Confederate casualties of 23 , 746 , and minimal strategic advantage gained by either side . Nevertheless , Grant received high praise from many corners . He later remarked that the carnage at Shiloh had made it clear to him that the Confederacy would only be defeated by complete annihilation of its armies . Grant was criticized for his decision to keep the Union Army bivouacked rather than entrenched . Halleck transferred command of the Army of the Tennessee to Brig . Gen . George H . Thomas and " promoted " Grant to the hollow position of second - in - command of all the armies of the west . As a result , Grant was again on the verge of resigning until Sherman paid a visit to his camp . Sherman , whose experiences in the military had been similar to Grant ' s , convinced Grant to remain in the army . During Halleck ' s sluggish advance on Corinth — covering 19 miles in 30 days — the entire Confederate force there escaped ; the 120 , 000 - man Union Army was then broken up . Charles A . Dana , an investigative agent for Secretary of War Edwin Stanton at the time , interviewed Grant and related to Lincoln and Stanton that Grant appeared " self - possessed and eager to make war . " Lincoln reinstated Grant to his command of the Army of the Tennessee . Vicksburg . Lincoln was determined to take the strategic Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg , Mississippi , on the Mississippi River and authorized Maj . Gen . John A . McClernand to raise an army in his home state of Illinois for the purpose . Grant was very frustrated at the lack of direction he was receiving to move forward from his station in Memphis , and more aggravated to learn of this apparent effort to brush him aside . According to biographer William S . McFeely , this discontent may have been responsible for Grant ' s ill - considered issuance of General Orders No . 11 on December 17 , 1862 . This order expelled Jews , as a class , from Grant ' s military district , in reaction to illicit activities of overly aggressive cotton traders in the Union camps , who Grant believed were interfering with military operations . Lincoln demanded the order be revoked , and Grant rescinded it twenty - one days after issuance . Without admitting fault , Grant believed he had only complied with the instructions sent from Washington . According to another Grant biographer , Jean E . Smith , it was " one of the most blatant examples of state - sponsored anti - Semitism in American history . " Grant had believed that gold , along with cotton , was being smuggled through enemy lines and that Jews could pass freely into enemy camps . Grant later expressed regret for this order in 1868 ; his attitude concerning Jews was otherwise undeclared . In December 1862 , with Halleck ' s approval , Grant moved to take Vicksburg by an overland route , aided by Charles Hamilton and James McPherson , in combination with a water expedition on the Mississippi led by Maj . Gen . Sherman . Grant had thus pre - empted his rival McClernand ' s move . Confederate cavalry raiders Brig . Gen . Nathan Bedford Forrest and Maj . Gen . Earl Van Dorn stalled Grant ' s advance by disrupting his communications , while the Confederate army led by Lt . Gen . John C . Pemberton concentrated and repulsed Sherman ' s direct approach at Chickasaw Bayou . McClernand afterwards attempted to salvage Sherman ' s effort to no avail , so at the end of the first day neither Grant nor McClernand had succeeded . During the second attempt to capture Vicksburg , Grant made a series of unsuccessful and criticized movements along bayou and canal water routes . Finally , in April 1863 , Grant marched Union troops down the west side of the Mississippi River and crossed east over at Bruinsburg using Rear Adm . David Porter ' s ships . Grant previously had ordered two diversion battles that confused Pemberton and allowed Grant ' s army to cross the Mississippi . After a series of battles , including the capture of a railroad junction near Jackson , Grant went on to defeat Pemberton at the Battle of Champion Hill . Grant then assaulted the Vicksburg fortress twice , and suffered serious losses . After the failed assault , Grant settled in for a siege lasting seven weeks . As the siege began , Grant lapsed into a two - day drinking episode . Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Grant on July 4 , 1863 . During the campaign , Grant assumed responsibility for refugee - contraband slaves who were displaced by the war and vulnerable to Confederate marauders ; Lincoln had authorized their recruitment into the Union Army . Grant put the refugees under the protection of Brig . Gen . John Eaton who authorized them to work on abandoned Confederate plantations to support the war effort . The effort was the precursor to the Freedman ' s Bureau during later Reconstruction . The fall of Vicksburg gave the Union control over the entire Mississippi and split the Confederacy in two . Grant demonstrated that an indirect assault coupled with diversionary tactics was highly effective strategy in defeating an entrenched army . Although the success at Vicksburg was a great morale boost for the Union war effort , Grant received much criticism for his decisions and his reported drunkenness . Lincoln again sent Dana to keep a watchful eye on Grant ' s alleged intemperance ; Dana eventually became Grant ' s devoted ally , and made light of the drinking . The personal rivalry between McClernand and Grant continued over Vicksburg , but ended when Grant removed McClernand from command after he issued , and arranged the publication of , a military order in contravention of Grant . Chattanooga and promotion . Lincoln put Grant in command of the newly formed Division of the Mississippi in October 1863 , giving Grant charge of the entire western theater of war , except for Louisiana . After the Battle of Chickamauga , Confederate Gen . Braxton Bragg forced Maj . Gen . William Rosecrans ' s Army of the Cumberland to retreat into Chattanooga , a central railway hub , surrounded the city and trapped the Union army inside . Only Maj . Gen . George H . Thomas and the XIV Corps kept the Army of the Cumberland from complete defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga . When informed of the ominous situation at Chattanooga , Grant relieved Rosecrans from duty and placed Thomas in charge of the besieged Army of the Cumberland . To stop the siege and go on the attack , Grant , personally rode out to Chattanooga and took charge of the desperate situation . Lincoln sent Maj . Gen . Joseph Hooker and two divisions of the Army of the Potomac to reinforce the Army of the Cumberland , however , the Confederates kept the two armies from meeting . Grant ' s first action was to open up a supply line to the Army of the Cumberland trapped in Chattanooga . Following a plan devised by Maj . Gen . William F . Smith , a " Cracker Line " was formed with Hooker ' s Army of the Potomac on Lookout Mountain and supplied the Army of the Cumberland with food and weapons . On November 23 , 1863 , Grant organized three armies to attack Bragg ' s troops on Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain . The next day , Sherman and four divisions of the Army of the Tennessee assaulted Bragg ' s right flank . Thomas and the Army of the Cumberland overtook Confederate picket trenches at the base of Missionary Ridge . Hooker ' s forces took Lookout Mountain and captured 1 , 064 prisoners . On November 25 , Sherman continued his attack on Bragg ' s right flank on the northern section of Missionary Ridge . In response to Sherman ' s assault Bragg withdrew Confederate troops on the main ridge to reinforce the Confederate right flank . Seeing that Bragg was reinforcing his right flank , Grant ordered Thomas to make a general assault on Missionary Ridge . After a brief delay , the Army of the Cumberland , led by Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan and Brig . Gen . Thomas J . Wood , captured the first Confederate entrenchments . Without further orders , the Army of the Cumberland continued up hill and captured the Confederate ' s secondary entrenchments on top of Missionary Ridge ; forcing the defeated Confederates into disorganized retreat . Although Bragg ' s army had not been captured , the decisive battle opened Georgia and the heartland of the Confederacy to Union invasion . Grant ' s fame increased and he was promoted to Lieutenant General , a position that had previously been given only to George Washington and Winfield Scott . Disappointed with Maj . Gen . George Meade ' s failure to pursue Lee after the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg , Lincoln made Grant commander of all Union armies in March 1864 . Grant gave the Department of the Mississippi to Sherman , and went east to Washington , D . C . , to devise a strategy with Lincoln . After settling Julia into a house in Georgetown , Grant established his headquarters fifty miles away , near Meade ' s Army of the Potomac in Culpeper , Virginia . The Union strategy of a comprehensive effort to bring about a speedy victory for the Union consisted of coordinated Union offensives , attacking the rebel armies at the same time to keep the Confederates from shifting reinforcements within southern interior lines . Maj . Gen . Sherman would attack Atlanta and Georgia , while Maj . Gen . Meade would lead the Army of the Potomac , with Grant in camp , to attack Robert E . Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia . Maj . Gen . Benjamin Butler was to attack and advance towards Richmond from the south , going up the James River . Depending on Lee ' s actions , Grant would join forces with Butler ' s armies and be fed supplies from the James River . Maj . Gen . Franz Sigel was to capture the railroad line at Lynchburg , move east , and attack from the Blue Ridge Mountains . Grant was riding a rising tide of popularity , and there were discussions in some corners that a Union victory early in the year could open the possibility of his candidacy for the presidency . Grant was aware of it , but had ruled it out in discussions with Lincoln ; in any case , the possibility would soon vanish with delays on the battlefield . Overland Campaign and victory . Sigel ' s and Butler ' s efforts sputtered and Grant was left alone to fight Lee in a series of bloody battles of attrition known as the Overland Campaign . After taking the month of April 1864 to assemble and ready the Army of the Potomac , Grant crossed the Rapidan River on May 4 and attacked Lee in the Wilderness , a hard - fought three - day battle with many casualties . Rather than retreat as his predecessors had done , Grant flanked Lee ' s army to the southeast and attempted to wedge the Union Army between Lee and Richmond at Spotsylvania . Lee ' s army got to Spotsylvania first and a costly battle began that lasted thirteen days . During the battle , Grant attempted to break through Lee ' s line of defense at the Mule Shoe , which resulted in one of the bloodiest assaults during the Civil War , known as The Battle of the Bloody Angle . Unable to break Lee ' s line of defense after repeated attempts , Grant flanked Lee to the southeast east again at North Anna , a battle that lasted three days . This time the Confederate Army had a superior defensive advantage on Grant . Grant then maneuvered the Union Army to Cold Harbor , a vital railroad hub that was linked to Richmond , but Lee ' s men were able to entrench against the Union assault . During the third day of the thirteen - day battle , Grant led a costly assault on Lee ' s trenches . As news spread in the North , heavy criticism fell on Grant , who was called " the Butcher " , having taken 52 , 788 casualties in thirty days since crossing the Rapidan . Lee suffered 32 , 907 Confederate casualties , and was less able to replace them . When the two armies had fought to a stalemate , the generals took three days to reach a truce , so that the dead and dying could be removed from the battlefield . The costly June 3 assault at Cold Harbor was the second of two battles in the war which Grant later distinctly regretted . Unknown to Lee , Grant pulled out of Cold Harbor and moved his army south of the James River , freed Maj . Gen . Butler from the Bermuda Hundred , and attacked Petersburg , Richmond ' s central railroad hub . After Grant and the Army of the Potomac had crossed the James River undetected and rescued Maj . Gen . Butler from the Bermuda Hundred , Grant advanced the army southward to capture Petersburg . Confederate General P . G . T . Beauregard , in charge of Petersburg , was able to defend the city and Lee ' s veteran reinforcements arrived . Grant forced Lee into a long nine - month siege of Petersburg and the war effort stalled . Northern resentment grew as the war dragged on , but an indirect benefit of the Petersburg siege was found in preventing Lee from reinforcing armies to oppose Sherman and Sheridan . During the siege , Sherman was able to take Atlanta , a victory that advanced President Lincoln ' s reelection . Maj . Gen . Sheridan was given command of the Union Army of the Shenandoah and directed to " follow the enemy to their death " . Lee had sent General Jubal Early up the Shenandoah Valley to attack the federal capital and draw troops away from the Army of the Potomac , but Sheridan defeated Early , saving Washington from capture . Grant then ordered Sheridan ' s cavalry to destroy vital Confederate supply farms in the Shenandoah Valley . When Sheridan reported suffering attacks by irregular Confederate cavalry under John S . Mosby , Grant recommended rounding up their families for imprisonment as hostages at Ft . McHenry . Grant attempted to blow up part of Lee ' s Petersburg trenches from an underground tunnel , but the explosion created a crater from which Confederates could easily pick off Union troops below . The 3500 Union casualties outnumbered the Confederates ' by three - to - one ; Grant admitted the tactic had been a " stupendous failure . " On August 9 , 1864 , Grant , who had just arrived at his headquarters in City Point , narrowly escaped death when Confederate spies blew up an ammunition barge moored below the city ' s bluffs . As the war slowly progressed , Grant continued to extend Lee ' s entrenchment defenses southwest of Petersburg , in an effort to capture vital railroad links . By August 21 , the Union had captured the Weldon Railroad . As Grant continued to push the Union advance westward towards the South Side Railroad , Lee ' s entrenchment lines became overstretched and undermanned . After the Federal army rebuilt the City Point Railroad , Grant was able to use mortars to attack Lee ' s entrenchments . Once Sherman reached the East Coast and Thomas dispatched Hood in Tennessee , Union victory appeared certain , and Lincoln resolved to attempt a negotiated end to the war with the Confederates . He enlisted Francis Preston Blair to carry a message to Confederate President Jefferson Davis . Davis and Lincoln each appointed commissioners , but the conference soon stalled . Grant contacted Lincoln , who agreed to personally meet with the commissioners at Fort Monroe . The peace conference was ultimately fruitless , but Grant had shown his willingness and ability to assume a diplomatic role beyond his normal military posture . In March 1865 , while Lincoln met at City Point with Grant , Sherman , and Porter , Union forces finally took Petersburg and captured Richmond in April . Lee ' s troops began deserting in large numbers ; disease and lack of supplies also weakened Lee ' s forces . Lee attempted to link up with the remnants of Confederate General Joseph E . Johnston ' s defeated army ; however , Union cavalry forces led by Sheridan were able to stop the two armies from converging . Lee and his army surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9 , 1865 . Grant gave generous terms ; Confederate troops surrendered their weapons and were allowed to return to their homes , with their mounts , on the condition that they would not take up arms against the United States . Within a few weeks the Civil War was over . Lincoln ' s assassination . On April 14 , five days after Grant ' s victory at Appomattox , Lincoln was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth and died the next morning . The assassination was part of a conspiracy that targeted a number of government leaders . Grant attended a cabinet meeting that day , and Lincoln had invited Grant and his wife to the theater , but they declined , as they had plans to travel to Philadelphia . Many , including Grant , thought him to have been a target in the plot ; an unknown assailant allegedly failed in an attempt to break into Grant ' s railroad car . Stanton , through Dana , notified Grant of the President ' s death and summoned him to Washington . For security purposes a scapegoat engine preceded Grant ' s train on the return trip . The following day Grant hastily ordered arrests of paroled Confederate officers . Maj . Gen . Edward Ord , however , was able to narrow the existing threats in Washington through the use of army intelligence and persuaded Grant to reverse his arrest orders . Attending Lincoln ' s funeral on April 19 , Grant stood alone and wept openly . He said of Lincoln , " He was incontestably the greatest man I have ever known . " Regarding the new President , Andrew Johnson , Grant commented to Julia that he dreaded the change in administrations ; he judged Johnson ' s attitude toward white southerners as one that would " make them unwilling citizens " , and initially thought that with Johnson , " Reconstruction has been set back no telling how far . " Later in April , Sherman , without consulting Washington , concluded an agreement with Confederate Gen . Joseph E . Johnston to effect the latter ' s surrender , believing it to be consistent with Lincoln ' s recent statements to him at City Point . Stanton and Grant quickly surmised the terms were much too lenient . Stanton even declared so publicly with scorn for Sherman ; Grant , concerned that his lead commander ' s mistake not be mishandled , requested a cabinet meeting to discuss the problem , and offered to personally deliver the message of repudiation to Sherman . Grant handled the matter adroitly and made the most of their friendship , conveying the message to Sherman and ultimately getting his consent to renegotiate the agreement in accordance with the terms at Appomattox . Peacetime general . Celebrations and honors . In May 1865 , the Union League of Philadelphia purchased the Grants a house in that city , but Grant ' s work was in Washington . He attempted to commute for a time and return on the weekends , but he and Julia moved to Washington that October . They secured a place in Georgetown Heights , while Grant instructed his Washburne that , politically , his legal residence remained in Galena , Illinois . That year , Grant appeared at Cooper Union in New York ; the " New York Times " described the reception for the war hero : " . . . the enhanced and bewildered multitude trembled with extraordinary delight . " Further travels that summer , with repeated enthusiastic receptions , took the Grants to Albany and back to Galena and throughout Illinois and Ohio . On July 25 , 1866 , Congress promoted Grant to the newly created rank of General of the Army of the United States . Grant was the most popular man in the country . When Johnson argued with Congress over Reconstruction , he took his case to the people with his " swing around the circle . " Johnson sought to capitalize on Grant ' s popularity by having the general travel with him . Grant , wishing to appear loyal , agreed to accompany Johnson ; however he confided in his wife that he thought Johnson ' s speeches were a " national disgrace " . Grant continued his efforts to appear loyal while not alienating Republican legislators essential to his future . At the same time , Johnson also suspected Grant to be a potential candidate in the 1868 presidential election , and decided to replace Secretary of War Stanton with Grant or Sherman . Grant discussed the matter with Sherman and convinced him to avoid the politically troubled president . Congressional reconstruction . After the speaking tour , Johnson sent Grant on a fact - finding mission to the South , after which he filed a report recommending continuation of a reformed Freedman ' s Bureau , that Johnson opposed , but against the use of black troops in garrisons that he believed were encouraging an alternative to farm labor . Grant did not believe the people of the devastated South were ready for self - rule and required further U . S . military occupation . Grant stated that both whites and blacks in the South required the protection of the U . S . federal government . Grant also warned of threats by disaffected poor people , black and white , and recommended that local decision making be entrusted only to " thinking men of the South " ( " i . e . , " men of property . ) In this respect , Grant ' s initial Reconstruction policy aligned with Johnson ' s policy of pardoning established southern leaders and restoring them to their positions of power . He joined Johnson in arguing that Congress should allow congressional representatives from the South to be seated . In 1866 , an intraparty fight arose in Maryland that threatened to devolve into a riot . John Lee Chapman , the Radical mayor of Baltimore , had been elected in 1862 in an election in which the police commissioners had allegedly turned Conservative voters away from the polls . Four years later , Maryland ' s governor , Thomas Swann , a Johnson supporter , threatened to remove the commissioners and appoint his own , which Radicals believed would result in their own disenfranchisement . Grant was reluctant to send federal troops into a loyal state ; instead he traveled to the city himself as a private citizen and arranged a settlement that would allow both groups ' poll watchers to ensure fair elections . The Baltimore tumult was just the prelude for the conflict between Radicals and Conservatives over the Reconstruction of the South . Rejecting Johnson ' s vision for quick reconciliation with former Confederates , Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts , divided the southern states into five military districts run by the army to ensure that freedmen ' s constitutional and congressional rights were protected . Transitional state governments in each district were to be led by military governors general . Grant , who was to select the general to govern each district , preferred Congress ' s plan for enforcement of Reconstruction . Grant was optimistic Reconstruction Acts would help pacify the South . He carried out his duty under the Acts and instructed the generals to do likewise , further alienating Johnson ; when Sheridan removed public officials in Louisiana who impeded Reconstruction , Johnson was especially displeased and sought Sheridan ' s removal . Grant stayed the middle course , and recommended a rebuke but not a dismissal . Throughout the Reconstruction period , more than 1 , 500 African Americans were elected to political office , while Grant and the military protected their rights by overturning the first black codes in 1867 . Mexico and Canada . Grant , as commanding general , immediately had to contend with Maximilian of Mexico and the French army that had taken over Mexico with the help of Napoleon III . Most Americans felt this to be a violation of the Monroe Doctrine . Johnson told Grant to put military pressure on the French to leave Mexico by sending 50 , 000 troops to the Texas border under Sheridan . Grant told Sheridan to do whatever he could , within the bounds of neutrality , to force Maximilian ' s abdicatation and get the French Army to leave Mexico . Sheridan sent Benito Juárez , the ousted leader of Mexico , 60 , 000 rifles . In a cabinet meeting , Johnson suggested Grant be assigned to the Mexican frontier as a way of removing him from the political mainstream . Grant immediately recognized the nature of this proposal , and refused . As a compromise Grant sent Sherman ( now promoted to Lieutenant General ) in his place . By 1866 , the French Army completely withdrew from Mexico ; Maximilian was executed by Juárez in 1867 . After the Civil War , thousands of Irish veterans joined the Fenian Brotherhood with the intention of invading and holding Canada hostage in exchange for Irish independence . In June 1866 , Johnson sent Grant to Buffalo , New York , to assess the situation . He ordered the Canadian border closed to prevent Fenian soldiers from crossing over at Fort Erie and that more weapons be confiscated . In June 1866 , the United States Army arrested 700 Fenian troops at Buffalo and the Fenians gave up on their attempt to invade Canada . Johnson ' s impeachment . Johnson had for some time wished to replace Stanton , who sympathized with Congressional Reconstruction , as Secretary of War and asked Grant to take the post in an effort to keep Grant under his control as a potential political rival . Grant ' s reply was a recommendation against the move , in light of the Tenure of Office Act which required Senate approval of any removal of a cabinet appointment . Johnson forced the issue by making it an interim appointment during a Senate recess . Grant relented and agreed to accept the post temporarily , lest he be rendered irrelevant politically . Later when the Senate reinstated Stanton , Johnson requested Grant refuse to surrender the office to Stanton and let the courts resolve the matter . Instead , Grant stepped aside and incurred Johnson ' s wrath during a cabinet meeting immediately afterwards for allegedly breaking a promise not to do so . Grant disputed that he had ever made such a promise . Johnson ' s true frustration was with Grant ' s taking the Radicals ' side . On January 14 , 1868 , newspapers friendly to Johnson published a series of articles in an attempt to discredit Grant over returning the War Department to Stanton , stating Grant had been deceptive in the matter . Grant defended himself in a written response to the President , which became public ; Grant thereby increased his national popularity and emerged from the controversy unscathed . He also took no role apart from subsequent impeachment proceedings against Johnson ; none of the principals in the matter benefited from it . 1868 presidential campaign . Grant ' s abandonment of Johnson in the Stanton matter increased his popularity with the Radical Republicans . John Weiss Forney , editor of the " Washington Daily Chronicle " , took up the effort for Grant ' s nomination , with Grant ' s approval . Grant was chosen as the Republican presidential candidate on the first ballot at the 1868 Republican National Convention in Chicago . He faced no significant opposition . In his letter of acceptance to the party , Grant concluded with " Let us have peace , " which became his campaign slogan . For vice president , the delegates nominated House Speaker Schuyler Colfax . As was common practice at the time , Grant remained at home in Galena during the campaign , and left most of the active campaigning and speaking on his behalf to his campaign manager William E . Chandler and others . Grant ' s General Orders No . 11 and antisemitism became an issue during the 1868 presidential campaign . In a letter , published after the election , Grant sought to unequivocally distance himself from General Orders No . 11 . Grant repudiated his order , saying " I have no prejudice against sect or race , but want each individual to be judged by his own merit . " The Democrats nominated former New York Governor Horatio Seymour . The Democrats ' campaign focused mainly on ending Reconstruction and returning control of the South to the white planter class , which alienated many War Democrats in the North . In the general election of that year , Grant won by 300 , 000 votes out of 5 , 716 , 082 votes cast . Grant received an electoral college landslide , getting 214 votes to Seymour ' s 80 . When he assumed the presidency , Grant had never before held elected office and , at the age of forty - six , was the youngest person elected president to date . Grant was the first president elected after the nation had outlawed slavery and given citizenship to former slaves . Implementation of these new rights was slow to come ; in the 1868 election , the black vote counted in only sixteen of the thirty - seven states . Presidency 1869 – 1877 . Breaking a long tradition , Johnson declined to ride in Grant ' s carriage or attend Grant ' s inauguration at the Capitol , remaining at the White House to sign last - minute bills into law . Grant took an unorthodox approach to his cabinet choices , declining to consult with the Senate and keeping his choices secret until he submitted them for confirmation . Grant first appointed his old friend , Elihu B . Washburne to the State Department . Washburne served twelve days in office then , in an apparently agreed - upon arrangement , resigned due to " sickness " , and was appointed Minister to France . Grant then appointed Hamilton Fish , a conservative New York statesman , Secretary of State . His relationship with Fish grew out of a strong friendship between the two men ' s wives . Grant selected several non - politicians to his cabinet including Adolph E . Borie and A . T . Stewart , with limited success . Borie served briefly as Secretary of Navy , replaced by George M . Robeson , while Stewart was lawfully prevented from becoming Secretary of Treasury by a 1789 statute and by Senator Charles Sumner ' s and Senator Roscoe Conkling ' s opposition to amend the law . In place of Stewart , Grant appointed George S . Boutwell , known for his integrity , as Secretary of Treasury . Grant ' s other cabinet appointments , Jacob D . Cox ( Interior ) , John Creswell ( Postmaster General ) , and Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar ( Attorney General ) , were well - received and uncontroversial . Later Reconstruction and civil rights . Reconstruction of the South continued as Grant took office in 1869 . By 1870 , the four remaining former Confederate states were successfully restored into the United States . He lobbied Congress to pass the Fifteenth Amendment , guaranteeing that no state could prevent someone from voting based on his race , and believed that its passage would secure the freedmen ' s rights . To enforce the new amendment , Grant relied on the army and the newly created Justice Department . In 1870 , Grant signed a bill proposed by Thomas Jenckes of Rhode Island establishing the Department of Justice , to see that federal laws were enforced in the South when state courts and prosecutors were reluctant to do so . Where the attorney general had once been only a legal adviser to the president , he now led a cabinet department dedicated to enforcing federal law , including a solicitor general assist him . Under Grant ' s first attorney general , Ebenezer R . Hoar , the administratation was not especially aggressive in prosecuting white Southerners who terrorized their black neighbors , but Hoar ' s successor , Amos T . Akerman , was more zealous . Alarmed by this rise in terror by the Ku Klux Klan and other groups , Congress investigated . With Grant ' s encouragement , they passed the Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871 . The Acts made it a federal offense to deprive any person of his civil rights and allowed the president to use the army to enforce the laws . In May 1871 , Grant ordered federal troops to assist marshals in arresting Klansmen . That October , on Akerman ' s recommendation , Grant suspended " habeas corpus " in part of South Carolina and sent federal troops to enforce the law there . The Klan ' s power collapsed , and by 1872 , the elections in the South saw African Americans voting in record numbers . This would be the last national election that African Americans had full voting rights in the South for nearly a century . That same year , Grant signed the Amnesty Act , which restored political rights to former Confederates . Growing scandals in Washington , some involving members of Grant ' s administration , took more of the public ' s attention than the plight of the freedmen . After the collapse of the Klan in 1872 , conservative whites formed armed groups ( such as the Red Shirts in South Carolina and the White League ) . Unlike the KKK they were not secret . They used violence and intimidation against African Americans in order to take control from the state governments away from the Republicans . Grant replaced Akerman with George Henry Williams , who was soon embroiled in his own scandal . By 1873 , the economic panic and ensuing depression contributed to public fatigue and the North grew less concerned with reconstructing the South . Grant began to favor more limited use of troops , lest they create the impression that he was acting as a military dictator ; he was also concerned that increased military pressure in the South might cause white supremacists in the North to bolt from the Republican Party . By 1875 , Democratic " Redeemer " politicians retook control of all but three Southern states . As violence against black Southerners escalated once more , Edwards Pierrepont ( Grant ' s fourth attorney general ) told Governor Adelbert Ames of Mississippi that the people were " tired of the autumnal outbreaks in the South , " and declined to intervene . Grant signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 , which expanded federal law enforcement by prohibiting discrimination on account of race in public accommodations , public transport ation , and prohibited exclusion from jury service . The law was mostly symbolic , rarely enforced , and did not stop the rise of white supremacist forces in the South . In the election of 1876 , the remaining three Republican governments in the South fell to Redeemers and the ensuing Compromise of 1877 marked the end of Reconstruction . The nation was at peace , but Reconstruction was finished . Indian policy . Grant ' s attempts to provide justice to Native Americans marked a radical reversal of what had long been the government ' s policy of Indian removal . He appointed Ely S . Parker , a Seneca Indian and member of Grant ' s wartime staff , as Commissioner of Indian Affairs . " My efforts in the future will be directed , " Grant told Congress , " by a humane course , to bring the aborigines of the country under the benign influences of education and civilization . . . Wars of extermination . . . are demoralizing and wicked . " Grant ' s " Peace Policy " ( also called the " Quaker Policy " ) aimed to replace entrepreneurs serving as Indian agents with missionaries . In 1869 , Grant signed an Indian appropriations bill that established a ten - man Board of Indian Commissioners to oversee spending and reduce corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs . Two years later , in 1871 , Grant signed an Indian appropriations bill that ending the Indian treaty system ; the law now treated individual Native Americans as wards of the federal government , rather than dealing with the tribes as sovereign entities . Grant wished the tribes to be protected on reservations and educated in European - style farming and culture , abandoning their hunter - gatherer way of life . While unpopular today , the Peace Policy was considered liberal - minded in its day , and would see its fulfillment years later in the Dawes Act of 1887 . The Policy showed some success in reducing conflict with fewer battles between Indians and whites on the western frontier , but the increased slaughter of the buffalo , encouraged by Grant ' s subordinates , caused renewed conflict with the Plains Indians in a few years . The Sioux and other Plains Indian tribes accepted the reservation system , but encroachments by whites in search of gold in the Black Hills led to renewed war by the end of Grant ' s second term . The war ended the growing understanding that had developed between Grant and Sioux Chief Red Cloud . Under Major Generals Oliver Otis Howard and George Crook , Grant ' s policy had greater success in the Southwest . Howard , the former head of the Freedman ' s Bureau , negotiated peace with the Apache in 1872 , convincing their leader , Cochise , to move the tribe to a new reservation , ending a war started the year before . In Oregon , relations were less peaceful , however , as war with the Modocs erupted in April 1873 . The Modocs refused to move to a reservation and killed the local army commander , Major General Edward Canby . Although Grant was upset over Canby ' s death , he ordered restraint from seeking revenge or exterminating the tribe , as Sherman wished . Four Modoc warriors were captured , tried for Canby ' s murder , sentenced to death , and hanged in October 1873 . The remainder of the tribe was sent to Indian Territory . Foreign affairs . Even before Grant became president , an annexationist faction in American politics desired control over the Caribbean islands . William H . Seward , Secretary of State under Lincoln and Johnson , having bought Alaska from the Russians and attempted to buy the Danish West Indies from the Danes , began negotiations to purchase the Dominican Republic . These negotiations continued under Grant , led by Orville E . Babcock , a confidant who had served on Grant ' s staff during the Civil War . Grant was initially skeptical , but the urging of the Admiral Porter , who wanted a naval base at Samaná Bay , and Joseph W . Fabens , a New England businessman employed by the Dominican government , Grant examined the matter and became convinced of its wisdom . Grant sent Babcock to consult with Buenaventura Báez , the pro - annexation Dominican president , to see if the proposal was practical ; Babcock returned with a draft treaty of annexation in December 1869 . Grant believed in peaceful expansion of the nation ' s borders , and thought the majority - black island would allow new economic opportunities for freedmen . The acquisition , according to Grant , would ease race relations in the South , clear slavery from Brazil and Cuba , and would increase American naval power in the Caribbean . Secretary of State Hamilton Fish dismissed the idea , seeing the island as politically unstable and troublesome . In the Senate , Charles Sumner opposed annexation because it would reduce the number of autonomous nations run by Africans in the western hemisphere . Other senators objected for the opposite reason — they did not wish to add more blacks to the American population . Grant personally lobbied Senators to pass the treaty , going so far as to visit Sumner at his home . Fish added to the effort out of loyalty to the administration , but to no avail ; the Senate refused to pass the treaty . Sumner ' s role in leading the opposition led to unending political enmity between him and Grant Grant and Fish were more successful in their satisfaction of the " Alabama " claims , a dispute between Great Britain and the United States . The dispute stemmed from the damage done to American shipping during the Civil War by five ships build for the Confederacy in British shipyards including , most famously , CSS " Alabama " . When the war ended , the United States demanded retribution , which the British refused to pay . Negotiations continued fitfully , a sticking point being the claims of " indirect damages " as opposed to the discussion to the harm directly caused by the five ships . Again , Sumner was opposed , believing that the United States should seek a $ 2 billion reward payable in gold or , alternatively , by the cession of Canada . Fish convinced Grant that peaceful relations were Britain were more important than acquisition of more territory , and the two nations agreed to negotiate along those lines . A commission met in Washington produced a treaty whereby an international tribunal would settle the damage amounts ; the British admitted regret , rather than fault . The Senate approved the Treaty of Washington , which also settled disputes over fishing rights and maritime boundaries , by a 50 – 12 vote in 1871 . The Grant administration ' s attention was drawn to the Caribbean again in 1873 , a merchant ship , " Virginius " , carrying war materials and men to aid the Cuban insurrection , was taken captive by a Spanish warship . " Virginius " was registered in the United States , but secretly owned by Cuban insurgents . The passengers and crew , including eight United States citizens , were trying to illegally get into Cuba to help overthrow the government . The Spanish executed them , and many Americans called for war with Spain . Fish , with Grant ' s support , worked to reach a diplomatic solution rather than war . Grant kept the " Virginius " incident at the top of his weekly cabinet meetings agenda and kept his policy of non - recognition of Cuban belligerency . Spain ' s President , Emilio Castelar y Ripoll expressed regret for the tragedy and agreed to determine reparations through arbitration ; Spain surrendered the " Virginius " and paid a cash indemnity of $ 80 , 000 to the families of the executed Americans . In December 1874 , Grant held a state dinner at the White House for the King of Hawaii , David Kalakaua , who was seeking the importation of Hawaiian sugar duty - free to the United States . Grant and Fish were able to produce a successful free trade treaty in 1875 with the Kingdom of Hawaii , incorporating the Pacific islands ' sugar industry into the United States ' economy sphere . Gold standard and the Gold Ring . Soon after taking office , Grant took steps to return the nation ' s currency to a more secure footing . During the Civil War , Congress had authorized the Treasury to issue banknotes that , unlike the rest of the currency , were not backed by gold or silver . The " greenback " notes , as they were known , were necessary to pay the unprecedented bills the government racked up in fighting the war , but they also caused inflation and forced gold - backed money out of circulation ; Grant was determined to return to pre - war monetary standards . Many in Congress agreed with Grant , and they quickly passed the Public Credit Act of 1869 , which guaranteed that bondholders would be repaid in gold , not greenbacks . Grant charged Treasury Secretary George S . Boutwell rationalizing the treasury Department and improving tax collection . As gold built up in the Treasury , Boutwell also worked to strengthen the dollar by buying up high - interest bonds issued during the war , thereby reducing the federal deficit . These actions had a large impact on the nation ' s small gold market , and gold speculators tried to make a profit by anticipating how much gold Boutwell would sell in a given week . Abel Corbin , Grant ' s brother - in - law , sought to use his connection with the president to gain inside information for himself and his associates , Jay Gould , a Wall Street trader and railroad magnate , and his partner Jim Fisk ( later called the " Gold Ring . " ) Corbin convinced Grant to appoint Daniel Butterfield as assistant Treasurer , and Gould soon made Butterfield his informant . Meanwhile , Gould and Fisk began to quietly stockpile gold . Gould convince Corbin that a high gold price would make the nation prosperous , and Corbin passed the theory on to Grant . The conspirators believed they had convinced the president , and continued to stockpile gold , hoping to sell into a rising market . Grant soon became suspicious of Corbin , however , when Corbin tried to drive a wedge between Grant and Boutwell . The gold price continued to rise as the conspirators bought ever more . The rising price began to affect the wider economy and Grant , seeing that the increase was unnatural , told Boutwell to sell gold , thereby reducing its price . He did so the next day , September 22 , 1869 ( " Black Friday . " ) The sale of gold from the Treasury defeated Gould ' s corner on the market as the gold price plummeted , relieving the growing economic tension . Gould and Fisk managed to escape without much harm to themselves . A New York bank collapsed and trading dried up for months , but a general recession did not follow and the economy resumed its post - war recovery . Reelection . Grant ' s personal reputation suffered from the continued scandals caused by many corrupt appointees and personal associates . In addition to the Gold Ring , corruption in the New York Customs House added to reformers negative impressions of the administration . The Crédit Mobilier scandal , in which a railroad company bribed many members of Congress , did not involve Grant , but did ensnare Vice President Colfax and added to the general sense of dishonesty in Washington . Grant attempted some reforms in his frist term , encouraging Congress to create the Civil Service Commission in 1871 , but the Commission ' s only power was to propose reforms , which Congress later rejected . There was further division within the party between the faction most concerned with the plight of the freedmen and that concerned with the growth of industry . During the war , both factions ' interests aligned and in 1868 both had supported Grant . Since then his election , both felt alienated by Grant , especially the faction concerned with advancing the interest of black Americans . Many of such men bolted in 1872 , calling themselves the Liberal Republicans . Led by Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts and Senator Carl Schurz of Missouri , they publicly denounced the political patronage system that Sumner called " Grantism " and demanded amnesty for Confederate soldiers . The Liberal Republicans nominated Horace Greeley , another Republican who had come to dislike Grant and his policies . The rest of the Republican Party nominated Grant for reelection with Henry Wilson of Massachusetts replacing Colfax as vice - presidential nominee . The Democrats , seeking to combine anti - Grant sentiment , quickly nominated Greeley as well . The fusion effort was unsuccessful , and Grant was easily reelected . The Liberal Republicans were unable to deliver many votes , and Greeley was only successful in areas the Democrats would have carried without him . Grant won 56 % of the poplar vote and an Electoral College landslide of 286 to 66 . Panic of 1873 and currency debates . The beginning of Grant ' s second term saw renewed economic turmoil . In September 1873 , Jay Cooke & Company , a New York brokerage house , failed to fully sell a bond issue by Cooke ' s railroad , the Northern Pacific Railway , and collapsed as a result . The collapse sent ripples through Wall Street and other banks and brokerages that owned railroad stocks and bonds found themselves ruined as well . On September 20 , the New York Stock Exchange suspended for ten days . Grant , who knew little about finance , traveled to New York to consult leading businessmen and bankers for advice on how to curb the panic , which became known as the Panic of 1873 . Grant believed that , as with the collapse of the Gold Ring in 1869 , the panic was merely an economic fluctuation that affected bankers and brokers . He responded cautiously , instructing Treasury Secretary William Adams Richardson to purchase $ 10 million in government bonds , thus injecting cash into the system . These purchases curbed the panic on Wall Street , but a five - year industrial depression , later called the Long Depression nonetheless swept the nation . Eighty - nine of the nation ' s 364 railroads went bankrupt . After the Panic , Congress debated an inflationary policy to stimulate the economy and passed what became known as the Inflation Bill on April 14 , 1874 . Many farmers and workingmen favored the bill , which would add $ 64 million in greenbacks to circulation , but some Eastern bankers opposed it because it would weaken the dollar . Grant unexpectedly vetoed the bill on the grounds that it would destroy the credit of the nation . Grant ' s veto placed him securely in the conservative faction of the Republican party , and was the beginning of the party ' s commitment to a strong gold - backed dollar . Grant later pressured Congress for an bill to further strengthen dollar by gradually reducing the number of greenbacks in circulation . After losing the House to the Democrats in the 1874 elections , the lame - duck Republican Congress did so . On January 14 , 1875 , Grant signed the Specie Payment Resumption Act into law . The Resumption Act required gradual reduction of the maximum value of greenbacks allowed to circulate and declared the resumption of specie payment on January 1 , 1879 . At the same time , Grant replaced Richardson , who was involved in the a political scandal , with Benjamin H . Bristow of Kentucky , who supported Grant ' s anti - inflationary hard money policy . Gilded Age corruption and reform . Grant served as president during the Gilded Age , a time when the economy was open to speculation and western expansion that fueled corruption in government offices . He had to respond to charges of misconduct in nearly all federal departments . The administration fluctuated between the forces of corruption and the forces of reform . Although personally honest with his own money matters , Grant had difficulty in spotting corrupt individuals . Grant was protective of associates , whose persecutions he saw as unjust . Grant ' s military training was to shield associates from attack at the expense of his own reputation , unless evidence of personal misconduct was overwhelming . Besides the Gold Ring in 1869 , the most infamous scandal was the Whiskey Ring , in which tax officials took bribes in exchange for not taxing distillers . More corruption in the Treasury Department was made public in the Sanborn incident , in which John D . Sanborn ( a friend of Congressman Benjamin Butler , the erstwhile Civil War general ) was hired as an independent tax collector on a percentage basis ( also known as a " moiety " . ) Treasury officials were then instructed not to press for payment , so that accounts would become delinquent and Sanborn would get paid more when he " discovered " them . The Treasury scandals forced Treasury Secretary William Adams Richardson from office , and led to the appointment of his replacement , Benjamin Bristow , in 1874 . To prevent future unscrupulousness like Sanborn ' s , Grant signed the Anti - Moiety Act into law in 1874 , abolishing the troublesome payment system . Bristow , more than any other official in the administration , worked to clean up the expanding corruption . Another scandal , regarding western trading posts , was the subject of Congressional investigation . The scheme involved Secretary of War William Belknap selling concessions for trading posts on western army bases in exchange for a cut of the profits . The accusations led to Belknap ' s resignation . Even after he resigned from office , the House of Representatives impeached Belknap . He was only saved from conviction in the Senate because many Senators believed their jurisdiction ended when Belknap left office . With the exception of Grant ' s personal secretary , Orville E . Babcock , who indirectly controlled many cabinet departments and was able to delay investigations by reformers , the scandals were unrelated to each other . Initially , Grant endorsed Bristow ' s investigations , saying " Let no guilty man escape if it can be avoided ; " however , after Bristow discovered that Babcock was involved , Grant became defensive , believing that Babcock was the innocent victim of a witch hunt . Babcock was found not guilty at a trial in which Grant testified on his behalf , but was not allowed to continue working for the president . Shortly before leaving office , Grant pardoned William O . Avery and William McKee , who were convicted in connection with the Whiskey Ring , after they had served six months of their two - year sentences . There were other scandals , as well . Grant ' s Secretary of Navy George M . Robeson was investigated and reprimanded by Congress in 1876 for taking bribes , including the purchase of a vacation home , from naval contractors . Because there was no direct evidence of cash payments , Congress did not make formal charges of impeachment against Robeson . Columbus Delano , his Interior Secretary , allowed land frauds and ignored Interior department officials ' award of surveying contracts to his son , who was paid without doing any of the contracted work . Some of Grant ' s cabinet members took significant steps to reform and curb corruption their departments . To help Bristow ' s investigations , Grant appointed reformers Edwards Pierrepont and Marshall Jewell as Attorney General and Postmaster General , respectively . Secretary of Interior Zachariah Chandler succeeded Delano and cleaned up the corruption in that had taken place under his predecessor . In 1875 , Pierrepont cleaned up corruption among the U . S . Marshal and U . S . Attorney departments in the South . Some of Grant ' s cabinet officials , including Fish and Jewell , instituted civil service reform in their departments . Grant suggested other reforms , as well , including the idea that each state should provide free public schooling to all children , although he also endorsed the Blaine Amendment , which would have forbidden government aid to schools that have any religious affiliation . Judicial appointments . Grant appointed four Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States . The first two vacancies occurred in 1869 with the retirement of Robert C . Grier and Congress ' s restoration of a ninth seat on the Court . Grant appointed former Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton and Attorney General Ebenezer R . Hoar . Neither man would take his seat : Stanton was confirmed , but died before he took office ; Hoar was widely disliked in the Senate , which defeated his nomination 24 - 33 . Following a cabinet discussion , Grant submitted two more names to the Senate : William Strong and Joseph P . Bradley . Strong was a former justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania who retired to take up a private practice in Philadelphia . Bradley , a New Jersey lawyer , also had a successful private practice . Both men were railroad lawyers , and their appointment led to accusations that Grant intended them to overturn the case of " Hepburn v . Griswold , " which had been decided the same day they were nominated . That case , which was unpopular with business interests , held that the federal debt incurred before 1862 must be paid in gold , not greenbanks . Nonetheless , both Strong and Bradley were confirmed and the following year " Hepburn " was indeed reversed . After Grant ' s reelection , another Supreme Court seat opened up with the retirement of Justice Samuel Nelson . Grant nominated Ward Hunt , a New York state judge and friend of Senator Roscoe Conkling , to replace him . Hunt was confirmed in 1873 and , like Nelson , upheld Reconstruction legislation . He served on the court until 1882 . In May 1873 , Chief Justice Salmon P . Chase died suddenly . Grant waited several months before offering the seat to Conkling in November . Conkling declined , as did Senator Timothy Howe of Wisconsin . Grant unsuccessfully tried to enlist Hamilton Fish for the job and considered nominating Caleb Cushing , as well , before submitting the name of his attorney general , George Henry Williams . The Senate had a dim view of Williams ' s performance at the Justice Department and refused to act on the nomination . Grant stuck to his choice , but after no action Williams asked that his name be withdrawn in January 1874 . Fish suggested nominating Hoar again , but Grant instead chose Cushing . Cushing was an eminent lawyer and respected in his field , but the emergence of his wartime correspondence with Jefferson Davis doomed his nomination . Grant finally turned to Morrison Waite , a respectable ( if little - known ) Ohio lawyer who had worked on the " Alabama " claims arbitration . Waite was unanimously approved two days later , on January 21 , 1874 . Waite was an uncontroversial nominee , but in his time on the Court he authored two of the decisions ( " United States v . Reese " and " United States v . Cruikshank " ) that did the most to undermine Reconstruction - era laws for the protection of black Americans . Post - presidency . In 1876 , the collected scandals of the last eight years led many in the Republican party to repudiate Grant . Bristow was among the leading candidates to replace him , suggesting that a large faction desired an end to " Grantism " and feared that Grant would run for a third term . Ultimately , Grant did not run , but neither was Bristow the nominee , as the convention settled on Governor Rutherford B . Hayes of Ohio , a reformer . The Democrats nominated Samuel J . Tilden of New York , and the election that year was undecided for several months , due to voting irregularities in three Southern states . Grant assured both sides that he would not use the army to force a result , and agreed to the formation of an Electoral Commission to decide the matter . The result was the Compromise of 1877 : Hayes was elected , but the last troops would be withdrawn from Southern capitals . The Republicans had won , but Reconstruction was over . World tour . Leaving the White House , Grant and family stayed with friends in New York , Ohio , and Philadelphia for two months before setting out on a tour of the world . The trip , which would last two years , began in Liverpool in May 1877 where enormous crowds greeted the ex - president and his entourage . Travelling to London , the Grants dined with Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle and Grant gave several speeches in the city . They next traveled to Belgium , Germany , and Switzerland before returning to England . The Grants spent a few months with their daughter , Nellie , who had married an Englishman and moved to that country several years before . Returning to the continent , Grant and his wife journeyed on to France and Italy , spending Christmas 1877 aboard USS " Vandalia " , a warship docked in Palermo . After a winter sojourn in the Holy Land , they visited Greece before returning to Italy and a meeting with Pope Leo XIII . Travelling to Spain and then to Germany again , Grant met with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck ; the two men discussed military matters . After another visit to England and then to Ireland , the Grants left Europe by ship , sailing through the Suez Canal to India . They visited Bombay , Lucknow , Varanasi , and Delhi , being welcomed in each city by the colonial officials . After India , it was on to Burma , Siam ( where Grant met King Chulalongkorn , ) Singapore , and Vietnam . Traveling on to Hong Kong , Grant began to change his mind on the nature of colonization , believing that the British rule was not " purely selfish " but also good for the colonial subjects . Leaving Hong Kong , the Grants entered China proper , seeing the cities of Canton , Shanghai , and Peking . He declined to request an interview with the Guangxu Emperor , a child of seven , but did speak with the head of government , Prince Gong , and Li Hongzhang , a leading general . They discussed China ' s dispute with Japan over the Ryukyu Islands , and Grant agreed to help bring the two sides to agreement . After crossing over to Japan and meeting the Emperor Meiji , Grant convinced China to acquiesce in Japanese annexation of the islands , and the two nations avoided war . By then the Grants had been gone two years , and were homesick . They crossed the Pacific and landed in San Francisco in September 1879 , greeted by cheering crowds . After a visit to Yellowstone National Park , they returned at last to Philadelphia on December 16 , 1879 . The two - and - a - half - year voyage around the world had captured popular imagination , and Republicans — especially those of the new Stalwart faction , who had excluded from the Hayes administration — saw Grant in a new light . With Hayes having forsworn a second term when he was elected , the nomination for 1880 was wide open , and many thought that Grant was the man for the job . Third term attempt . The Stalwarts , led by Grant ' s old political ally , Roscoe Conkling , saw the ex - president ' s renewed popularity as a way for their faction to regain prominence . Grant said nothing publicly , but privately he wanted the job and encouraged his men . Elihu B . Washburne wrote to Grant in February 1880 , urging him to run ; Grant demurred , saying he would be happy for the Republicans to win with another candidate , though he preferred James G . Blaine to John Sherman . Even so , Conkling and John A . Logan began to organize delegates in Grant ' s favor . When the convention convened in Chicago in June there were more delegates pledge to Grant than to any other candidate , but he was short of a majority . Grant ' s popularity was high , but fading . Washburne conjectured that had Grant stayed abroad longer , the wave of adulation that greeted him on his return might have carried him all the way back to the White House . Conkling placed Grant ' s name in nomination with an elegant speech , his most famous line being : " When asked which state he hails from , our sole reply shall be , he hails from Appomattox and its famous apple tree . " With 370 votes needed for nomination , the first ballot had Grant at 304 , Blaine at 284 , Sherman at 93 , and the rest scattered to minor candidates . Subsequent ballots followed , with roughly the same result ; neither Grant nor Blaine could win . After thirty - six ballots , Blaine ' s delegates deserted him and combined with those of other candidates to nominate a compromise candidate : Representative James A . Garfield of Ohio . Grant received 306 votes on the final ballot , his supporters staying committed to their man to the bitter end . Logan moved that the nomination be made unanimous , and it was , but those 306 Stalwarts were immortalized in Republican myth . Grant accepted his defeat , even claiming to be relieved at the result . He gave speeches for Garfield , but declined to criticize the Democratic nominee , Winfield Scott Hancock , a general who had served under Grant in the Army of the Potomac . Garfield was elected by a narrow popular margin , but a solid Electoral College vote — 214 to 155 . After the election , Grant gave Garfield his public support , but also pushed him to include Stalwarts in his administration . Grant & Ward . Grant ' s world tour , although successful , was costly . When he returned to America , Grant had depleted most of his savings and needed to earn money . To that end , Grant , Jay Gould , and former Mexican Finance Secretary chartered the Mexican Southern Railroad , which planned to build a railroad from Oaxaca to Mexico City . At the same time , Grant used his influence to convince Chester A . Arthur , who had succeeded Garfield as president in 1881 , to negotiate a free trade treaty with Mexico . Arthur and the Mexican government agreed , but the United States Senate rejected the treaty in 1883 . The railroad was similarly unsuccessful , falling into bankruptcy the following year . At the same time , Grant ' s son Ulysses Jr . ( " Buck " ) had opened a Wall Street brokerage house with Ferdinand Ward . Ward was regarded as a rising star , and the firm , Grant & Ward , was initially successful . In 1883 , Grant joined the firm and invested $ 100 , 000 of his own money . The firm ' s success attracted more investors , who bought securities through them , then used the securities as collateral to borrow money to buy more securities . Grant & Ward then pledged that collateral to borrow more money to trade in securities on the firm ' s own account . The practice – called hypothecation – was legal and accepted ; what was illegal was " rehypothecation " , the practice of pledging the same securities as collateral for multiple loans . Ward , with the collusion of the bank involved , did this for many of the firm ' s assets . If the trades resulted in profit , then there would be no problem ; if they went bad , however , multiple loans would come due , all backed up by the same collateral . Historians acknowledge that Grant was likely unaware of Ward ' s tactics , but it is unclear how much Buck Grant knew . In May 1884 , enough investments went bad to convince Ward that the firm would soon be bankrupted . He told Grant of the impending failure , but suggested that it was a temporary shortfall . Grant approached businessman William Henry Vanderbilt , who gave Grant a personal loan of $ 150 , 000 . Grant invested the money in the firm , but it was not enough to save the firm from failure . Essentially penniless , but compelled by a sense of personal honor , Grant repaid Vanderbilt with his Civil War mementos . Although the market value did not cover the loan , Vanderbilt insisted it was paid in full . The matter left Grant financially destitute . Memoirs and death . Grant had forfeited his military pension when he assumed the presidency , but Congress restored him to the rank of General of the Army with full retirement pay in March 1885 . Around the same time , Grant learned that he was suffering from esophageal cancer . To restore his family ' s income , Grant wrote several articles on his Civil War campaigns for " The Century Magazine " at $ 500 each . The articles were well received by critics , and the editor , Robert Underwood Johnson , suggested Grant write a book of memoirs , as Sherman and others had successfully done . Grant took up the project and asked his former staff officer , Adam Badeau , to review his work . Grant ' s son Fred assisted with references and proofreading . " Century " offered Grant a book contract with a 10 % royalty , but Grant ' s friend , Mark Twain , made his own offer to Grant for his memoirs , proposing a 75 % royalty . Grant ultimately decided on Twain ' s publishing company , Charles L . Webster and Co . Grant worked diligently on the memoir from a cottage on the slopes of Mount McGregor , finishing shortly before he died on July 23 , 1885 . The book , entitled " Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S . Grant " , was a success . In the end , Julia Grant received about $ 450 , 000 , suggesting a royalty of about 30 % . The memoir has been highly regarded by the general public , military historians and literary critics . Grant was a shrewd and effective writer , portraying himself in the persona of the honorable Western hero , whose strength lies in his honesty and straightforwardness . He candidly depicts his battles against both the Confederates and internal Army foes . Twain called the " Memoirs " a " literary masterpiece " , and others including Matthew Arnold and Edmund Wilson agree ; it may be the " single most important " and influential work of American non - fiction . Grant died on July 23 , 1885 , at the age of 63 . Sheridan , by now Commanding General of the Army , ordered a day - long tribute to Grant on all military posts , and President Grover Cleveland ordered a thirty - day nationwide period of mourning . After private services in Mount McGregor and lying in state in the New York State Capitol at Albany , Grant ' s body was placed on a funeral train and traveled via West Point to New York City , where a quarter of a million people viewed in the two days prior to the funeral . Tens of thousands of men , many of them veterans from the Grand Army of the Republic or other veterans ’ organizations marched with Grant ’ s casket as it was drawn by two dozen horses to Riverside Park . His pallbearers included Union generals Sherman and Sheridan , Confederate generals Simon Bolivar Buckner and Joseph E . Johnston , Admiral David Dixon Porter and John A . Logan , the head of the GAR . His body was laid to rest in Riverside Park , first in a temporary tomb and finally in a sarcophagus in a circular atrium at the General Grant National Memorial ( " Grant ' s Tomb " ) , the largest mausoleum in North America . Attendance at the New York funeral topped 1 . 5 million . Ceremonies were held in other major cities around the country , and those who eulogized Grant in the press likened him to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln . Legacy . Historical reputation . Few presidents ' reputations have changed as dramatically as Grant ' s . After his death , Grant was popularly seen as " a symbol of the American national identity and memory . " Millions of people turned out for his funeral procession in 1885 and attended the 1897 dedication of his tomb . At the same time , however , scholars portrayed his as the most corrupt administration in American history . Northerners who desired national reconciliation distorted Grant ' s reputation , regarding the Union and Confederate causes on equal moral terms . In the 1930s biographer William B . Hesseltine , noted that Grant ' s reputation worsened because " " his enemies wrote better than his friends . " In 1931 , the Dictionary of American Biography praised Grant ' s military vision and his execution of that vision in defeating the Confederacy , but of his political career , the authors were less complimentary . Speaking specifically of the scandals , they wrote that " personal scandal has not touched Grant in any plausible form , but it struck so close to him and so frequently as to necessitate the vindication of his honor by admitting his bad taste in the choice of associates . " William S . McFeely won the Pulitzer Prize for his negative 1981 biography that concluded , " He did not rise above limited talents or inspire others to do so in ways that make his administration a credit to American politics . " Since 1990 , historians have since taken a more favorable view , appreciating his protection of African Americans during Reconstruction , and his peace policy towards American Indians , even though those policies failed . Bruce Catton began the reassessment of Grant ' s military career in the 1960s , shifting the consensus from Grant as victor by brute force to that of a successful and skillful commander . John Y . Simon wrote of McFeely ' s assessment , " Grant ' s failure as President . . . lies in the failure of the Indian peace policy and the collapse of Reconstruction . . . But if Grant tried and failed , who could have succeeded ? " The reconstruction of Grant ' s reputation continued with Jean Edward Smith ' s 2001 biography . Smith argued that the same qualities that made Grant a success as a general carried over to his political life to make him , if not a successful president , than certainly an admirable one . Smith wrote that " the common thread is strength of character — an indomitable will that never flagged in the face of adversity . . . Sometimes he blundered badly ; often he oversimplified ; yet he saw his goals clearly and moved toward them relentlessly . " H . W . Brands continued Grant ' s rehabilitation in his 2012 book , " The Man Who Saved the Union : Ulysses Grant in War and Peace " . In addition to praising Grant ' s skill as a general , Brands ' s book , as Eric Foner wrote in a review , gives " a sympathetic account of Grant ’ s forceful and temporarily successful effort as president to crush the Ku Klux Klan , which had inaugurated a reign of terror against the former slaves . " Brands write favorably of Grant ' s military and political careers , alike , saying : Memorials and library . Grant has a number of memorials in his honor , including the General Grant National Memorial in New York and the Ulysses S . Grant Memorial in Washington . There are smaller memorials in Chicago ' s Lincoln Park and Philadelphia ' s Fairmount Park . Grant Park is named in his honor , as are a number of counties in western and midwestern states . From 1890 to 1940 , a portion of what is now Kings Canyon National Park was called General Grant National Park , named for the General Grant sequoia . He has appeared on the front of the United States fifty - dollar bill since 1913 , and also appears on several stamps . In early 2010 , the Ohio Historical Society proposed Grant as a finalist in a statewide vote for inclusion in Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol , but Grant was defeated by Thomas Edison in a statewide vote . In May 2012 , on the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Ulysses S . Grant Foundation , Mississippi State University was selected as the permanent location for Ulysses S . Grant ' s Presidential Library . President Grant ' s artifacts are to remain permanently at the Mitchell Memorial Library on the MSU campus . The MSU library cataloged and cross - referenced 15 , 000 linear feet of material . Grant ' s letters have been divided into 31 volumes while a 32nd volume is due to be released .