Grant, Ulysses Simpson

Grant, Ulysses Simpson (1822–85) Union army general and 18th president of the United States (1869–77), born in Point Pleasant, Ohio. Grant first exhibited the coolness under fire and successful control of men for which he later became famous during the Mexican War (1846–48), when he twice rode into action, even though his role as regimental quartermaster did not require him to do so. Grant resigned from the army in 1854 but returned with the outbreak of the Civil War. Under his leadership, the Union experienced its first significant victories–at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson (both 1862)—after which Grant had the attention of President Abraham Lincoln, who ignored charges of drunkenness and excessive casualties. (Though Grant had recurrent bouts of heavy drinking throughout his adult life, with intermittent periods of abstinence, there is scant, if any, reliable evidence of drunkenness during the war.) His reputation as a brilliant leader was cemented with the capture of Vicksburg (1863), which split the Confederacy and gave the Union control of the Mississippi River. Later victories included Missionary Ridge (1863), after which Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant general, naming him general in chief of all Union armies. As such he devised a plan for coordinating the offensives of the various armies, which had been acting independently. This ultimately led to the Union victory. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House (1865). Grant was promoted to four-star general by President Andrew Johnson (1866) and twice elected president of the United States (1868, 1872) on the Republican ticket. Though Grant's administrations were marked by scandal and corruption, they did achieve gains in civil service reform, civil rights, and monetary policy. Nevertheless, historians generally rank him among the worst presidents. Grant's memoirs, which he completed just days before his death, are considered by many to be among the finest military memoirs ever written. They were published by Samuel Clemens ( Mark Twain).

Though always called Ulysses, Grant was baptized Hiram Ulysses. When registering at West Point, he transposed the two given names to avoid having the initials H.U.G. But the congressman who had obtained his appointment had misstated his name as Ulysses Simpson, and, since the academy refused to correct it, so it remained. Classmates called him Sam, because the new initials, U.S., were seen to stand for Uncle Sam. Later in his career they came to stand for “Unconditional Surrender.”