Ulysses S. Grant
Best known as: 18th president of the USA
Occupation: Military leader, politician
Nationality: American
Religion: Methodist
Political party: Republican
Born: April 27, 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio
Died: July 23, 1855, of throat cancer at Mt. McGregor, New York
Remains: Grant's Tomb, New York City, New York
Education: West Point (graduated 21st in a class of 39)
Military service:
Mexican War (Captain)
U.S. Civil War (4-Star General)
Civil War victories:
Fort Donelson (1862)
Shiloh (1862)
Vicksburg (1863)
Chattanooga (1863)
Cold Harbor (1864)
Petersburg (1864)
Appomattox Court House (1865)
Term as president: 1868-1876
Wife: Julia Dent
Friends: William T. Sherman
Vice president: Schuyler Colfax (1869-1873) and Henry Wilson (1873-1875)
Family members:
Parents: Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Simpson
Siblings: 5 younger siblings
Fun facts:
- Grant is a descendant of Richard Warren, a passenger on the Mayflower.
- Grant was tone-deaf and hated music. He is reported to have said, "I know only two tunes, one is 'Yankee Doodle' and the other isn't."
- He tried to avoid swearing. Instead he would exclaim "Confound it!" or "Doggone it!"
- In 1868, at age 46, Grant became the youngest man so far to be elected president. He was later surpassed by Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton.
- Grant created several government agencies, including the Department of Justice (1870), the Office of the Solicitor General (1870), the National Weather Service (1870, originally called the Army Weather Bureau), the Office of the Surgeon General (1871), and the Post Office Department (1872).
- Grant became the 8th president of the National Rifle Association in 1883.
- After his presidency, Grant visited Japan and planted a tree in Tokyo that still stands today.
