"President, General Ulysses S. Grant", our eighteenth President, son of a farmer, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio. President Grant spent his childhood working on the family farm. When President Grant was seventeen he was appointed to "West Point", New York.

"Ulysses (S)impson Grant's" given name was "Hiram Ulysses", but through an error, he was listed as Ulysses Simpson, and he chose to keep this name. In 1846, President Grant was sent to join "President, General Zachary Taylor" in the "Mexican War", where President Grant was promoted to Captain for his bravery.

In 1848, he married "Julia Dent". President Ulysses S. Grant and Julia Dent Grant had four children. After the Mexican War, he was stationed in California and Oregon, then he resigned and went to St. Louis, Missouri. President Grant's efforts at farming were unsuccessful, so he moved his family to Galena, Illinois, and worked in his father's leather shop.

With the outbreak of the "Civil War", President Grant re-enlisted in the "Union Army", and in 1861 President Grant was promoted to Brigadier General. Immediately President Grant set out to take control of the Mississippi River from the South. The "Civil War" had been going poorly for the North, so when President Grant took "Fort Henry" and "Fort Donelson" on the "Tennessee River", his popularity soared.

President Grant fought at the "Battle of Shiloh", a very bloody battle, then turned his attention to "The Battle of Vicksburg", Mississippi where by brilliant stratey, President Grant took the city. After this and a victory at the "Battle of Chattanooga", Tennessee "President Abraham Lincoln" made him the commander of the "Army of the Potomac".

President Grant felt that the only way to win the "Civil War" was to wear down the South no matter what the cost to the North. This President Grant did accomplish, and the enormous number of casualties aroused the North, but President Abraham Lincoln stood by him. On "April 9, 1865" President Grant accepted General Robert E. (Edward) Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia".

"President Andrew Johnson" appointed President Grant "Secretary of War", but the Senate did not accept him. President Grant was elected President of the United States of America in 1868. Inexperienced in politics, President Grant appointed corrupt men for his Cabinet and believed most of what they told him.

President Grant himself was an honest man, but his administration was tarnished by scandals. Many of President Grant's close advisers defrauded the government. During President Grant's first term, the "First Transcontinental Railroad" was completed and the "Fifteenth Amendment" was ratified.

The "Fifteenth Amendment" gave Negroes equality with whites. When President Grant was re-elected in 1872, "The Amnesty Act" returning civil rights to "Confederate's", was passed. During President Grant's second term more and more scandal came to light.

In 1879, President Grant was prepared to accept a third term, but his supporters could not get him the nomination. In 1884, a company into which he had put all his money failed, and President Grant was left penniless.

By this time, President Grant was desparately ill with cancer, but he set to work on his memoirs to raise money to support his wife. President Grant finished them four days before he died at "Mount McGregor, New York" in 1885.

"President Ulysses S. Grant's tomb" is set in a beautiful and peaceful, wooded section of New York surrounded by a magnificent statue of enormous proportion for the public to visit.

Written by:
Karen Palumbo
Photography "NOT" by:
Robert Palumbo
2/28/2010