 |
Ulysses S. Grant
b. 27 Apr 1822, Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio
d. 23 Jul 1885, Mount McGregor, New York |
| Title: |
President of the United States |
| Term: |
4 Mar 1869 - 4 Mar 1873 |
| Chronology: |
10 Feb 1869,
election to the office of President of the United States is declared upon counting electoral votes (cast 2 Dec 1868),
joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [1] |
|
4 Mar 1869,
commencement of term |
|
4 Mar 1869,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, inaugural ceremony as part of the regular session of the Senate, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [2] |
|
4 Mar 1873,
expiration of term |
| Term: |
4 Mar 1873 - 4 Mar 1877 |
| Chronology: |
13 Feb 1873,
election to the office of President of the United States is declared upon counting electoral votes (cast 4 Dec 1872),
joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [3] |
|
4 Mar 1873,
commencement of term |
|
4 Mar 1873,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, inaugural ceremony as part of the special session of the Senate, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [4] |
|
4 Mar 1877,
expiration of term |
| Names/titles: |
Original name: Hiram Ulysses Grant; changed to Ulysses S. Grant c. 1839 [5] |
| Biography: |
| Born in the family of a tanner; attended a school at Maysville, Kentucky (1836-1837), and Presbyterian Academy, Ripley, Ohio (1838-1839); graduated from the U.S. Military Academy West Point (1843); commissioned brevet second lieutenant (1843); promoted to full second lieutenant (1845); served in the Mexican War (1846-1848) under General Zachary Taylor (President of the United States, 1849-1850); rapidly received new promotions reaching the rank of captain in 1853; resigned commission in 1854; farmer and realtor (1854-1860); clerk in a leather goods store owned by his father (1860-1861); rejoined U.S. Army in 1861 as colonel of 21st Illinois Regiment; appointed brigadier general of volunteers (31 Jul 1861); given command of all troops in south-east Missouri (28 Aug 1861); promoted to major general of volunteers (17 Feb 1862); received surrender of Vicksburg (4 Jul 1863); promoted to major general in the regular army; won the Battle of Chattanooga (25 Nov 1863); promoted to lieutenant general (2 Mar 1864); assigned to command all armies of the United States (18 Mar 1864); unsuccessful candidate for presidential nomination (1864); received surrender of the Confederate army of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox (9 Apr 1865); appointed general of the armies of the United States (25 Jul 1866); appointed Secretary of War ad interim (12 Aug 1867 - 14 Jan 1868); elected President of the United States, 1868; signed a law pledging the government to redeem in gold the greenback currency issued during the Civil War (18 Mar 1868); submitted to the Senate a treaty of annexation with Santo Domingo (10 Jan 1870), subsequently rejected; negotiated the Treaty of Washington (8 May 1871) providing for the settlement by international tribunal of American claims against Great Britain; reelected president in 1872; second administration was plagued with scandals and charges of bribery, involving the members of Cabinet; was not a candidate for reelection in 1876; made a trip around the world (1877-1879); unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1880; president of Jay Gould's Mexican Southern Railroad, 1881; founder, Grant & Ward, stockbrokers, 1881. |
| Biographical sources: "Ulysses S. Grant: Politician," by William B. Hesseltine (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1935). |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (2 Dec 1868) * |
| |
including votes from Georgia |
excluding votes from Georgia |
| Ulysses S. Grant |
214 |
214 |
| Horatio Seymour |
80 |
71 |
| total number of electors appointed |
294 |
285 |
| number of votes for a majority |
148 |
143 |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (4 Dec 1872) |
| Ulysses S. Grant |
286 |
| Thomas Andrews Hendricks |
42 |
| Benjamin Gratz Brown |
18 |
| Charles Jones Jenkins |
2 |
| David Davis |
1 |
| excluded † |
3 |
| not counted ‡ |
14 |
| total number of electors appointed |
366 |
| number of votes for a majority |
184 |
|
| * Due to a disagreement over counting electoral votes from Georgia, the results were stated "as it would stand were the vote of the State of Georgia counted, and as it would stand if the vote of that State were not counted" (Concurrent Resolution of the U.S. Congress of 10 Feb 1869, Congressional Globe, 40th Congress, 3rd Session, 1062) |
| † Votes for Horace Greeley, who died before the casting of ballots, were excluded. |
| ‡ Electoral votes of Louisiana and Arkansas were not counted due to irregularities. |
| Source of electoral results: Congressional Globe, 40th Congress, 3rd Session, 1063; Congressional Globe, 42nd Congress, 3rd Session, 1305. |
| |
| [1] |
Congressional Globe, 40th Congress, 3rd Session, 1048-1059, 1062-1064. |
| [2] |
Congressional Globe, 41st Congress, 1st Session, 1-2. |
| [3] |
Congressional Globe, 42nd Congress, 3rd Session, 1284-1306. |
| [4] |
Congressional Record, 43rd Congress, Special Session of the Senate, 1-2. |
| [5] |
When Grant arrived at West Point, he discovered that the congressman who appointed him, in doubt about his name, had used his middle name first and had used his mother's maiden name (Simpson) for a middle name. Officers insisted that Ulysses S. Grant had been appointed to West Point, Ulysses Hiram Grant had not. In time, Ulysses accepted U. S. Grant as his true name, insisting that his middle initial stood for "nothing." His family and Ohio friends continued to call him Ulysses; the other cadets nicknamed him "Uncle Sam" for his initials, soon shortened it to "Sam." |
|
Image: photograph (1870). |
