Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85), US general and statesman; 18th president of the US (1869-77). Grant trained at the West Point Academy and fought in the Mexican War (1842-44) as a young lieutenant. During the US Civil War he proved himself a resourceful and determined general and was appointed supreme commander of the Federal (northern) armies in 1864. His policy of battering the Confederates into submission at whatever cost to his own troops earned him the nick-names ‘Unconditional Surrender’ Grant and ‘Butcher’ Grant. As Republican president he continued with the policy of Reconstruction, by which the southern states were reintegrated with the Union, fought inflation, and made an unsuccessful attempt to annex the Dominican Republic. Following his retirement he lived in some poverty and was obliged to sell his military memorabilia.
