Ulysses S. Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant (1822- 1885), was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War. Grant first reached national prominence by taking Forts Henry and Donelson in 1862 in the first Union victories of the war. The following year, his brilliant campaign ending in the surrender of Vicksburg secured Union control of the Mississippi and-with the simultaneous Union victory at Gettysburg-turned the tide of the war in the North's favor. Named commanding general of the Federal armies in 1864, he implemented a coordinated strategy of simultaneous attacks aimed at destroying the South's ability to carry on the war. In 1865, after conducting a costly war of attrition in the East, he accepted the surrender of his Confederate opponent Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House.
Ulysses S. Grant (1822 - 1885) was the Commanding General of the Union Army prior to becoming President. A West Point graduate and veteran of the Mexican-American War, Grant defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army at Appomattox, effectively ending the Civil War. This work brings together President Grant's eight State of the Union Addresses delivered between 1869 and 1876.
Ulysses S. Grant served as the Commanding General and the 18th President of the United States. He cooperated closely with President Abraham Lincoln to lead the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy in the American Civil War. Grant implemented Reconstruction with the support of Congress. Main focus of Grant's writing in this autobiography is on his military career during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. Original edition of Grant's Memoirs was published by Mark Twain shortly after Grant's death.
This volume carries Ulysses S. Grant through a brief period of welcome calm to the storms of the White House. Seemingly resigned to becoming president, Grant detached himself from military routine in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 1868 to tour the Great Plains. He then settled in Galena to escape the clamor of the presidential campaign. Grant reveled in his respite from official duties, writing to his father, "I have enjoyed my summers vacation very much and look forward with dread to my return to Washington." Grant's residence in Galena shielded him from public scrutiny. "Whilst I remain here I shall avoid all engagements to go any place at any stated time. The turn out of people is immense when they hear of my coming." Grant remained in or near his prewar hometown until the election forced him back to Washington. Grant publicly said that he accepted presidential responsibilities "without fear" but privately lacked eagerness for the office. Even before his electoral victory, he wrote disapprovingly of "the Army of office seekers" and "begging letters" from potential appointees. Never enamored with the "pulling and hauling" so much a part of politics, Grant tried to minimize importunities by withholding names of his cabinet selections until after his inauguration and keeping his policy pronouncements spare and noncontroversial. His earnest desire as president was simply to inspire every citizen to work for "a happy Union."