Ulysses S. Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in
Pt. Pleasant OH, moving the following year to
Georgetown. He graduated from
West Point in 1843 and served against Mexico under General
Zachary Taylor and General
Winfield Scott. In 1843, he resigned his commission. With the outbreak of the
Civil War, he became a colonel of Illinois volunteers. His brilliant campaigns at
Vicksburg and
Chattanooga caused
Abraham Lincoln to put him in command of all Union armies. He accepted the surrender of
Robert E. Lee at
Appamatox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. He was elected President as a Republican in 1868 and re-elected in 1872. His second term was marred by scandals. An attempt by the Stalwarts (Old Guard Republicans) to nominate him in 1880 failed. The collapse of Grant & Ward, a Wall Street investment firm of which he was a partner left him penniless. He died at Mt. McGregor NY on July 23, 1885.
