His company soon moved south to prepare for the conflict brewing with Mexico over disputed Texas territory. From to , Grant fought in the Mexican War and was twice cited for bravery. He resigned suddenly from the Army in and returned to the Midwest to be with his family. Grant then attempted a variety of jobs, including farming and insurance sales, before finding work in his family's leather goods store in Galena, Illinois.
Through these difficult times, he relied on his wife, Julia Dent Grant. The two were a devoted couple and adoring parents to their four children. When the American Civil War began in , experienced officers like Grant were in short supply.
The Illinois governor assigned him to make a disciplined fighting unit out of the rebellious Twenty-First Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Grant drilled the men, instituted badly needed discipline, and soon earned the respect of the volunteers.
The Army noted his efforts and promoted him to brigadier general. Grant garnered attention as he led his troops to fight and win battles in the Western Theater. In the last year of the war, he was both praised and criticized for his willingness to fight and sustain a high number of casualties.
At that point, General Grant was the most revered man in the Union. Lincoln's tragic assassination at the end of the Civil War was followed by the ineffective leadership of President Andrew Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee. Johnson urged a moderate approach to Reconstruction that would not punish the South or protect the rights of the newly freed slaves beyond emancipation.
Radical Republicans wanted to ensure the civil and political rights of African Americans. In the election of , postwar social and economic policies were the major campaign issues. The Republicans backed Grant, who concluded his acceptance speech with "Let us have peace. Coming into office, President Grant alienated party stalwarts by rejecting party politics.
When he appointed his cabinet, he did not turn to Republican leaders for their advice. Most dramatically, Grant used both federal troops and the newly established Justice Department to fight terrorism against Southern blacks, particularly by the Ku Klux Klan , which had grown into a large and formidable force in the years after the Civil War. Grant transcended that of his party.
Red Cloud, chief of the Oglala Sioux, pays a peace visit to President Grant to accept the capitulation of the US authorities to his demands and to recommend peace between the Sioux and the settlers. Army had been going on for decades, particularly in the expanding western U. Some prominent politicians and military leaders made no secret of their desire to rid the country of certain tribes by any means necessary.
Parker, as his commissioner of Indian Affairs. He also set about to reform the notoriously corrupt system that licensed traders to do business with—and often cheat—the tribes, asking respected religious groups, starting with the Quakers, to nominate worthy candidates for those positions. Grant Waged His Greatest Battle. Ironically, for a man whose administration was marked by nepotism, cronyism and graft, Grant became a leading voice for reforming the political patronage system. In , Grant pushed for civil service legislation, and the following year appointed the first Civil Service Commission.
Its aim was to replace patronage with competitive exams and other initiatives to ensure that the people who won federal jobs were actually qualified to do them. Unfortunately, the experiment in good government would last only two years. Many legislators resented having to give up one of their most lucrative perks, so in Congress failed to fund the commission, ending its work.
Grant left the presidency in March Don Carlos Buell - fended off Confederate advances and ultimately won the day. With Confederate forces unclear of his intentions, Grant sent a portion of his army under Gen. William T. Sherman to capture the state capital, Jackson, while setting his sights on Vicksburg with a view toward permanently closing the Confederate supply base. When initial assaults on the city demonstrated the strength of Vicksburg's defenses, the Union army was forced to lay siege to the city.
On July 4, , after 46 days of digging trenches and lobbing hand grenades, Confederate general John Pemberton 's 30,man army surrendered.
Coupled with the Northern victory at Gettysburg , the capture of Vicksburg marked the turning point in the war. It also made Grant the premier commander in the Federal army. Later that same year, Grant was called upon to break the stalemate at Chattanooga , further cementing his reputation as a capable and effective leader. In March , President Lincoln elevated Grant to the rank of lieutenant general, and named him general-in-chief of the Armies of the United States. Grant saw the military objectives of the Civil War differently than most of his predecessors, who believed that capturing territory was most important to winning the war.
Grant adamantly believed that taking down the Confederate armies was most important to the war effort, and to that end, set out to track down and destroy General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. From March until April , Grant doggedly hunted for Lee in the forests of Virginia, all the while inflicting unsustainable casualties on Lee's army. On April 9, , Lee surrendered his army, marking the end of the Civil War.
The two generals met at a farm near the village of Appomattox Court House, and a peace agreement was signed. In a magnanimous gesture, Grant allowed Lee's men to keep their horses and return to their homes, taking none of them as prisoners of war. During post-war reorganization, Grant was promoted to full general and oversaw the military portion of Reconstruction. He was then put in an awkward position during President Andrew Johnson's fight with the Radical Republicans and Johnson's impeachment.
Subsequently, in , Grant was elected the 18th president of the United States. When he entered the White House the following year, Grant was not only politically inexperienced, he was — at the age of 46 — the youngest president theretofore.
Though scrupulously honest, Grant became known for appointing people who were not of good character. While he had some success during his time in office, including pushing through ratification of the 15th Amendment and establishing the National Parks Service, his administration's scandals rocked both of his presidential terms, and he didn't get the opportunity to serve a third.
After leaving the White House, Grant's lack of success at civilian life continued once again. He became a partner of the financial firm Grant and Ward only to have his partner, Ferdinand Ward, embezzle investors' money. The firm went bankrupt in , as did Grant. That same year, Grant learned that he was suffering from throat cancer, and though his military pension was reinstated, he was strapped for cash. Grant began selling short magazine articles about his life and then negotiated a contract with a friend, famed novelist Twain, to publish his memoirs.
The two-volume set went on to sell some , copies, becoming a classic work of American literature. Grant died on July 23, — just as his memoirs were being published — at the age of 63, in Mount McGregor, New York. He is buried in New York City. We strive for accuracy and fairness.
If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He preserved the Union during the U. Civil War and brought about the emancipation of slaves.
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