US Presidents
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U.S. Presidents
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George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William H. Harrison
John Tyler
James K. Polk
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William H. Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard M. Nixon
Gerald R. Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack Obama

Key Dates

1839 Ulysses S. Grant enters West Point.

1848 Mexican War ends. Grant is a war hero.

1864 Grant becomes chief of the Union Army.

1865 The Civil War ends.

1868 Grant is elected President

1870 The Fifteenth Amendments is passed giving African American men the right to vote.

1873 The Presidents salary is raised form $25,000 to $50,000 a year.

1876 The results from the Presidential Election are disputed. Congress makes Hayes the winner.

1884 Grant loses his live savings.

1885 Grant dies just after finishing his autobiography. His autobiography becomes a best seller.

Ulysses S. Grant
1869 - 1877
18th President

His mother, Hannah Simpson, was an Irish immigrant from Dergenagh, County Tyrone.

Ulysses S. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio on April 27, 1822. Grant was the first President born in Ohio.

Grant was a Methodist.

His given name was Hiram Ulysses Grant. Before leaving for West Point, he decided to reverse the names, but his appointment was in the name of Ulysses S. Grant. The Army never changed it's mind about U.S. Grant, so he finally began to use the patriotic name himself.

Grant was 5' 7" tall.

Ulysses S. Grant set a high jump record at West Point that lasted for more than 25 years.

Grant ran against the first woman to be nominated for President. Victoria Claflin Woodhall was nominated by the Equal Rights Party.

Ulysses Grant served in both Mexican War and US Civil War.


Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Cold Harbor, Va. 1864. Mathew Brady. Mathew Brady Collection.
National Archives and Records Administration
(Click for larger image.)

He was the first President whose parents were both alive when he was inaugurated. Neither parent attended his inauguration.

Ulysses S. Grant was arrested for speeding while driving a horse and buggy in Washington, DC. He had to pay a fine of $20.00 and walk back to the White House.

He suffered from migraine headaches all his life. He wore false teeth and was very squeamish.

He owned a slave named William Jones, acquired from his father-in-law. At a time when he could have desperately used the money from the sale of Jones, Grant signed a document that gave his freedom.

Although Grant had 15 years in the regular military, his initial offer to serve in the Civil War was overlooked by the War Department. His letter was not found until after the war was over.

His favorite breakfast was a cucumber soaked in vinegar.

Grant had both a beard and a mustache.

President Lincoln called Grant "the quietest little man" he ever met.

He liked meat cooked well done. He didn't like the sight of blood.

Ulysses S. Grant established Yellowstone as the nation's first national park on March 1, 1872.

It was rumored that Grant smoked twenty cigars a day.

Ulysses Grant didn't have a Vice President for part of his second-term. Vice President, Henry Wilson, died in office and was not replaced, leaving Grant without a VP for more than a year.

Colorado became a state during Grant's administration (1876). It is known as the Centennial State since it was formed 100 years after the U.S. was formed.

Ulysses Grant was elected to two terms 1868, 1872.

President Grant had two Vice Presidents and a period of time where he didn't have a Vice President.

  • Schuyler Colfax (1869-1873)
  • Henry Wilson (1873-1875)
  • none (1875-1877)

A friend of Grant's once tried to get him to learn the increasingly popular game of golf. Finally, Grant consented to go as an observer. His friend, however, could not connect with the ball. Confused, Grant admitted that it did look like very good exercise but asked what the little white ball was for.

His children had two ponies while they lived in the White House. The ponies were named Reb and Billy Button. Ulysses had a Newfoundland named Faithful.

He was tone deaf and could not recognize any of the light airs of the time. Military music was especially annoying to him. He once told a reporter, "I only know two tunes. One of them is Yankee Doodle and the other isn't."

The transcontinental railroad was finished during his administration.

Grant earned $25,000 per year during his first term and $50,000 per year during his second term. (See Presidential Salaries for all Presidents.)

Grant wrote a best-paying books of its time and it is still high on the all-time list. His book was President Grant's Memoirs. Royalties were estimated to be $500,000. He never saw the book in print He died before it was published.

President Grant's picture is on the $50 bill.

Ulysses S. Grant died in Mount McGregor, New York on July 23, 1885. He was 63 years and 87 days. Yes, Grant is buried in Grant's Tomb in New York City beside his wife. It is the largest mausoleum in North America. So the answer to who is buried in Grant's Tomb, is Mrs. and Mrs. Grant. President McKinley dedicated Grant's Tomb.

Quotes from Ulysses S. Grant

"I know only two tunes; one of them is "Yankee Doodle," and the other isn't."

"The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can and keep moving."

Topics

Nicknames for the Presidents

First Ladies

Presidents who died in office

Assassinations and Assassination Attempts

Vice Presidents who became Presidents

Presidential Salaries

Oldest living Presidents

Presidents' Military Service

Books about U.S. President

Pets of the Presidents

 
Sources:

The Presidents of the United States. 22 September 2004: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/

Davis, Gibbs and Ilus. David A. Johnson. Wackiest White House Pets. New York: Scholastic Press, October 2004

James, Barber and Amy Pastan. Smithsonian Presidents and First Ladies. New York: DK Publishing, 2002

Kane, Joseph Natan. Facts about the Presidents from Washington to Johnson. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1964.

McCullough, Noah, The Essential Book of Presidential Trivia. Random House, USA, 2006

Pine, Joslyn, Presidential Wit and Wisdom: Memorable Quotes from George Washington to Barack Obama . Dover Publications, Mineola, New York, 2009

Huffington Post web site.

Lang, Stephen, The Complete Book of Presidential Trivia, Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna, 2011

O'Reilly, Bill, and Dugard, Martin, Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2011

St. George, Judith In the Line of Fire: Presidents' Lives at Stake , Scholastic Inc. New York, 2001

I have set a goal of reading a book about all of the deceased presidents. I share the ones that I have read as well as my current reading. You can view the books on my book page. I am open to suggestions of books to read. (jim@anewadventure.org.)

What I am currently reading:

Gurzman, Kevin R.,James Madison and the Making of America, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2012
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This page was last updated on Friday, May 11, 2012

For comments or corrections email jim@anewadventure.org.