Grant, Ulysses S(impson) (1822–1885)

US Civil War general in chief for the Union and 18th president of the USA 1869–77. As a Republican president, he carried through a liberal Reconstruction policy in the South. He failed to suppress extensive political corruption within his own party and cabinet, which tarnished the reputation of his second term.

Grant was the son of an Ohio farmer. He had an unsuccessful career in the army 1839–54 and in business. On the outbreak of the American Civil War he received a commission on the Mississippi front. He took command there in 1862, and by his capture of Vicksburg in 1863 brought the whole Mississippi front under Northern control. In 1864 he was made commander in chief. He slowly wore down the Confederate General Robert E Lee's resistance, and in 1865 received his surrender at Appomattox. He was elected president in 1868 and re‐elected in 1872. As president, he reformed the civil service and ratified the Treaty of Washington with the UK in 1871.