Ulysses Simpson Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27th, 1822 – July 23rd, 1885) was an American soldier and statesman who served as Commanding General of the Army and the 18th President of the United States, the highest positions in the military and the government of the United States. A prominent United States Army general during the American Civil War, Grant led the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy with the supervision of Abraham Lincoln. As President of the United States (1869 – 1877) Grant led the Republicans in their efforts to remove the vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery during Reconstruction.
On December 23, 2022, as part of the 2023 Defense Authorization Bill, Grant was posthumously promoted to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States. Grant was the third person to hold this rank preceded by George Washington and John J. Pershing.
History[]
Ulysses Simpson Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27th, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio. His mother was Hannah Grant (nee Simpson) and his father was tanner Jesse Root Grant. Grant was of Scotch-Irish, English, Welsh descent with distant French Huguenot and Belgian Walloon ancestry. He was a 5 times great-grandson of Richard Warren, one of the passengers on the Pilgrim ship Mayflower.
Trivia[]
- He was a 4th cousin, once removed of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt through Jonathan Delano, who was also Roosevelt's maternal 4th great-grandparent.