Lived

April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885

Home State

Illinois / Missouri

Party

Republican

Vice President

Schuyler Colfax; Henry Wilson

Ulysses S. Grant was the Union general who accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox and then served two terms as President. He used federal power to enforce Reconstruction and Black civil rights, signing the Enforcement Acts and the Ku Klux Klan Act to break the first Klan. He created the Department of Justice and the first national park at Yellowstone. His administration was rocked by the Whiskey Ring and Crédit Mobilier scandals, though Grant himself was not personally implicated. His reputation has risen as historians reassess his commitment to Black citizenship. U.S. Army officer in the Mexican–American War; resigned; failed at farming and business; recalled to service in 1861; rose to General of the Army; accepted Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

United States Military Academy at West Point, 1843.

Signed the 15th Amendment enforcement legislation. Used federal troops and the Ku Klux Klan Act to break the first Klan. Signed the act creating Yellowstone, the first national park. Established the Department of Justice. Signed the Enforcement Acts / Ku Klux Klan Act (1870–1871), the act creating Yellowstone National Park (1872), and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 (later gutted by the Civil Rights Cases).

His administration was rocked by the Whiskey Ring, Crédit Mobilier, and Belknap scandals; Grant himself was not personally implicated. His Indian policy combined the reformist 'Peace Policy' with the wars of the Plains.