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Ulysses S. Grant Essay Ulysses S. Grant, an army General and the 18th president of the United States of America is considered one of the greatest war strategists and generals in American history. His rise to fame was brought about by his successful exploits and exceptional military leadership serving as a Union General in the Civil War. Most notable of which are the decisive wins in the battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and the siege of Petersburg which eventually led to the Confederacys surrender. But while his contemporaries hold him to the highest regard as a military leader, the same could not be said about his presidency. Political leadership proved to be unsuitable for him, and while his dignity was said to be unquestionable, his presidency is severely criticized and condemned due to rampant corruption and perceived inadequacy. Grant was baptized Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant, Ohio on April 27, 1822, the eldest in a brood of six. He came from a family which Grant (2002) proudly asserts as all-American: â€Å"My family is American, and has been for generations, in all its branches, direct and collateral† (p. 12). His parents were Jesse Root Grant, a tannery and farmland owner, and Hannah Simpson Grant, a frontier woman (McFeely, 1981). Grants family relocated to Georgetown in 1823, where he started his formal education—this place was to be his home until his seventeenth year, before he goes off to West Point. He attended the school of Richardson and Rand in Maysville, Kentucky, then the Presbyterian Academy, a private school in Ripley, Ohio. (Grant, 2002) Grant (2002) found his childhood â€Å"uneventful† (p. 17) and professed no inclination towards his studies. He did show exceptional equestrian skills and was noted for his diligence. With his skills, he was put in charge of doing any work that required proficiency with horses—tilling land, hauling wood, plowing and furrowing the land, etc. His lack of business skills (an issue which would later on figure significantly in his life) was evinced in one situation when the eight year-old Grant was given some money by his father to buy a colt, with the instruction of bargaining with the owner. Grant said to him: â€Å"Papa says I may offer you twenty dollars for the colt, but if you won’t take that, I am to offer twenty-two and a half, and if you won’t take that, to give you twenty-five† (Grant, 2002, p. 20). Needless to say, the owner got the colt full price. At age seventeen, he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, and a registration mistake made by the appointing congressman omitted Hiram from his name and added Simpson, his mothers maiden name. Grant, however, did not correct the mistake, and he has been known by that name ever since. Grant was an average student, graduating 21st in a class of 39 (McFeely, 1981). He did not care to have a career in the military (he wanted instead to teach) and saw his West Point appointment as just another opportunity to travel, he said: â€Å"A military life had no charms for me, and I had not the faintest idea of staying in the army even if I should be graduated, which I did not expect† (Grant, 2002, p. 26). After graduation he was stationed in St. Louis, Missouri where he met and and pursued Julia Dent. They later married in 1848 (McFeely, 1981). During the outbreak of the Mexican War, grant fought his first battles under Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, where he took part in important offensive missions. After the war, he went back to St. Louis, Missouri to tend to his family and establish several business and farming ventures (Grant, 2002). However, even with the help from relatives and friends, his business endeavors failed (due in part to his less than adequate business skills) and he faced great financial difficulties (McFeely, 1981). Grant then moved back to work in Galena, Illinois when his father offered his a clerical position at his store (Grant, 2002). When the south broke away from the Union, signaling the start of the Civil War, Grant decided to fight under the Union banner. He gathered volunteers to Springfield and enlisted his services to the government. As a colonel, he successfully took control of an unruly volunteer regiment and was promoted to brigadier general. He proved to be a great military leader and went on to lead many successful campaigns. His skill as a military strategist and tactician earned him the respect of his contemporaries and made him a household name. (McFeely, 1981) He fought on to lead the Union in a series of decisive victories—battles in Belmont, Fort Donelson, Fort Henry—and became the commander of the Union army. When asked about his terms of accepting surrender, his reply was â€Å"no terms, except an unconditional and immediate surrender† (McFeely, 1981, 135). This, as well as the unconditional surrender of more than 14,000 confederacy soldiers at Donelson earned him the nickname â€Å"Unconditional Surrender Grant† (McFeely, 1981, 135). He also launched an exhaustive and grueling campaign to wear out and capture the Confederate forces. This culminated in the siege of Petersburg which forced General Robert E. Lee to flee and eventually surrender his army at Appomattox Court House (McFeely, 1981). After the war, he was nominated as the Republican candidate for the presidential elections and won, although he was reluctant to accept the post. After learning of his victory, he told his wife: I am afraid I am elected (Goode, 1999, p. 18). He entered the White House at age 46, the youngest president in American history. He took part in many notable policies, especially those that aim to reduce national debt and re-establish public credit (Hesseltine, 1935). The reconstruction of southern states were also facilitated under his reign. However, corruption was so widespread in the administration that it overshadowed everything—it even came to be called as â€Å"Grantism† (Goode, 1999), which was regarded by many â€Å"unfair† considering Grant himself didnt take part in the corruption (Skidmore, 2005). Grant was also criticized for his passivity and for his haphazard appointment of officials. Many, if not most of the people under him, even those he appointed were involved in numerous scandals and for exploiting the governments coffers (Hesseltine, 1935 and Goode, 1999). After his presidency, Grant was only relieved to leave the politicians life—â€Å"I certainly never had any taste for political life (Goode, 1999, p. 18) he confessed. He retired and lived a comfortable life with his wife in New York, until he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He has completed written his Memoirs a few days after his death and it remains one of the most popular presidential autobiographies in history. When grant died in 1885, fire bells rang throughout the country, however, â€Å"it was for Grant the soldier that they rang, not for Grant the president† (Goode, 1999, p. 19). References Grant, U. S. (2002). Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. Boston: WGBH Educational Foundation. Goode, S. (1999, July). Ulysses S. Grant: The Unheroic Hero. World and I, 14, 16-19. Hesseltine, W. B. (1935). Ulysses S. Grant: Politician. New York: Dodd, Mead Company. McFeely, W. S. (1981). Grant: A Biography. New York : Norton. Skidmore, M. J. (2005). The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: A Reconsideration. White House Studies, 5, 255-265.