Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was the
18th president of the United States (1869–1877) following his success as military commander in the
American Civil War. Under Grant, the
Union Army defeated the
Confederate military and
secession, the war ending with the surrender of
Robert E. Lee's army at
Appomattox Court House. As president, Grant led the
Radical Republicans in their effort to eliminate vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery, protect
African American citizenship, and pursued
Reconstruction in the former Confederate states. In foreign policy, Grant sought to increase American trade and influence, while remaining at peace with the world. Although his
Republican Party split in 1872 as reformers denounced him, Grant was easily reelected. During his second term the country's economy was devastated by the
Panic of 1873, while investigations exposed corruption scandals in the administration. Although still below average, his
reputation among scholars has significantly improved in recent years because of greater appreciation for his commitment to civil rights, moral courage in his prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan, and enforcement of voting rights.[1][2]
There are abundant historical resources on Grant and his role during the
Civil War and thereafter. However, there have been few historical scholarly studies on his presidency, and, until recently, they were mostly negative. Analysis of Grant's presidency by some modern scholars, including Grant biographers
Jean Edward Smith (2001),
H. W. Brands (2012),
Ron Chernow (2017), and
Charles W. Calhoun (2017), have generally been more positive about Grant's presidency. Encyclopedic presidential summary biographies of Grant rely heavily on secondary sources and tend to offer non-scholarly negative views of Grant. One bibliographical source recommends that, to obtain a more complete assessment of Grant and his presidency during Reconstruction, one read contemporary, primary, and scholarly accounts of Grant, his inaugural addresses, and his communications and annual messages to Congress.[citation needed] In May 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Ulysses S. Grant Foundation,
Mississippi State University was selected as the permanent location for Ulysses S. Grant's
Presidential Library.[3] Historian
John Y. Simon edited Grant's letters into a 32-volume scholarly edition published by Southern Illinois University Press.[4]
For a comprehensive scholarly annotated bibliography covering several thousand books, articles, and archival sources see Marie Ellen Kelsey, ed. Ulysses S. Grant: A Bibliography: A Bibliography (2005).
online
Corning, Amos Elwood (1918).
Hamilton Fish. The Lanmere publishing co.
Cox, Jacob Dolson (July 1, 1895). "How Judge Hoar Ceased to be Attorney General". Atlantic Monthly Making of America. 76 (454). Cornell University Library: 162–173.
Mackowski, Chris, and
Scaturro, Frank J., eds. (2023). Grant at 200: Reconsidering the Life and Legacy of Ulysses S. Grant. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie.
ISBN978-1-61121-614-1.
Martinez, James Michael (2007). Carpetbaggers, Cavalry, and the Ku Klux Klan: Exposing the Invisible Empire During Reconstruction. Rowman & Littlefield.
ISBN978-0-7425-5078-0.
McFeely, William S. (1974). Woodward, C. Vann (ed.). Responses of the Presidents to Charges of Misconduct. New York: Delacorte Press.
ISBN0-440-05923-2.
DiNunzio, Mario R. (Winter 1973). "Lyman Trumbull, the States' Rights Issue, and the Liberal Republican Revolt". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 66 (4): 364–375.
JSTOR40190731.
Donovan, James (2008). A Terrible Glory Custer and the Little Bighorn – The Last Great Battle of the American West.
New York: Back Ray Books.
ISBN978-0-316-06747-8.
Dorsett, Lyle W. "The Problem of Ulysses S. Grant’s Drinking During the Civil War," Hayes Historical Journal vol. 4, no. 2 (1983): 37–49.
online
Schenker, Carl R. (June 2010). "Ulysses in His Tent: Halleck, Grant, Sherman, and 'The Turning Point of the War'". Civil War History. 56 (2).
Silkenat, David. Raising the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019.
ISBN978-1-4696-4972-6.
Simpson, Brooks D. (2009). After Shiloh: Grant, Sherman, and Survival. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Arnold, Matthew. General Grant by
Matthew Arnold with a Rejoinder by
Mark Twain. Kent, Ohio, and London: The Kent State University Press, 1995 (on Grant's Memoirs)
Bonekemper III, Edward H. (April 2011). "The butcher's bill: Ulysses S. Grant is often referred to as a 'butcher,' but does Robert E. Lee actually deserve that title?". Civil War Times. 52 (1): 36–43.
Marszalek, John F.; Nolen, David S.; Gallo, Louie P.;
Williams, Frank J. (2019). Hold On With a Bullldog Grip: A Short Study of Ulysses S. Grant. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
Picone, Louis L. (2021). Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon. New York: Arcade Publishing.
Porter, Horace (1897). Campaigning with Grant. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books.
Rafuse, Ethan S. (July 2007). "Still a Mystery? General Grant and the Historians, 1981–2006". Journal of Military History. 71 (3): 849–874.
doi:
10.1353/jmh.2007.0230.
S2CID159901226.
Russell, Henry M. W. (Spring 1990). "The memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant: The rhetoric of judgment". Virginia Quarterly Review. 66 (2): 189–209.
Simon, John Y. (1982). "Grant: A Biography by William S. McFeely". The Wisconsin Magazine of History. 65 (3): 220–221.
JSTOR4635640. (book review)
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was the
18th president of the United States (1869–1877) following his success as military commander in the
American Civil War. Under Grant, the
Union Army defeated the
Confederate military and
secession, the war ending with the surrender of
Robert E. Lee's army at
Appomattox Court House. As president, Grant led the
Radical Republicans in their effort to eliminate vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery, protect
African American citizenship, and pursued
Reconstruction in the former Confederate states. In foreign policy, Grant sought to increase American trade and influence, while remaining at peace with the world. Although his
Republican Party split in 1872 as reformers denounced him, Grant was easily reelected. During his second term the country's economy was devastated by the
Panic of 1873, while investigations exposed corruption scandals in the administration. Although still below average, his
reputation among scholars has significantly improved in recent years because of greater appreciation for his commitment to civil rights, moral courage in his prosecution of the Ku Klux Klan, and enforcement of voting rights.[1][2]
There are abundant historical resources on Grant and his role during the
Civil War and thereafter. However, there have been few historical scholarly studies on his presidency, and, until recently, they were mostly negative. Analysis of Grant's presidency by some modern scholars, including Grant biographers
Jean Edward Smith (2001),
H. W. Brands (2012),
Ron Chernow (2017), and
Charles W. Calhoun (2017), have generally been more positive about Grant's presidency. Encyclopedic presidential summary biographies of Grant rely heavily on secondary sources and tend to offer non-scholarly negative views of Grant. One bibliographical source recommends that, to obtain a more complete assessment of Grant and his presidency during Reconstruction, one read contemporary, primary, and scholarly accounts of Grant, his inaugural addresses, and his communications and annual messages to Congress.[citation needed] In May 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Ulysses S. Grant Foundation,
Mississippi State University was selected as the permanent location for Ulysses S. Grant's
Presidential Library.[3] Historian
John Y. Simon edited Grant's letters into a 32-volume scholarly edition published by Southern Illinois University Press.[4]
For a comprehensive scholarly annotated bibliography covering several thousand books, articles, and archival sources see Marie Ellen Kelsey, ed. Ulysses S. Grant: A Bibliography: A Bibliography (2005).
online
Corning, Amos Elwood (1918).
Hamilton Fish. The Lanmere publishing co.
Cox, Jacob Dolson (July 1, 1895). "How Judge Hoar Ceased to be Attorney General". Atlantic Monthly Making of America. 76 (454). Cornell University Library: 162–173.
Mackowski, Chris, and
Scaturro, Frank J., eds. (2023). Grant at 200: Reconsidering the Life and Legacy of Ulysses S. Grant. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie.
ISBN978-1-61121-614-1.
Martinez, James Michael (2007). Carpetbaggers, Cavalry, and the Ku Klux Klan: Exposing the Invisible Empire During Reconstruction. Rowman & Littlefield.
ISBN978-0-7425-5078-0.
McFeely, William S. (1974). Woodward, C. Vann (ed.). Responses of the Presidents to Charges of Misconduct. New York: Delacorte Press.
ISBN0-440-05923-2.
DiNunzio, Mario R. (Winter 1973). "Lyman Trumbull, the States' Rights Issue, and the Liberal Republican Revolt". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 66 (4): 364–375.
JSTOR40190731.
Donovan, James (2008). A Terrible Glory Custer and the Little Bighorn – The Last Great Battle of the American West.
New York: Back Ray Books.
ISBN978-0-316-06747-8.
Dorsett, Lyle W. "The Problem of Ulysses S. Grant’s Drinking During the Civil War," Hayes Historical Journal vol. 4, no. 2 (1983): 37–49.
online
Schenker, Carl R. (June 2010). "Ulysses in His Tent: Halleck, Grant, Sherman, and 'The Turning Point of the War'". Civil War History. 56 (2).
Silkenat, David. Raising the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019.
ISBN978-1-4696-4972-6.
Simpson, Brooks D. (2009). After Shiloh: Grant, Sherman, and Survival. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Arnold, Matthew. General Grant by
Matthew Arnold with a Rejoinder by
Mark Twain. Kent, Ohio, and London: The Kent State University Press, 1995 (on Grant's Memoirs)
Bonekemper III, Edward H. (April 2011). "The butcher's bill: Ulysses S. Grant is often referred to as a 'butcher,' but does Robert E. Lee actually deserve that title?". Civil War Times. 52 (1): 36–43.
Marszalek, John F.; Nolen, David S.; Gallo, Louie P.;
Williams, Frank J. (2019). Hold On With a Bullldog Grip: A Short Study of Ulysses S. Grant. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
Picone, Louis L. (2021). Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon. New York: Arcade Publishing.
Porter, Horace (1897). Campaigning with Grant. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books.
Rafuse, Ethan S. (July 2007). "Still a Mystery? General Grant and the Historians, 1981–2006". Journal of Military History. 71 (3): 849–874.
doi:
10.1353/jmh.2007.0230.
S2CID159901226.
Russell, Henry M. W. (Spring 1990). "The memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant: The rhetoric of judgment". Virginia Quarterly Review. 66 (2): 189–209.
Simon, John Y. (1982). "Grant: A Biography by William S. McFeely". The Wisconsin Magazine of History. 65 (3): 220–221.
JSTOR4635640. (book review)