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The Liberal Republicans and Democrats united behind Grant's opponent in the 1872 election, but Grant was handily reelected. In 1871, he created the first Civil Service Commission, advancing the civil service more than any prior president. He appointed African Americans and Jewish Americans to prominent federal offices. Under Grant, the Union was completely restored. As president, Grant stabilized the post-war national economy, supported congressional Reconstruction and the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, and crushed the Ku Klux Klan. Later, Grant openly broke with Johnson over Reconstruction policies Grant used the Reconstruction Acts, which had been passed over Johnson's veto, to enforce civil rights for recently freed African Americans.Ī war hero, drawn in by his sense of duty, Grant was unanimously nominated by the Republican Party and then elected president in 1868. In 1866, president Andrew Johnson promoted Grant to General of the Army. On April 9, 1865, Lee formally surrendered to Grant. After Lee fled Petersburg, Grant surrounded and captured his army at Appomattox. Lee during the high-casualty Overland Campaign and at Petersburg. For thirteen months, Grant fought Robert E.

President Abraham Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant general after his victory at Chattanooga. In 1863, he led the Vicksburg campaign, which gained control of the Mississippi River, dealing a serious strategic blow to the Confederacy, splitting it in two. He joined the Union Army shortly after the American Civil War broke out in 1861 and rose to prominence after winning early Union victories in the western theater. Grant resigned from the army in 1854 but returned to his family impoverished. In 1848, he married Julia Dent, and together they had four children. Admitted to West Point, Grant graduated in the class of 1843 and served with distinction in the Mexican–American War. Later, as president, Grant was an effective civil rights executive who signed the bill that created the Justice Department and worked with Radical Republicans to protect African Americans during Reconstruction.īorn and raised in Ohio, Grant possessed an exceptional ability with horses. As Commanding General, he led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as U.S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant, / ˈ h aɪ r ə m juː ˈ l ɪ s iː z/ HY-rəm yoo- LISS-eez April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877.