Ulysses S. Grant was born in Point Pleasant Ohio, on April 27th, 1822 to a modest middle class family. His father worked as a tanner, thus he developed a proficiency in the handling of horses, which was one of his only mertiable traits during his appointment to West Point. He graduated in 1843 ranking 21st out of 39 graduating students. In 1854 he resigned from the military after rumors of drink clouded his name. He returned to the east only to fail in one business venture after another. In the April of 1861, Grant was clerking in his brothers leather shop, in Galena Illinois.
On October 25th, 1862, Grant was again restored to a command post of prominence, with his appointment to the Army of Tennessee. He was soon ordered to take Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Vicksburg campaign started off on the wrong foot, with the capture of his base camp at Holly Springs, which caused his retreat in December. However in the spring of 1863, he defeated the southern forces, leading to the surrender of 20,000 troops. After a 42 day siege, Vicksburg fell on July 4th 1863.
Early in 1864, Grant was placed in charge of all Northern Armies and promoted to Lieutenant General. Grant was able to corner Lee at Appomtox Court House. Lee quickly agreed to Grant's generous terms of surrender.
After the war Grant served momentarily as Secretary of War under Andrew Johnson. In 1868 he won the election and served for 2 terms as president. After years of cigars, Grant was finally stricken with throat cancer, and during this time, he wrote the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, which earned his family $450,000, and became an American classic. Grant died at Mount McGregor, New York on July 23, 1885.
