The 18th president of the United States of America, a Republican.
Born in Point Pleasant, Ohio on April 27, 1822. Died of throat cancer, at Mt. McGregor, Saratoga County, New York, July 23, 1885. Interred (but not buried, per se) in the General Grant Memorial, a.k.a "Grant's Tomb", New York City.
A graduate of West Point, and a veteran of the Mexican wars. He left the army but rejoined to fight in the American Civil War.
As a Brigadier general, he won the Union's first major victory at Fort Henry, later success at the Battle of Shiloh, the Siege of Vicksburg and the Battle of Chattanooga split the South's forces and led to Union victory. He accepted Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox in April 1865.
As President of the United States from 1869 to 1877 he rebuilt the U.S. after the war. After leaving office, lost his fortune and developed the throat cancer which would kill him, but wrote a 2-volume Civil war memoir.
Grant was also known as the "Savior of the Union", the "Lion of Vicksburg", and "The Austerlitz of American Politics". His stern, bearded portrait appears on the U.S. $50 bill. He also appeared on $1 and $5 silver certificates in 1887-1927.