Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) commanded the Union army during the Civil War and later served as 18th president of the United States (1869–1877). Enormously popular in the North after the Union victory, he was elected to the presidency in 1868 and reelected in 1872.
As president he led Reconstruction by signing and enforcing civil rights laws and fighting Ku Klux Klan violence. He helped rebuild the Republican party in the South, resulting in the election of African Americans to Congress and state governments for the first time.
Despite these civil rights accomplishments, Grant's presidency was marred by economic turmoil and multiple scandals. He left office at the low point of his popularity and embarked on a two-year world tour that was received favorably with many royal receptions. In 1880 he made an unsuccessful bid for a third presidential term. In 1884, broke and dying of cancer, he wrote his memoirs.
