Ulysses S. Grant

1822 – 1885

Ulysses S. Grant served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877 after leading the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War as commanding general. As president he enforced civil rights for newly freed African Americans, signing the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and deploying federal troops to dismantle the first Klan and prosecute hundreds of its members. His administration's commitment to Reconstruction made him one of the era's most consequential defenders of Black political participation in the South.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM