* Apparently, the future president had developed a drinking problem, and one day was found drunk while serving as pay officer. After being threatened with a court martial, Captain Grant resigned from the army in 1854. He would suffer failure after failure for nearly seven miserable years. Then, on April 12, 1861, Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, marking the beginning of the Civil War. Shortly afterward, Grant rejoined the army and recruited volunteers to help the war effort. In June, he became a colonel and was put in charge of the 21st Illinois Regiment of Volunteers. Later in the year he would achieve the rank of brigadier general of volunteers.

* Throughout the duration of the four-year conflict, Grant proved himself to be one of the world's best military commanders. His victories included the Battle of Fort Henry, the Battle of Fort Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, the Battle of Champion Hill, and the Battle of Missionary Ridge. He led the successful campaigns in Vicksburg, Petersburg, and Appomattox, and his became a household name. His Confederate rival General Robert E. Lee himself stated that no other man was "Grant's superior as a general." Lee surrendered to Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

* Immensely popular across the reunited nation, Ulysses S. Grant was elected to the presidency in 1868. It was his first political post, aside from having briefly been the interim secretary of war during Andrew Johnson's term. Unfortunately for Grant, his tenure as president was complicated by numerous scandals, so, needless to say, it could have gone better. The scandals were the result of the fact that Grant had awarded government posts to his friends and people whom he owed favors to. During his complicated administration, it was discovered that nearly half of his cabinet members were taking bribes. Grant's brother-in-law, Abel Corbin, suggested to the president that he appoint Union General Daniel Butterfield the assistant secretary of the treasury. Grant did just that, not knowing that Butterfield and a group of speculators named Jay Gould and Jim Fisk would corner the gold market. Two years after that incident, known as Black Friday, the government came to suspect that Moses Grinnell, the head of the New York Customs House, had started a corruption ring there. Both Grinnell and his successor (who they also believed was involved in the scandal), were appointed by President Grant, so this did not portray him in a favorable light. Over the course of his two terms, countless scandals rocked the nation. The Republicans were sure to keep Grant off their ballot when he ran for a non-consecutive third term in 1880.

* Drinking excessively was not the only bad habit that the general had picked up over the years. He was also and avid smoker, going through around twenty cigars on an average day. Once, after a successful campaign during the Civil War, grateful citizens sent him 10,000 boxes of cigars, for which he was mighty grateful. Grant would pay for it later, though, as he eventually developed throat cancer. His health declining, Grant began penning his memoirs, hoping the money his life story brought in would be able to support his family after he was gone (Grant had been swindled by a business partner after his presidency and was virtually broke). Just a few days before his death, the old soldier finished his writings. They would end up getting published by Grant's good friend, author Mark Twain.

First Lady: Julia Boggs Dent Grant

  - Spouse: Julia Boggs Dent Grant (m. 1848-1985)

Political Party: Republican Party

Vice President: Schuyler Colfax, Jr. (1869-1873)

                           Henry Wilson (1873-1875)

Last Words: "Water."