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What was Ulysses Grant’s real name?

Ulysses S. Grant’s first name wasn’t actually ‘Ulysses.’

Famous Figures

U lysses S. Grant, America’s 18th president, was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio, to Jesse and Hannah Grant. Though Hannah initially wanted to name her son after American diplomat Albert Gallatin, her father and mother each suggested a different name. A compromise was proposed in an effort to please both grandparents, and the future president lived the first 17 years of his life with the first name Hiram — until there was a clerical mistake at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

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By the Numbers

Age at which Grant was elected president, the youngest at the time

States admitted to the U.S. during Grant’s administration (Colorado)

Did you know?

Grant embarked on a multiyear world tour after his presidency.

In the final years of his presidency, Grant’s reputation suffered due to various scandals that plagued his administration. After leaving office, he sought to distance himself from the issues back home by embarking on a multiyear world tour. On May 17, 1877, Grant and his wife Julia — accompanied by New York Herald reporter John Russell Young — departed Philadelphia for Liverpool, England. There they were greeted with raucous enthusiasm and treated as esteemed guests, even dining with Queen Victoria. The couple then visited Germany and met with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. They ventured further to Italy, Greece, Russia, Egypt, India, China, Vietnam, Japan, and other nations, and were welcomed fondly by each country they visited. Young relayed reports of the trip back to America, where readers were fascinated by their former president’s travels and began to view Grant more warmly. The former president finally returned to Philadelphia on December 16, 1879.