In 1868, General Ulysses S. Grant was the nation’s foremost choice for the presidency. Yet his sole political ambition, he claimed, was “to be mayor of Galena [Illinois]—to build a new sidewalk from my home to the depot.” Grant served two terms as president, leaving a record of fraud and scandal. Although personally honest, he was at times badly served by scheming cronies who discredited his administration. When he left the White House, he said he felt like a boy let out of school, and he and his wife, Julia, embarked on a world tour lasting two years. Upon their return they established a home in New York City. In the fall of 1884, Grant was diagnosed with inoperable throat cancer. He had already begun writing his memoirs, an activity he enjoyed, but it become a race with death. He finished just days before he died, leaving his wife with the prospects of royalties amounting to $200,000.
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National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
