Ulysses S. Grant's first name wasn't actually "Ulysses."

Famous Figures

U lysses S. Grant, America's 18th president, was born Hiram Ulysses Grant 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 suggested the name Hiram and her mother proposed Ulysses. After much discussion, Jesse announced the boy would be named Hiram Ulysses Grant in an effort to please both grandparents. 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.

Grant was nominated to West Point in 1839 by Ohio Congressman Thomas Hamer, who accidentally wrote Grant's name in the application as "Ulysses S. Grant." The confusion stemmed from the fact that Grant often went by Ulysses, rather than Hiram. To further complicate things, the application called for a middle initial, so Hamer added an "S" for Grant's mother's surname, Simpson. Grant made several efforts to correct the mistake, but the name stuck. Fellow cadets even referred to Grant as "Uncle Sam" because of his unintentionally patriotic initials. In an 1844 letter to his future wife Julia Dent, Grant wrote, "You know I have an 'S' in my name and don't know what it stand for."

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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.

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