Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 1927, Biographical Sketch

RATED A FAILURE, as was Lincoln, in his earlier years, and for a similar reason—sentimental inhibitions—this son of a tanner, arrived in New York at the age of 29, totally without funds, facing a night on a park bench, but for the generosity of a former West Point classmate, Simon Boliver Buckner, from whom he was later to wrest the unconditional surrender of Fort Donel-son. Christened, Hiram Ulysses Grant, the future leader of the Union forces preferred the classical Ulysses, and so inverted his name. Arriving at West Point, however, he found he had been incorrectly entered as Ulysses Simpson Grant, the middle name being that of his mother, and since the Government never corrects a mistake, U. S. ("Unconditional Surrender") Grant, he had to remain ever after. A magnanimous and trusting nature, his last years were shadowed by financial reverses and complete want was only averted by the compilation of his memoirs. He was the first President to be a third-term candidate, having served two terms, from 1869 to 1877.1. Brief Biographies of our Presidents and the First Ladies of the Land, 1927, American Weekly, Inc., page 19.