In the spring of 1861, Ulysses Grant hardly seemed destined for greatness. Having resigned his army captain's commission in 1854, this West Point graduate was eking out a living as a clerk in his brother's leather shop. But the Civil War marked a dramatic shift in his fortune. Reenlisting in the army, he was soon made a general. By war's end, he was commander of all Union land forces, and as the chief architect of the South's defeat, he had become one of the country's most admired heroes.

Grant's popularity inevitably led to his election to the presidency in 1868. But here he proved less successful, and his weak control over his administration spawned an outbreak of federal corruption that made "Grantism" synonymous with public graft. Nevertheless, Grant's personal charisma waned but little through his two terms. Had he succumbed to talk of running for a third, he perhaps would have won.

Grant posed for this portrait shortly after he returned from a triumphant world tour following his presidency. The largely self-taught artist Thomas LeClear painted two versions. This one was originally owned by Grant himself, while the second one became part of the White House collection.

Thomas LeClear (1818-1882)
Oil on canvas, circa 1880
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Transfer from the National Museum of American Art; gift of Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., 1921
NPG.70.16

Enlarged image

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