Ulysses S. Grant was a Civil War General and military commander in the South during Reconstruction, who served two terms as the 18th U.S. President (1869-1877). In 1884, dying of throat cancer, and hoping to leave a source of income for his wife, he wrote his much admired two-volume Personal Memoirs, which was published by Mark Twain and became a bestseller.
Although his Presidency was marred by multiple scandals, his achievements include implementation of Reconstruction, fighting Ku Klux Klan violence, and passage of the 15th Amendment granting voting rights to African Americans. His response to the Panic of 1873 and subsequent economic depression was widely criticized, however, and his reputation was permanently damaged by his lack of oversight of corrupt Federal appointees.
He is remembered locally with a traffic circle in the Petworth neighborhood of DC named in his honor.
The Homes
3238 R St. NW, Washington, DC
Commissioned by Alfred Scott, an early resident of Georgetown; other notable residents of the R Street house have included: Major General Henry W. Halleck; J. Harriss Gastrell, Second Secretary to the British Legation; and Thomas G. Corcoran, advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a core member of his New Deal “brain trust.”
Also home to: John A. Joyce
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC (The White House)
Built of Aquia Creek sandstone, this 130-room Neoclassical mansion was largely destroyed by arson during the War of 1812, and reconstructed in 1817. Additions include the South Portico (1824), the North Portico (1829), the West Wing (1901), and the Oval Office (1909). In 1949, the inside was completely gutted to stabilize the building with steel framing. The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in 1935. The mansion was named a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
Also home to: Rose Elizabeth Cleveland John Hay Herbert Hoover Paul Jennings John F. Kennedy Alice Roosevelt Longworth Anna Roosevelt Halsted Eleanor Roosevelt Elliott Roosevelt James Roosevelt II Theodore Roosevelt Helen Herron Taft Margaret Truman Edith Bolling Galt Wilson
Ulysses S. Grant
3238 R St. NW, Washington DC
Located in Georgetown neighborhood, Northwest- West of Rock Creek
Ulysses S. Grant
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Located in Lafayette Square neighborhood, Northwest - East of Rock Creek