Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 - July 23, 1885), born in Point Pleasant, OH, was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. A veteran of the Mexican–American War, in 1865, as commanding general, Grant led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War. As president, Grant stabilized the post-war national economy, supported congressional Reconstruction and the Fifteenth Amendment, and prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan. The following is a reading of President Grant's inaugural address delivered on March 04, 1869.