Ulysses S. Grant - Ohio History Central

On July 25, 1866, Ulysses S. Grant was named the first General of Army since George Washington held the rank. An excerpt from the article:

"Following the Civil War, Grant remained in the United States Army. On July 25, 1866, he was appointed General of the Army. He was the first person since George Washington to hold this rank. Grant also became involved in the conflicts between the United States Congress and President Andrew Johnson. Johnson sought a lenient policy towards Southern states that had seceded from the Union, while a majority in Congress wanted a harsher approach. Congress succeeded in repudiating Johnson's plan for Reconstruction, but the president retaliated by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. By doing so, Johnson did not follow the recently passed Tenure of Office Act. This act stated that the president could not fire any officeholder that had received Senate approval before being hired until the Senate approved a successor. Johnson violated this act by firing Stanton and replacing him with Ulysses S. Grant. Grant quickly resigned this office, preferring to remove himself from the dispute.

In 1868, the Democratic Party chose Horatio Seymour as its presidential candidate. Seymour, a former governor of New York, supported states' rights and opposed equal rights for African Americans with whites. The Republican Party selected Grant, a defender of equal opportunities for African Americans with whites and a supporter of a strong federal government. Grant easily won the Electoral College vote, capturing twenty-six of the thirty-four states. In the popular vote, Grant received only fifty-three percent. The Republican Party, however, maintained a firm hold over the United States Congress."