When is Ulysses S. Grant Day?
From 2024, Ulysses S. Grant Day will be a state holiday in Ohio, observed on April 27th.
Ulysses S. Grant was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War in 1865 and thereafter briefly served as Secretary of War.
About Ulysses S. Grant Day
In January 2023, it was announced, that from 2024, April 27th will be celebrated as Ulysses S. Grant Day in the iconic Civil War general’s home state of Ohio.
The legislation creating the recognition cleared the Legislature and was signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
The home-state recognition comes alongside congressional action marking the 200th year of Grant's birth, in 1822, with a posthumous military promotion: to the U.S. Army's highest rank of General of the Armies of the United States.
Authorization for the president to promote Grant — introduced by U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, and Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri — was contained in an $858 billion defense spending bill that became law in December 2022. Ohio Senator Terry Johnson and Representative Adam Bird introduced day-naming bills. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the legislation into law in December.
“Personally, I believe Ulysses S. Grant is one of Ohio’s greatest native sons,” Bird says. “I think history is starting to look much differently at his time as president.”
Indeed, scholars in recent years have reassessed Grant’s complicated legacy. He held a man named William Jones enslaved for several years and benefitted from slavery through his slaveholding wife. His presidency was marred by scandal.
But Grant was also an important military commander. He led the Union to several victories and eventually the surrender of the Confederacy. As president, Grant supported the 15th Amendment which granted black men the right to vote and attempted to squash violence against black people in the South. Some scholars now argue for him to be considered America’s first civil rights president. They say he was a flawed leader who did what he could to protect freedmen after the war.
Grant signed legislation creating the Christmas holiday in 1870. The only federal holiday with a religious association, its constitutionality was upheld in 1999.
