1822
Ohio beginnings
Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant, Ohio, and raised in Georgetown, where his father Jesse worked as a tanner. He disliked the tannery but had an exceptional feel for horses, a skill that later mattered in army life. His upbringing was modest, disciplined and unsentimental. Grant did not look like a man destined to command armies. He was quiet, sometimes awkward, and more comfortable with practical tasks than self-promotion. That lack of theatricality became central to his strength. In war, he would not waste energy performing command; he would simply keep moving toward the objective.
