Grant, Ulysses Simpson, 1881-1968

General Ulysses S. Grant, 3rd (1881-1968), the grandson and namesake of President Ulysses S. Grant, was, like his father and grandfather before him, a West Point graduate and a military man, whose Army career spanned forty-three years. A man of wide-ranging interests, he was active in numerous local and national organizations and causes related to the local history and government of Washington, D.C., city planning, Civil War history, historic preservation, conservation, and patriotism. He led or played major roles in the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Columbia Historical Society (now the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.), the American Planning and Civic Association, the Civil War Centennial Commission, The George Washington University, Government Services, Inc., and other organizations.

Ulysses Simpson Grant III was the son of Frederick Dent Grant, and the grandson of President Ulysses S. Grant. He was born in Chicago and educated in Austria, where his father was the U.S. Minister, as well as in the United States. He attended Columbia University until 1898 when he received an appointment to West Point. Grant served on Mindanao in the Philippines (1903-04); the Cuban Pacification (1906); the Mexican Border Service (1913-17), including the Veracruz Expedition (1914), and the Pancho Villa Expedition (1916); as well as in World War I and World War II. He went on to serve as District Engineer of the 2nd Engineer District in San Francisco, executive officer of the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission, director of the newly created Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, and to command the 1st Engineer Regiment at Fort DuPont, Delaware and the Delaware Civilian Conservation Corps District. He was also the vice president of The George Washington University from 1946 to 1951. In addition, he also served as president of the American Planning and Civic Association from 1947 to 1949. He was also on the National Council of Historic Sites and a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He died August 29, 1968 in Clinton, New York and is buried at the Hamilton College Cemetery near his father-in-law.

Biographical Note

Ulysses S. Grant III (1881-1968) was an American army officer, civil engineer and architect. The grandson of Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States, he was born on the Fourth of July and attended Cutler School (1895-1897) and Columbia University (1898), both in New York City. He left in 1898 to fight in the Spanish-American War, and in 1899 entered West Point where he was a classmate of Douglas MacArthur. In 1907 he married Edith Root, daughter of Elihu Root, Roosevelt's secretary of state.

As a member of the Army Corps of Engineers, he served in the Philippines, Cuba, and Mexico. In 1918 he served as secretary of the American section of the Supreme War Council in Paris (for which he received a Distinguished Service Medal). After the war he was assigned to various engineering commands in the United States, eventually becoming Director of Public Buildings and Parks for Washington, D.C. (1926-1933). By 1942 he had advanced to the rank of Brigadier General; from 1942-1944 he was Chief of the Office of Civilian Defense, protection branch. He retired in 1945 with the rank of Major General, and shortly thereafter became president of George Washington University (1946-1951).