Grant served as a Union General during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. As president, he led Reconstruction by signing and enforcing civil rights laws and fighting Ku Klux Klan violence. He helped rebuild the Republican Party in the South, an effort that resulted in the election of African Americans to Congress and state governments for the first time.
Grant's presidency was marred by economic turmoil and multiple scandals. His low standards in Cabinet and federal appointments generated corruption. His image as a war hero was tarnished by corruption scandals during his presidency. In 1884, broke and dying of cancer, he wrote his memoirs. Historians have ranked his Administration poorly due to tolerance of corruption. .