Editing Ulysses S. Grant (section)

==Early life and education==
{{further|Early life and career of Ulysses S. Grant}}
[[File:Birthplace of Ulysses S Grant, color illustration, cropped.jpg|alt=Color drawing of Grant's birthplace, a simple one-story structure, with fence and trees in front, next to the Ohio River with steamboat passing by|thumb|left|[[Grant's birthplace]] in [[Point Pleasant, Ohio]]]]

Grant's father [[Jesse Root Grant]] was a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] supporter and a fervent abolitionist.{{sfn|Hesseltine|2001|p=4}} Jesse and [[Hannah Simpson]] were married on June 24, 1821, and their first child, Hiram Ulysses Grant, was born on April 27, 1822.{{sfnm|McFeely|1981|1pp=5–6|White|2016|2pp=8–9}} The name Ulysses was drawn from ballots placed in a hat. To honor his father-in-law, Jesse named the boy "Hiram Ulysses", though he always referred to him as "Ulysses".{{sfnm|Simpson|2014|1pp=2–3|White|2016|2pp=9–10}} In 1823, the family moved to [[Georgetown, Ohio]], where five siblings were born: Simpson, Clara, Orvil, Jennie, and Mary.{{sfn|Longacre|2006|pp=6–7}} At the age of five, Ulysses started at a [[subscription school]] and later attended two private schools.{{sfnm|McFeely|1981|1p=497|White|2016|2pp=16, 18}} In the winter of 1836–1837, Grant was a student at [[John Brett Richeson House#Maysville Academy|Maysville Seminary]], and in the autumn of 1838, he attended [[John Rankin (abolitionist)|John Rankin]]'s academy.

In his youth, Grant developed an unusual ability to ride and manage horses;{{sfnm|McFeely|1981|1pp=8, 10, 140–141|White|2016|2p=21}} his father gave him work driving supply wagons and transporting people.{{sfnm|Brands|2012a|1p=8|White|2016|2p=19}} Unlike his siblings, Grant was not forced to attend church by his [[Methodist]] parents.{{sfnm|Longacre|2006|1pp=6–7|Waugh|2009|2p=14}} For the rest of his life, he prayed privately and never officially joined any denomination.{{sfnm|Simpson|2014|1pp=2–3|Longacre|2006|2pp=6–7}} To others, including his own son, Grant appeared to be [[agnostic]].{{sfn|Waugh|2009|p=14}} Grant was largely apolitical before the war but wrote, "If I had ever had any political sympathies they would have been with the Whigs. I was raised in that school."{{sfn|Chernow|2017|pp=99–100}}