Ulysses Simpson Grant 1822 - 1885

Ulysses Simpson Grant 1822 - 1885 ’… was the 18th president of the United States (1869–1877) following his success as military commander in the American Civil War…’ Grant was a supporter of many homeopaths, and in turn he received support from them, often at great personal cost. Grant appointed homeopath Tullio Suzzara Verdi, who had already been supported by Abraham Lincoln to the Bureau of Health in 1871.

Many homeopathic medics and homeopathic nurses (Mary Ann Bickerdyke trained as a homeopath was head nurse under Grant, and Mary Stafford) served in the army under Grant alongside abolitionists, all fighting to support the rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

In spite of her brusque and aggressive behavior, Bickerdyke gained the friendship of a few high-ranking officers, among them Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. Toward the end of the war, when someone complained about Bickerdyke to Sherman, he commented that she was the only person around who outranked him, and he suggested the complainer refer the matter to President Abraham Lincoln.

Grant was also petitioned by homeopathic feminists fighting for women’s wrights, (Victoria Woodhull) and Black rights (homeopathic supporter Elizabeth Cady Stanton (from a family of homeopaths) who was also supported by William Henry Seward (whose wife Frances was an ardent homeopathic supporter) under Lincoln and Susan B Anthony (guest speaker at Rochester Homeopathic Hospital) who was arrested for voting for Grant)

In 1864 Grant enabled homeopath Edward Wild to continue his work as a recruiter of black troops into the army in the Civil War, despite the constant persecution, Wild suffered in this role. Wild continued his work after the war with the Freedmen’s Bureau.

There is no more pathetic story than that of Grant, though dying of cancer of the throat, manfully completing his Personal Memoirs of the Civil War, in order to provide for his family. He finished just a few weeks before his death. Published by Mark Twain’s firm, the two volumes eventually brought the Grant family $450,000. (Mark Twain was a strong advocate of homeopathy)