[xzins]

That is under serious review lately. Grant was considered visionary in his support for full amnesty for Confederate soldiers and for his support of Civil Rights for blacks:

See excerpt from http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=429335

A new book by presidential scholar Alvin S. Felzenberg, The Leaders We Deserved (and a Few We Didn"t): Rethinking the Presidential Rating Game places Grant in a tie for seventh place among Presidents Zachary Taylor, William McKinley, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. Felzenberg argues that Grant "was the last president before Dwight D. Eisenhower to send federal troops to the South to protect the right of blacks to vote." He also destroyed the earliest version of the Ku Klux Klan, Felzenberg says, and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

Although Grant"s administration was plagued by scandals, "when compared to scandals of more recent vintage, those that transpired under Grant were of short duration, inflicted no long-term damage on governmental institutions, did not involve Grant personally, and did not encroach upon the civil liberties of other Americans," writes Felzenberg.

A recent C-SPAN poll of 65 historians moved Grant up from 33rd place to 23rd. And although few would place Grant in the top ten, the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2011 is certain to focus more attention on the Galena, Illinois leather merchant who led the Union Army to victory and was twice elected our Chief Executive.

[Moonman62]

Grant was an above average president, but more importantly he was a great person and a great American. Grant reluctantly attended West Point and finished in the middle of his class. He was a leader in demerits. He lacked political or military ambition, yet rose to the top rank in both. His goal in his adult life was to be a mathematics professor (something which he didn't come close to attaining). He was a very good amateur artist, and an expert horsemen. He went from being a clerk in his father's store, who had to beg to get a commission, to being a worldwide superstar in a span of about five years. He was immensely popular at home and in Europe.

His life story to me is amazing and unexpected considering my preconceived notions.

[Erasmus]

[...] the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2011 is certain to focus more attention on the Galena, Illinois leather merchant [...]

Better than a Chicago, Illinois feather merchant.