The president responsible for giving America the federal Christmas holiday is getting a special day of his own.
Beginning next year, April 27 will be celebrated as Ulysses S. Grant Day in the iconic Civil War general’s home state of Ohio, after legislation creating the recognition cleared the Legislature Dec. 14 and was signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday.
Grant was born on that date 200 years ago this past spring.
The home-state recognition comes alongside congressional action marking the 200th year of Grant's birth, in 1822, with a posthumous military promotion: to the U.S. Army's highest rank of General of the Armies of the United States.
Authorization for the president to promote Grant — introduced by U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, and Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri — was contained in an $858 billion defense spending bill that became law in December.
