Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) was the 18th president of the United States and the commanding Union general during the end of the Civil War. As president, he supported Reconstruction and used federal power to defend the civil and political rights of formerly enslaved Americans, while his administration was weakened by corruption scandals involving. After leaving office, Grant faced financial ruin but completed his celebrated Personal Memoirs before dying of throat cancer in 1885.

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) was the 19th president of the United States, a Civil War Union general, lawyer, congressman, and governor of Ohio. His administration emphasized civil service reform, opposition to political patronage, sound currency, and the restoration of presidential authority, during the end of Reconstruction. After leaving office voluntarily after one term, Hayes devoted his retirement to education, prison reform, and other civic causes until his death in 1893.

Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886) was the 21st president of the United States, rising to the presidency after the assassination of James A. Garfield in 1881. Once closely associated with New York's Republican political machine and the patronage system, Arthur surprised many by supporting civil service reform which marked the beginning of the transition toward a more professional federal civil service, giving him a more significant legacy than his relatively brief administration might suggest.

James A. Garfield (1831-1881) was the 20th president of the United States, rising from humble beginnings in Ohio to become a teacher, scholar, Union general, congressman, and national Republican leader. His presidency in 1881 was dominated by a struggle against political patronage and the Republican Party's Stalwart faction, but his administration lasted only a few months before he was shot by disgruntled office seeker.

Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) was the twenty-third president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893 during a period of rapid industrialization and national expansion. His presidency was marked by high protective tariffs, expanded veterans’ benefits, the Sherman Antitrust Act, conservation efforts, and an increasingly assertive American foreign policy. Harrison left a legacy of a stronger federal government, economic regulation, conservation, and the protection of civil rights.

Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) served the 22nd and 24th President, rising from a self-taught lawyer and local reformer. Known for fiscal conservatism and opposition to political corruption, Cleveland sought to limit government spending and preserve the gold standard while using presidential veto power extensively. His response to the economic crisis and Pullman Strike damaged his popularity, but he defended executive independence and commitment to governmental restraint.