Ulysses S. Grant attended the opening ceremonies of Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exposition.
Grant was the 18th president of the United States and was serving his second term when the exposition opened on May 10, 1876. He and his wife, Julia Grant, took part in the opening ceremonies alongside Brazil’s Emperor Pedro II and Empress Teresa Cristina.
Grant also participated in the dedication of Memorial Hall, the exposition’s art-gallery building. The event presented the United States as an industrial and technological power while celebrating the centennial of independence.
The exposition took place during a politically tense year. The presidential election of 1876 was contested between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, but Hayes did not become president until March 1877. That timing helps distinguish him from Grant, who was president during the 1876 opening.