Who are Illinois' other presidents?
While Barack Obama embraces the heritage of Abraham Lincoln, the first president from Illinois, the state also claims two others who held the nation's highest office - Ulysses S. Grant and Ronald Reagan.
All four share humble origins, but Reagan was the only one born in Illinois. The other three migrated here as adults seeking opportunity, said Ann Durkin Keating, professor of history at North Central College in Naperville.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th president, 1861-1865. Probably America's most beloved president, Lincoln is credited with contributing to the end of slavery and was assassinated while in office.
The problems Lincoln faced at the beginning of his first term were even worse than those confronting Obama. Between his November election and March inauguration, seven states seceded, leading to the Civil War, Keating pointed out.
Lincoln moved to Illinois in 1830 at age 21 and worked here as a storekeeper, postmaster, state legislator and lawyer. He served a two-year term in Congress from 1847-49, but otherwise lived in Illinois until he departed for Washington D.C. and the presidency in 1861.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is in Springfield. Its Web site, alplm.org, includes plentiful information about the 16th president.
Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President, 1869 to 1877. Grant was a military hero of the Civil War and hugely popular, said Keating, but he was not considered an effective president.
Although honest, Grant was seen in the company of gold speculators, and the scandal tinged his administration, according to the White House Web site, whitehouse.gov.
Born in Ohio, Grant moved to Galena at age 38 in 1860 and lived there a year before joining the war as a colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry. He later became the nation's first four-star general, a rank Congress created for him. When he returned to Galena after the war, leading citizens presented him with a two-story brick home where he lived until he became president. He last stayed there in 1880.
After his presidency, Grant wrote his memoirs while dying of cancer. His motivation was to earn money for his family, and eventually the volumes raised $450,000. He died in 1885.
The Ulysses S. Grant Home is open for tours in Galena. Find information at Illinoishistory.gov/hs/grant_home.htm.
Ronald Reagan, 40th President, 1981 to 1989. Reagan was born in Tampico in western Illinois and then moved with his family to nearby Dixon. He was educated at small Eureka College east of Peoria and became a radio sports announcer in Iowa before moving to California at age 26 for a Hollywood career.
He acted in 53 movies, then served two terms as governor of California before being elected president.
The conservative, who supported reducing Americans' reliance on government while increasing military spending, held office during the country's longest peacetime era without a recession, said the White House site.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is in Simi Valley, Calif. (reaganfoundation.org), but his boyhood home in Dixon also is open to the public seasonally. Find information at Ronaldreaganhome.com.