I haven't followed this thread closely, but I think you are referring to President Grant (he's the dude on the US $50 http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/files/Glossy-face-web.pdf). Here's a few facts I gathered from the web (among many more--it's worth a surf if you're inclined to this sort of trivia). Ulysses S. Grant was originally named Hiram Ulysses Grant. His family called him by his middle name Ulysses, or Lyss for short. By the time he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1839, he had been signing his name as "Ulysses H. Grant." Congressman Thomas Hamer, who had been acquainted with the Grant family, mistakenly listed Grant as "Ulysses S. Grant," probably assuming that his middle name was his mother's maiden name, Simpson. Grant didn't bother to correct the error. In time, he accepted U. S. Grant as his true name, insisting that his middle initial stands for "nothing." Grant was generally an average student, but he excelled in mathematics. Upon graduation, Grant had no intention of keeping the military as his career and planned instead on being a professor of mathematics. Figures. I suppose we should be thankful he didn't choose to call himself something like "What Is the Name of This President?"