The tour was filled with visits to a variety of places and prominent people, including Pope Leo XIII, Queen Victoria, Otto von Bismarck and other such dignitaries around the world.

During the tour abroad, Grant was encouraged by his successor President Rutherford B. Hayes, to represent the United States in an unofficial diplomatic capacity in some cases.

After leaving the Fish residence in late March, Ulysses and Julia embarked on a sentimental visit to various towns and cities of their earlier days, including Cincinnati and Galena.

[4] Faced with idle retirement, Grant sought to fill the void in his post-presidential life and decided to embark on a world tour with his wife, Julia – an idea he had often entertained for some years.

[6] The next ceremony occurred on the 16th when a procession of soldiers' orphans, all wards of the State, marched past Childs' residence while Generals Grant and Sherman stood on the steps of the house, extending their good wishes to the children as they passed.

[7] On May 16, Grant and Julia began their world tour and left for England aboard the American Line steamer SS Indiana voyaging across the Atlantic Ocean.

[a] Also present was Adam Badeau, U.S. Consul in London[9][b] and former general staff member for Grant during the Civil War, acting as an observer, aide and adviser.

[12] After only a couple of months into Grant's tour, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 occurred, and he began receiving numerous letters from America with references to the overall situation, many of them expressing the general idea that a "strong man fitted to cope with the emergency" like himself, was presently lacking in the U.S. government.

[12] Bound for England, the Indiana made the Atlantic crossing in eleven days, arriving at Liverpool on May 28, where large crowds greeted the ex-president and his small entourage, which included his wife Julia and nineteen-year-old son Jesse, along with New York Herald correspondent John Russell Young.

[19] Grant's premier visit was also the first time England was receiving a former U.S. president in a royal capacity and subsequently proper protocol in this situation had not yet been fully established.

[19] Although the Queen complained about Jesse's silent protest and critical of Julia's "funny American way", the dinner at Windsor Castle was overall a congenial event which strengthened the growing Anglo-American alliance.

[25] Looking forward to visiting Switzerland, Grant arrived in Geneva, the city where he once played a major role during his presidency in settling the Alabama claims with the United Kingdom.

After touring Scotland's southern border made famous by the novels of Sir Walter Scott, Grant returned to England, where he was popularly received by working men organizations.

[30] The following July Grant ferried across the English Channel and met with King Leopold II in Belgium and then Richard Wagner in Heidelberg with whom he toured the Swiss Alps.

[40] The Hayes administration, aware of Grant's popularity in Europe, encouraged him to extend his tour and voyage around the world to strengthen American interests abroad, an unprecedented undertaking for a former president.

Jerusalem, during this time, was ruled by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, was run down and in poor condition, populated by 20,000 people, half of whose citizens were Jewish.

[51] Thereafter, the Grants returned to Italy, arriving in Rome and departed Vandalia[51] where they were promptly approached by an emissary from Pope Leo XIII and invited to attend a ceremony with King Umberto after their visit to the Vatican.

However, he quickly walked by Rome's famous marble statuary almost ignoring it completely and did not seem very impressed with the many paintings, much to the disappointment of Adam Badeau, who later remarked that Grant seemed blind to the beauties of art.

He also observed that European countries heavily taxed their citizens to pay for massive debts and maintain standing armies, giving him a better appreciation for U.S. republican government.

[78] The King believed the port of Lisbon, after a new Spanish-Portuguese railway was built, would offer the United States produce and manufactures business opportunities.

[83][e] At this point Grant was considering returning home to the United States when he received an offer from Secretary of the Navy Richard W. Thompson to sail aboard USS Richmond to visit India, China, and Japan by way of crossing the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.

"[85] Grant's touring party arrived in Bombay on February 13, traveling for a month exploring India, meeting with a number of hosting British colonial officials, and the Maharaja of Jeypore.

[88] Grant initially viewed British rule in India as "purely selfish", yet upon observation, he began to perceive that Indian colonial subjects were allowed to prosper.

[103] Aboard the Richmond, the Grants sailed for Yokohama nearby Tokyo, their convoy arriving July 3, where crowds waited and gave them a great welcoming.

"[113] One critical aspect of the American experience that the Grants were forced to confront upon their return via California was the rampant white supremacy that dictated the minds of many of their fellow citizens.

Having just been hosted with such good grace by the leaderships and peoples of China and then Japan as the last two destinations on their world tour, the Grants upon arriving in California were immediately confronted by anti-Chinese Anti-Asian racism from the leading echelon of Californian society.

[115] The Grants stopped briefly in the Utah Territory and then Nebraska, amazed with all the new development and railroads along the way, and continued on to Galena, Illinois[h] where they were received with a large reception.

"[121] While in Chicago Grant took time to meet with a black delegation and expressed his assurances "that all the rights of citizenship may be enjoyed by them as it is guaranteed to them already by the law and constitutional amendments".

Leaving Chicago, Grant continued his home-coming journey across the country, traveling in a privately owned railroad car that was custom-made by the noted engineer George Pullman.

Ten days later Grant returned to Philadelphia, spending time alone with President Hayes where for two hours they briefed one another of national and world affairs and had "A most agreeable talk ... ".