After his presidency, Grant was suffering from throat cancer. He made a long trip to Europe and tried to become president again in 1880. Nobody had been elected three times before and it was seen as wrong by many because George Washington had refused to. In the end, the Republican party agreed to nominate (propose) congressman James Garfield instead. But Grant kept many supporters in the party. One of them shot Garfield the same year, and killed him. Grant never became president again, however, and only one man has been elected three times (actually four), Franklin Roosevelt. Grant was the first one to try, however.