Grant

During my initial familiarization with the Civil War 20 years ago, I noted that for the most part Ulysses S. Grant was almost always dismissed as a failure, drunk, butcher or incompetent. This didn't go on in just one or two books but became something of a theme, so much so, that I began to think some of these authors should be flagged for piling on. Then I began to understand that the history was being spun, that the authors had agendas such as explaining away an embarrassing Confederate defeat and that Grant, for all his foibles, had become a whipping boy.Over time as more facts about Grant emerged, I began to focus on him as an individual. When you do that you begin to get a better feel for the man that he was, what he achieved and, for me at least, how admirably he handled himself in even in the most trying of times. Consider the following:1) When the war started he was not in the Army. A West Point trained officer, he could not find a command. Yet when the war ended four years later, he was responsible for all Federal forces and had captured 3 Confederate armies intact in the field. He simply had to be a military genius. No other general, North or South, captured even one!2) Grant initiated Southern Reconstruction. No one, it seems, either realizes or wants to realize what he did at Appomattox Court House. In the surrender terms he and Robert E. Lee signed, Grant, who wrote the terms out himself in long hand, included a provision that made it impossible for any Southern soldier to be subsequently tried for war crimes. Later, when contacted by Lee that he had been indicted for treason by a Norfolk Grand Jury, Grant immediately sought an audience with President Johnson. When the President told Grant his terms of surrender were outside his authority as Commanding General, Grant threatened to resign. President Johnson backed off, the charges against Lee and others were dropped and Grant informed Lee there would be no persecution. Their agreement was firm, his word was his bond and no Southern soldier was ever to be tried for war crimes. There would be no witch hunt. Lee had never asked for the terms Grant included in the Army of Northern Virginia's surrender. It was simply one of the surrender terms stipulated by the victor, Grant, and Robert E. Lee did not miss the point. No other Southern soldier was ever again so charged.3) After vicious riots and the wholesale murder of Blacks in Memphis and New Orleans, where the perpetrators were the civilian governments of those cities, Congress made the Army responsible for the civil administration of the South. Grant rounded up the perpetrators and enforced Black suffrage in direct violation of his orders from President Johnson. Johnson, a Southerner, did not want the laws passed by Congress enforced. He wanted white supremacy. But Grant was not about to refight the war he had just ended. Moreover, 600,000 men had not died in vain in America's bid to extend freedom to its entire population. Former slaves were now American citizens and as Congress had directed there would be no white supremacy, at least not on Grant's watch. All Americans' freedom would be preserved. Civil liberties just won would not be lost.This is an amazingly engaging biography of Ulysses S. Grant. Marred by scandal and political turmoil Grant's Presidency is often criticized as a failure. However, his positions on the separation of church and state, his resolution of differences with Great Britain who had backed the South during the Civil War and his efforts on Reconstruction were singular achievements. Moreover, he avoided war with Spain over Cuba, halted white efforts to annihilate the Plains Indians, single handedly broke the Gold Ring, initiated civil service reforms and assured an orderly transition of power during the questionable election of 1876. But nowhere were the accomplishments of his Presidency more notable than in the protection of American civil rights. No other American President carried on so determined a struggle, against such hopeless odds, to protect freedmen in the exercise of their constitutional rights. Years later he would discuss his position on slavery with German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Grant would state: "As soon as slavery fired on the flag it was felt, we all felt, even those who did not object to slaves, that slavery had to be destroyed. We thought it was a stain on the Union that men should be bought and sold like cattle."Ulysses S. Grant was a man who very much saw things in terms of right and wrong. He is an American we can all justifiably be proud of and this excellent work by Smith is simply outstanding. Never credited with being a conciliator, under Grant's leadership the wounds of war would begin to heal. As Smith states, his funeral in 1885 was a testament to national reconciliation. Union Major General Winfield Scott Hancock and Confederate Generals John B. Gordon and Fitzhugh Lee would lead a parade of 60,000 up New York City's Broadway for his internment at Riverside Park. One and a half million spectators lined the route as veterans of the Stonewall Brigade marched in unison with the Grand Army of the Republic. At Grant's request the pallbearers included an equal number of Southern and Union Generals. Above the entrance to his tomb, which faced South, were the words, Let Us Have Peace.

Jean E. Smith's biography delivers a long overdue, refreshing and considerable recast of Ulysses Grant, especially the post-War years. While sustaining his reputation as an accomplished military leader, Smith's Grant emerges as a politician and stateman of considerable acumen and accomplishment. Rather than present Grant as a successful soldier and failed politician, Smith emphasizes the continuity in Grant's life. The common thread is an indomitable strength of character. Throughout you meet a man of quiet, resolute determination and honesty.The early chapters focus on Grant's experience at West Point, in the Mexican War, military outposts, and in his many varied and often failed commercial ventures. Throughout these early ups and downs, what emerges is the picture of a man of absolute integrity and humility... a man unwilling to solicit position or accept patronage, unfailing in his payment of peronsal or financial debt, and unflinching in his duty.Not unexpectedly half the book addresses Grant's military service; most of the accounts are familiar. Smith, however, goes to considerable length to discuss Grant's relationships with subordinate and opposition leaders (e.g., Simon Bolivar Buckner, Sherman, Longstreet, Thomas). The author points to the Federal movements at Vicksburg (1863) and James River (1865) as among Grant's most inspired, while bringing perspective to the momentum gained and lives lost during the campaign of 1864 (e.g., Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor). Sometimes labeled a butcher, Grant's casualty ratio was consistently less than Robert E. Lee's and, unlike preceding Eastern commanders, Grant refused to pay for the same ground twice, choosing to defeat the Confederate Army rather than focus on "geographical trophies."While the sterotype of the Grant White House is one of corruption, graft and patronage, the book reveals Grant's efforts to avoid or alleviate all. After supporting Lincoln's intent for the South during a true failure -- the Andrew Johnson years (1865-1968) -- Grant makes notable contributions as President. Against a backdrop of residual post-war division, Grant supports the civil rights of freedmen in Reconstruction and of Native Americans in the West. Despite legislative resistance he outlined model civil service reform to prevent rampant patronage. Internationally Grant and his outstanding Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish, oversaw successful treaties governing future relations in the Carribean and enduring peace with England, Through timely, adept and honest maneuvering Grant vetoed the 1874 "inflation bill" and oversaw passage of the Resumption Act establishing sound monetary policy and placing the country on a strong economic footing. Destruction of the Whiskey Ring affirmed fair taxation and removed corrupt officials of both parties. Grant also addressed and sustained separation of church and state.The book is easily read and balanced in its treatment. Smith discusses the motivations of Grant's occasional "benders," and allows that the General was often too trusting of his friends, many of whom hoped to profit by their association with the great man. Thoughout, however, Grant's honor, motivations and intentions emerge unstained. Jean Smith's book is well researched (ample footnotes, a 38 page bibliography, and 78 pages of citations and endnotes), the only complaint being that many are from eminent but secondary resources. I whole heartedly recommend "Grant" to the general reader, Civil War historian, and politically curious. As I did, you will come away impressed with a Ulysses Grant few have troubled to know well.

Smith reexamines the military and political career of Ulysses Grant in this extensively researched biography. His step-by-step approach to Grant's military campaigns showing all the successes and failures of Grant's tactics makes for compelling reading and is an excellent look at Grant's pivotal role in the eventual end of the Civil War. Smith carefully examines Grant's relationships with his officers and Lincoln, giving the reader a true understanding of the political and military ramifications of all Grant's decisions. For this alone the book is well worth a purchase. Smith is not quite as successful with his take on Grant's presidency. By portraying Grant as constantly well intentioned, but loyal to a fault to his variously inept or corrupt cabinet; Smith tries to show us a man who treasures loyalty above all else, but in essence, Grant is seen as politically naïve or even worse inept. Grant's belief that Reconstruction and American Indian rights were of vital importance is undercut by his refusal to remove men who cannot, or worse will not implement his plans. Smith could have more closely examined Grant's relationship with his wife, Julia; her influence on Grant should not be ignored. Overall the qualities of this biography outweigh any faults and it is easily one of the better biographies of a man who rarely got his just due.

Muito bem escrito e fruto de uma pesquisa de profundidade. Segue os passos da biografia de Franklin Roosevelt, desse mesmo autor, que li antes e que possui as mesmas qualidades. O livro não é uma hagiografia. Ao contrário, expõe o personagem estudado e biografado como o que foi, com seus defeitos e virtudes. Recomendo!

I had read a more recent biography of General Grant and I thoroughly enjoyed that. I decided to buy this book after looking through quite a collection on the Amazon site. To my mind this biography of the General and 18th President of the United States is a more enlightening read. I felt I more fully understood the battles of the Civil War in which the General took part. Particularly the siege of Vicksburg and the Wilderness battle. I felt I had a more complete picture of this unique man's character. Reading the sections on his life post war I came to realise that his common sense approach to problems and his, for the time, enlightened approach to African and Native Americans and their place in US society as well as their welfare reinforced my opinion that he was a most remarkable and admirable human being.

A superb book. Grant's influence on the future of the United States was in many ways more profound than Lincoln's. As commanding General he secured victory for the Union when stalemate could have led to division of the country and a far different picture today. What would have been the situation in Europe if a strong USA had not been on hand to pull freedom's chestnuts out of the fire in two World Wars and the Cold War in the next century?Equally important was his resistance, with Lincoln dead in the immediate aftermath of the war, to the efforts of the racist President Andrew Johnson to turn the clock back and deny the freedoms won for the former slaves by much Northern blood.Cannot recommend this book too highly as it charts the political and military events on the North American continent in the 1860s and which has affected World history ever since through the life of one of the principal figures.

After having read this wonderful book, I'm more than convinced that US Grant was a remarquable human being. Penniless, almost starving, he let the only slave he ever owned, acquired through his wife's family, go free instead of selling him for a profit and much needed cash.His military career is a tale of courage, innovation, resourcefulness, loyalty and respect. Every so called historians who thinks Rommel, Patton or even Napoleon are great military heroes should take the time to read and learn about US Grant. Grant stands above all.When he entered politics, he, unaided, saved Lincoln's legacy by making the South respect the terms of reconciliation and reconstruction, all the while being on the sidelines! When he finally entered the White House, he made many couragous decisions and appointed many talented people to the cabinet. Nowadays, our so-called historians likes to point out the scandals that tainted Grant's second term, without ever taking into account that he never was personnaly implicated in any of them and that he took all the steps to arrest and convinct any fraudulous persons, even those very close to him.The Civil War period was filled with tremendous individuals, people who saved democracy for us all. US Grant's is a hero of democracy, he left us an invaluable legacy.

This is the third biography written by Jean Edward Smith that I have read in the last 2 months. Like his "FDR" and "Eisenhower", it is extremely well researched and well documented -- as one might expect from a professor of political economy of 35 years, mostly at the University of Toronto. Not surprisingly either, in a book that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography, it is entertaining, comprehensive, and insightful -- as are Smith's other biographies. A noteworthy achievement of this biography of Grant is Smith's balanced view that greatly helps to correct former negative assessments and even misrepresentations of Grant's achievements as General of the Union forces and as a 2 term President of the United States. Given the enormous challenges by opposing forces that the country faced, Grant's personal and "professional" successes were considerable and praiseworthy -- especially his support for the rights of newly-freed slaves and his efforts to protect native-American Indians.