The first elected president of the United States following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln was that of Ulysses S. Grant. The eighteenth US president succeeded impeached president Andrew Johnson. In his biography named Grant, Ron Chernow offers insight into this succession, the life of the general who once resigned a commission in the regular army before the commencement of the American Civil War, and much more.
(Ron Chernow, author of the renowned biography Alexander Hamilton, wrote New York Times bestseller Grant).
The story of Ulysses S. Grant starts oddly enough with the accident of his name being passed to us through accidents of history as something other than the name he was given at birth. Born Hiram Ulysses Grant, a series of accidents in the communication of Grant’s name when his father was aiming to have Grant accepted into the United States Military Academy (aka West Point), Grant‘s name became Ulysses S. Grant. The middle initial is meaningless. A notorious string of unfortunate turns for the younger Grant, Chernow shows through the course of Grant‘s life, led the future military man’s father to seek enrollment for his son in the military without his son’s consent or knowledge.
(“Ulysses S. Grant”, (1864) was taken by photographer Mathew Brady outside Grant’s tent at Cold Harbor, Va., in June 1864).
With a simplification in this review belying the true significance of the military career Grant would attain, to say that U.S. Grant would prompt the surrender of ‘rebel’ forces at Fort Donelson in Tennessee, Vicksburg in Mississippi and Appomattox in Virginia. Allegations of alcohol consumption throughout Grant‘s military and post-military career were discussed frankly through the biography, including several underhanded and disingenuous claims made in attempts to sully Grant‘s reputation for gain.
(Ulysses S. Grant sometime in the period after the American Civil War).
Over time and despite familial pressure from his slave-holding in-laws from Missouri, Grant came to align his political instincts while a general and after the American Civil War on larger questions in a way that aligned with Abraham Lincoln. Grant separated with Lincoln during the war in attempting to ban culturally Jewish persons from serving in the war. Despite Lincoln quickly reversing Grant on something that was clearly a lapse in judgment, Grant would support the 13th Amendment, the 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment efforts during and after the war.
(Ulysses S. Grant served as president from March 4, 1869 to March 4, 1877).
The Fifteenth Amendment would pass during Grant‘s presidency, and during the Reconstruction era. The era was notable for sweeping Grant into office with a mandate for changes largely seen within the amendments and within some semblance of racial justice the aim. In the years following and even during Grant‘s presidency, pragmatic reversals became prevalent and still with us into the 21st century. Grant‘s business problems resurfaced after his presidency to harm many, which are examined in some detail as the biography titled Grant.
(Ulysses S. Grant on the American Fifty Dollar note).
Grant could have easily been divided into two or three works as a means of helping people read through the material. Perhaps some logical breaking points would be through the point Grant resigns from military service before the American Civil War; another major movement would be the period from there to the point that Chernow discusses the good fortune that kept Grant out of Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865; the period following that assassination, through the Johnson‘s presidency and Grant‘s presidency, to the end of Grant‘s life would be a good third segment. Regardless of this editorial question, the full volume succeeds. Grant, as a book, is well researched, fascinating in its scope and narrative, and much more nuanced in its addressing of questions than I have seen up to this point. My grade for the effort is 4-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
Matt – Saturday, March 7, 2020
Matt Lynn Digital 