Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War General and
United States President
Born: April 27, 1822
Died: July 23, 1885
The last time I posted I was in the middle of
reading GRANT by Ron Chernow.
I've been in reading mode the last few months
and have read several satisfying books, however,
Ron Chernow's tome still trumps everything I've
read in years.
At 1,104 pages, GRANT is the best historical
writing this history buff has ever read. Chernow's
biography of GRANT could best be described as
creative non-fiction. It reads like a very good novel
and was a page turner to the end.
Grant was personally slandered and libeled and actually
dismissed as a "drunk" while winning wars and running
the United States as our 18th president, serving two
terms shortly after turning the tide of the Civil War,
being the only general Abraham Lincoln said would
fight. As a result Grant brought the south to its knees
and yet was a total gentleman when he tendered Lee's
surrender. Now that's a class act!
Jealous, lesser men could not accept nor understand
Grant's integrity and unwillingness to succumb to
ordinary ego. Grant was humble to a fault.His presidency
was rumored to be corrupt, when in fact, U.S. Grant
was simply surrounded by corrupt men. He did not
recognize the dark side of others because he himself
was honest and trustworthy. Grant saw the best in
other human beings. That was his fatal flaw.
A 20 cigar per day habit finally ended Grant's life,
but not before he spent an entire year penning his
memoirs to have a nest egg for his family.
His friend, Mark Twain sold 300,000 subscriptions
and encouraged Grant in his final days. The memoirs
garnered what in today's money would be roughly
8 million dollars--a best seller in any era.
I highly recommend GRANT by Ron Chernow. I am
still reading Ulysses S. Grant's memoir, which is also
a tome.
raintreepoet, reporting.
