Matt's Reviews > Grant

I picked an interesting moment to read this book. Right now, all across America, people are subverting history to their own political ends. Some - I'm looking at you Rick Perry - are actually advocating succession, as though treason is some kind of joke. Others are wrapping themselves in the banner of our nation's revolutionaries, though I'm pretty sure most of them couldn't tell me the difference between the Battle of Princeton and the Battle of Brandywine Creek for all the tea in their tea parties.

I say it's an interesting moment to read a biography of Hiram Ulysses Grant, known today as Ulysses Simpson Grant (a West Point clerical mistake), because Grant is victim of historical perversion. Perhaps he is America's most famous victim.

Think about it. What comes to mind when you hear Grant? Drunk. Butcher. A brute who only beat the genteel, beloved Lee through overwhelming force. A corrupt, failed president. And also a drunk. Today, he's barely clinging to his spot on the $50 bill.

This injustice is the calculated result of a generation of pro-southern historians, lost causers, and segregationists who have taken Grant's reputation and laundered it in pig filth.

The reality, though, is slightly different. For one, Grant is one of the top five generals in all US history, if not this nation's greatest man-at-arms. For two, he was a very good president in very difficult times. Finally, he was an incredible human being, a man possessed of a generous character and surpassing spirit, a man imbued with greatness only magnified by his humility.

If you don't believe me, you should start with Jean Edward Smith's Grant. This is truly the golden age of biography, with such great authors Robert Caro, Edmund Morris, and A. Scott Berg. Smith's work doesn't come near their works, but that doesn't diminish his achievement.

This is an eminently readable single-volume that touches on all the high-points of Grant's life. Generally, I don't believe in single-volume biographies; it's just impossible to cram a whole life - especially one as packed as Grant's - between just two covers.

I'll make an exception here. This is a solid, sturdy, no-frills book. It's the kind of biography that starts: "Ulysses Grant was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822." What it lacks in flourish it makes up for in scholarship, intelligence, and lucidity. In just over 600 pages, it takes us from Grant's childhood, through West Point and Mexico, his failed interwar businesses, his success in the Civil War, two-terms as President, and his tragic death from throat cancer.

Due to a lack of space, much is sacrificed. We don't get a lot of Grant's childhood, or his time at the military academy. More troubling, we are given precious little about Grant's home life: his wife Julia, his children. This yawing gap makes it hard to connect to Grant at a human level.

What we do get is a well-crafted argument for Grant's enduring contributions. I really appreciated how Smith connected Grant's early experiences during the Mexican War with his later successes in the Civil War. He shows this by comparing Grant's two Mexican War commanders - Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott - and how they each influenced Grant's later generalship of the Army of the West and the Army of the Potomac.

The bulk of the book is taken up by the Civil War. We follow Grant's improbable rise from militia commander to victor at Fort Henry at Fort Donelson. Smith shows with impeccable reason and abundant support that Grant was as fine a general as Lee. Vicksburg is obvious, but his much-maligned Wilderness Campaign is also shown in a different light. Smith shows two sides of Grant during the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. The first side is Grant the tactician, with fine strategic concepts that were foiled by the weak, politically-appointed generals of the Army of the Potomac. (This point is also made by Bruce Catton in his Army of the Potomac Trilogy). The other side of Grant is the man of indomitable will. Even as Grant's subordinates were dragging their feet, ignoring his orders, and mucking up the works, Grant pressed on. He refused to retreat; he refused to get discouraged; and he refused to second guess himself, even after costly mistakes. (I, on the other hand, second guess myself after choosing the wrong item for lunch). Smith's treatment of Grant's maneuver from Cold Harbor to Petersburg is especially enlightening.

There is also a good deal of space devoted to Grant's presidency. Here, Smith has a harder time convincing the reader of Grant's worth. Still, it's worth noting that Grant served two terms, and very nearly was nominated for a third. Smith devotes a chapter each to Grant's foreign policy (he repaired relations with Great Britain), Indian policy (he was the best friend the Indians ever had in the White House), economic policy (he stood firm during the economic panic caused by Jay Gould's attempt to corner the gold market) and Grant's stance on Reconstruction (like Lincoln, Grant underwent a transformation during the Civil War, from disinterested observer of race relations to a man willing to use federal troops to protect blacks). In the end, Grant should be credited more for good intentions than concrete results. During 8 difficult years, he protected the Plains Tribes and held Reconstruction together; he deserves credit for this, even if his work later unraveled under the unprincipled Rutherford Hayes.

In keeping with its workmanlike structure and prose, Smith's Grant is unfailingly objective. There are no excuses made for Grant's shortcomings. His drinking problem is thoroughly examined, as is Grant's astonishing gullibility when it came to business matters. I lost count of how many failed businesses and bankruptcies Grant accumulated during his too-brief life. I do think more attention should've been paid to the scandals that marked Grant's administration; however, this is more a function of space than anything else.

I've always liked Grant. We share a birthday (April 27) and functional alcoholism. I respect his loyalty, his tenacity, and his ability to keep picking himself back up (this guy had more ups and downs than Lincoln). I also admire his well-groomed beard. While this bio didn't give me great insight into what made Grant tick, it did a credible job of demonstrating his astounding contributions to our nation.

Contributions enough to keep him on the fifty dollar bill.