What I knew about Ulysses S. Grant (before Grant by Ron Chernow) was frankly, nothing. If I had been taught about Grant in school, I had forgotten everything. The book was recommended to me because I like biographies so I started reading. I was fascinated, beginning to end.

I learned that Grant was a graduate of West Point and served with distinction in the Mexican-American war, but later resigned to return to civilian life. Where he floundered, but he retained an interest in politics. After the start of the Civil War, he joined the Northern Army where his career flourished. He became a friend to President Lincoln and was known for his strategic mind. Had I been told that details of war battles both in Mexico and the United States were a big part of the book, I might not even started. But somehow author Chernow made the details interesting, even if one can’t remember the names of all the “other” Northern generals.

Grant became a hero in the Civil War and although he was not seen as an ambitious man, he was the natural nominee for Republican Presidential candidate in 1868. He was elected. Grant was considered a “good” man by many parts of the US population. He was kind to his defeated foes in the South. He stood firm in his defending the rights of former slaves his army freed. His efforts to give slaves full rights of citizenship continued despite the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups in the South.

Grant’s Presidency was not without controversy and the book describes some of the problems his “Reconstruction” faced as President. As I read this book, I couldn’t help but think of the current Presidential race where both sides are claiming the destruction of Democracy if the “other candidate” wins. Today’s problems are nothing compared to the four years of the Civil War, the thousands of dead or the post-war days.

From the book:

“If Grant had dithered on how to deal with slavery, succession clarified his thinking on preserving the Union, turning him into an outright militant. He conceded that the Constitution might have allowed one of the original thirteen states to secede, but such a right ‘was never possessed at all by Florida or the states west of the Mississippi, all of which were purchased by the treasury of the entire nation. Texas and the territory brought into the Union in consequence of annexation were purchased with blood and treasure.”

If you are a reader and want escape from the daily news to become a knowledgeable witness to earlier history, I heartily recommend Grant by Ron Chernow