Ulysses S. Grant: 18th President (1869-1877); b. 1822; d. 1885
I've just finishing reading Smith's Grant and I enjoyed it so much that I'm writing about it immediately (this, of course, means that I'm severely delinquent in updating the blog--two of the members of Mount Rushmore are outstanding). US Grant was a towering figure in American history. He gets much less credit than he deserves--this is a conviction that I've held since doing some graduate history work before law school. One of the things that's remarkable about Grant is his singular and unceasing devotion to the Union and to making the Union a better place. In this conviction he's truly close to Lincoln, and like Lincoln he made an indelible contribution to the country. His contributions during the war were obvious, but like Lincoln he entered the Civil War with no real convictions regarding civil rights. Once the war wound down, he was sincerely committed to integrating freed slaves into civil and political society. And the contributions he made to this cause, both as president and as General of the Armies of the United States under Johnson, were immeasurable.
It's said that Grant's reputation suffered in the late 19th and early 20th century because Southern voices were dominant in fashioning the story of the United States, a story that had little patience for the Northern general that had defeated Robert E. Lee and tried to integrate the freedmen (whose children and grandchildren were living in a completely segregated society). I can only think that this is true. I don't see another explanation for how a true American hero--rose from poverty to save his country from disaster and then become president--is not a larger part of our national consciousness.
Smith's book is great. The length is certainly appropriate--600+ pages of readable text--and he gives substantial detail to the key Civil War battles and other significant events in Grant's life. One thing that Smith does particularly well is chronicle Grant's relationship with those around him. In particular Sherman, Phil Sheridan, Hancock, and Lincoln loom large. But his relationship with a host of other individuals--particularly officers from the Union and Confederate armies--figure prominently. Smith's history of the battles of the Civil War is similarly excellent. Much of Grant's story is in the telling of the battles he fought, and Smith chronicles the events in these battles, and Grant's role, expertly. I was also impressed with the way in which Smith compares events later in Grant's life--including events in his presidency--with lessons he learned as a general. Interesting to see Grant the man grow into a remarkable leader.
My main criticism is the way in which Smith handles Grant's presidency. Rather than moving chronologically, he handles it though a number of thematically-centered chapters. I think this detracts from the flow of the work and makes it more difficult to understand the history of Grant's presidency.
Destroy the Enemy: It's remarkable how important Grant's understanding of this concept was for the Civil War. So much of modern warfare centers around the importance of destroying your enemy's ability to fight you--once you have done that, you have won. But much of Grant's contemporaries in the Union Army fought to gain what they saw as strategic advantages: gain territory and cities of symbolic importance, and your enemy must give up. Grant instinctively knew that this was not the case--the British captured Philadelphia and Napoleon Moscow, but both lost the war.
Appomattox: Grant's magnanimity here was a true display of his character. And it went a long way towards healing the wounds of the Civil War. This was a spirit he kept into his presidency--he wanted confederates to return to the Union. He was simply horrified, however, when they refused to recognize the rights of their fellow citizens.
Chief Executive: Grant is caught in a period of transition as president. I think he handled this change well, but many critics soon after his presidency judged him on the standards applicable to his predecessors. Grant was dealing with a new United States, a government much larger than existed prior to the Civil War, and under the 14th and 15th Amendments charged with responsibilities for protecting the rights of its citizens. Grant handled this in two ways. First, he made himself personally responsible for enforcing the law. This was a trait he inhered as General of the Armies of the United States and de facto leader of the conquered confederate states as commander of the general heading each of the post-war military districts. This rubbed many in Congress the wrong way. Used deferential treatment of Pierce and Buchanan and spiteful of Johnson (who ceded substantial leadership to Congress because he didn't have the ability to form a coherent reconstruction policy), Congress was annoyed by someone taking charge. Second, he gave substantial responsibilities to his cabinet members, who he expected to run their portfolios and report to him. This is much closer to what we see now. The President has responsibility over a huge governmental apparatus. He sets the tone for governance and expects those beneath him to run their departments. Grant was a master delegator, and he should be credited for pioneering this style of presidency.
Scandal: There were significant scandals here. Grant bears responsibility for these--I'm sure that he would not have it another way. Much of this stems from his leadership style and his trust in his cabinet members. It's tough to see what he could have done to stop these initially, but if he had shown less tolerance for such malfeasance from his allies he perhaps could have stopped some of this before it occurred. For some if these, it's ridiculous to fault Grant. His wikipedia page lists the Whiskey Ring as a Grant scandal, but as soon as Grant caught wind of this he stopped it in its tracks. Similarly, the Salary Grab "scandal" was a law passed by Congress--don't see how this is a presidential scandal. I'm not sure why people want to pin all of this on Grant. Moreover, in spite of these Grant was hugely popular. He won huge majorities in 1868 and 1872, and likely would have won the same in 1880 had he not lost the nomination in a close battle. Moreover, it's tough to see how these would have been at the top of Grant's agenda. Massive numbers of Republicans and African Americans were being murdered in cold blood in the south by white supremacists, many of whom acted with the approval of the local and state governments (or were government officials). Grant was busy crushing the KKK, stopping lynching, and trying to ensure that blacks were not murdered when they tried to vote. Just because for the next 50 years or so politicians stopped caring about these minor issues and spent more time focusing on collecting excise taxes and monitoring government contracts doesn't mean that Grant's priorities were misplaced. Grant's courage on these truly important issues was true courage.
A Small Man: Throughout the book we see Grant described as a smaller-than-life man with a larger-than-life legacy. He was short--5 foot 7, or my height--and trim. He was often soft spoken. He had excellent manners and was unassuming (I love the story of him trying to check into a small single room in a Washington hotel after returning to duty after the Civil War). He was, in short, an easy man not to notice. But he was brilliant, decisive, and willing to speak his mind and pursue what he thought was right. His calm under pressure repeatedly reassured his troops and halted what could have been disastrous events or edges his troops onto victory. He thought through contingencies and consistently thought about larger strategic goals and the effects of effects of decisions.
International Man of Mystery: The stories of former president Grant traveling the world are wonderful. I love how he was invited to meet the Kaiser, and by himself and in street clothes walked up to the palace and told the guards who he was there to see--no pomp, no circumstance. He met the pope, kings and queens, emperors and heads of state. He helped negotiate peace between China and Japan. He was a man beloved by the world.
Smoker: Grant was a chain smoker of cigars (which must have made him smell awful). And he died early of throat cancer. He was, in this way, an unhappy trailblazer of many in the 20th century.
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