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American Ulysses 166 & 167 by Ronald C American Ulysses 166 & 167 By Ronald C. White Reviewed by Robert Schmidt About the Author Ronald C. White is the author of American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant (2016). It won the William Henry Seward Award for Excellence in Civil War Biography awarded by the Civil War Forum of Metropolitan New York. General David H. Petraeus (Ret.) wrote, “Certain to be recognized as the classic work on Ulysses S. Grant.” White is also the author of three books on Abraham Lincoln. A. Lincoln: A Biography [2009], was a New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times bestseller, Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural and The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words. About the Book So, who is buried in Grant’s tomb, anyway? That’s an old and insipid joke, of course, but considering what we think we know about the 18th President of the United States, a question worth asking might be hiding in there. With American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant, Ronald C. White endeavors over 800 pages (over 100 them being notes referencing primary and secondary sources) to shed light on one of our most influential yet enigmatic figures. This isn’t a revisionist biography; Grant already got that treatment in the early 20th century, when he transformed from a respected Civil War general and public servant into a craven opportunist and failed president, drunk and penniless at his death (just try imagining a destitute former POTUS in this era). White first redresses criticisms of his martial prowess—primarily that he exploited a huge numbers advantage by needlessly sacrificing troops in exchange for victory—with detailed accounts, maps, and illustrations of his conflicts, showing a battlefield acumen previously diminished through ad hominem barbs. White resuscitates Grant’s career as a public servant through his presidency and beyond—he was a Thedefender Book’s of equal ONE rightsTHING and an enemy of the Ku Klux Klan--by placing in the context of the complex postbellum landscape, where the war may have been won but the country was hardly White resuscitates Grant’s career as a public servant through his presidency and beyond—he was a whole. Serious, exhaustive, and likely definitive, American Ulysses is a tricky meld of comprehensivedefender of equal research rights andand anreada enemy of the Ku Klux Klan--by placing him in the context of the complex postbellum landscape, where the war may have been won but the country was hardly whole. In our current divided nation, it would serve us well to learn from our history. BLUE SKY LEADERSHIP CONSULTING | 210-219-9934 | [email protected] Blue Sky Leadership Consulting works with organizations to leverage Strategic Thinking and Execution Planning and we encompass many of the principles in these books into our Four DecisionsTM methodology and development of your company’s Growth Roadmap™. Need to grow top line revenue? Improve bottom-line profits? Build accountable and trusting teams? Improve cash flow? Develop leadership team members? Contact us for a free consultation Volume 6 Issue 18 Copyright 2019 |Blue Sky Leadership Consulting | All rights reserved Grant Timeline “I read but few lives of great men because biographers do not, as a rule, tell enough about the formative period of life. What I want to know is what a man did as a boy. - Ulysses S. Grant Birth April 27, 1822 Age West Point 1839-1843 17-21 Mexican-American War 1846-1848 24-26 Married Julia Dent August 14, 1848 26 Period of trial 1848-1861 26-43 Civil War 1861-1865 39-43 Lincoln’s assassination April 14, 1865 43 President 1869 – 1877 47-55 Died July 23, 1885 63 Q: What was Ulysses Grant’s full name a birth? A: Q: When did Grant’s family immigrate to America? A: The Grant and Simpson families gathered for a “naming ceremony” after the birth of Jesse and Hannah’s first child. They put several names in a hat including Albert, Hiram and Ulysses (Hannah’s mother was reading the French novel, The Adventures of Telemachus, about the son of mythical Greek general Ulysses). The youngest Simpson, Anne, drew the name Ulysses from that. Ulysses grew up the son of a staunch abolitionist leather tanner, who he worked hard for but had no interest in joining in the family business. His ardent love of horses and ability to ride and train virtually any equine he encountered proved useful throughout his eventual career in the military. Once his father determined that Ulysses had no aptitude in tanning, he sought an appointment for him to West Point, where he could gain a quality engineering education at no cost. Volume 6 Book Review: American Ulysses P a g e 2 | 6 Issue 18 Congressman Hamer, who secured the appointment for Grant, mistakenly listed his name as Ulysses Simpson Grant on the West Point registration and from that moment forward he was known as U.S. Grant. His classmates assumed that it stood for “Uncle Sam” so for the next four years he was known as Sam. During his years at West Point, Grant spent most of his free time reading novels. Was this a waste of time? Upon graduating from West Point, Grant was assigned to Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, where he got to know the family of his room mate Fred Dent. There he met Julia, the daughter of a slave owning farmer who would become his wife, closest confidant and mother of his four children. Friend and fellow soldier James Longstreet was the best man in their wedding. Active Military and Trials “We were sent to provoke a fight, but it was essential that Mexico should commence it.” - Ulysses S. Grant The little remembered Mexican War would become a defining experience for Grant and the young United States. In 1840 the growing Republic had a population exceeding seventeen million and journalist John O’Sullivan coined the term Manifest Destiny to justify and celebrate expansion. Unlike the Revolutionary War, and War of 1812, this would be the first war fought on foreign soil, against a non-European army, against a people who spoke a different language. Notable American soldiers in the conflict included Ulysses Grant, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and James Longstreet, with Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna leading the Mexican forces. “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” - Romans 5:3-4 Following the Mexican War, Grant entered the most challenging season of his early life. Between 1848 and 1854 he spent long years away from Julia and his family. Stationed on the west coast, he spent time in what would become California, Oregon and Washington, as a quartermaster in the Army and attempting to make money on the side at numerous failed endeavors. It was during this season that he began drinking to cope with his loneliness and depression. Here, future General George McClellan experienced, and was offended by, one of his “little drinking sprees”, which he never forgot. In 1854, Grant was promoted to Captain of the 4th Infantry and on the same day, resigned his commission as an officer Army. This resignation was to avoid be court martialed for being “too much under the influence of liquor to properly perform his duties”. After 15 years in the military, how would he adapt to life as a civilian? Q: What best prepares leaders for the various challenges they encounter? A: Q: What best prepared Ulysses S. Grant for his success as a leading general in the Civil War? A: Volume 6 Book Review: American Ulysses P a g e 3 | 6 Issue 18 “There are but two parties now, Traitors and Patriots, and I want to hereafter be ranked with the latter.” - Ulysses S. Grant to Jesse Root Grant, April 21, 1861 Having finally dealt with his dilemma between his abolitionist father and his pro-slavery father-in-law, nearly seven years to the day that Grant resigned from the Army, he found himself thrust into the American Civil War. In April 1861 his conflict was with succession, not slavery. Nearly everyone, including Grant, did not believe it would last very long, a few months at most, over by the end of summer. Of course, this majority of people were wrong. The war ended up lasting 4 years, 3 weeks and 6 days, with over 828,000 casualties. Grant rose from the rank of Captain to General of the Army (5 stars) and ended the war by offering General Robert E. Lee handwritten terms of surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Five days later, President Lincoln invited Ulysses and Julia Grant to accompany Mary and him to Ford’s Theater that evening. At Julia’s urging they declined the invitation in order to travel to Philadelphia to visit their children. Grant always wondered if he could have changed the course of history by being in the box with Lincoln that evening. “The suffering that must exist in the South next year, even with the war ending now, will be beyond conception. People who talk of further retaliation and punishment, except of political leaders, either do not conceive of the suffering endured already or they are heartless and unfeeling and wish to stay at home.” -Ulysses S. Grant to Julia Dent Grant, April 26, 1865 Upon Lincoln’s death, Andrew Johnson, a Democrat from Tennesee, became President and Grant’s Commander in Chief. Johnson’s conflict with congress and General Grant, now the head of the Army, over Reconstruction grew over his term in office and eventually led to Johnson’s impeachment.
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