Grant

Grant – by Ron Chernow

Ron Chernow has recently become quite the legend in the literary world.  Not only was his biography of Alexander Hamilton so well received, but it was even made into arguably the most famous musical of the last quarter century. Although I’ve never seen it, I imagine much of the interest in picking up that book resulted from one having a piqued interest having seen such a well-received Broadway musical. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone when his next book (this one) following those rave reviews of the perpetually sold-out hit instantly becomes a talked-about item in various literary circles.

Fortunately, this biography is just as good as Hamilton. Will it also be made into a musical? I hope not. Seriously, though, this is quite simply a wonderful account of one of the most influential leaders in the history of the United States.  It’s fairly long – over 1,100 pages.   We must remember that Grant led quite the life and was not only the commanding General of the Union army during the Civil War, but also a two-term president. So there’s an awful lot that can be written about a man who was smack dab in the middle of so much history.  What this means is that the 1,100 pages (961 is actual reading. The rest is indices, footnotes, etc.) is never boring. It also helps that Grant is such an affable hero. There’s almost nothing to dislike about him.

Whenever I see pictures of Ulysses S. Grant, or see him represented in films, he always appears very dirty, gruff, and unkept. We always see him chomping on a ubiquitous cigar and there are rumors that he had a serious problem with alcohol.   What surprised me the most about this biography was that Grant was quite the sweetheart. He was actually a very gentle, mild-mannered, caring soul. In fact, it’s these characteristics that doom him throughout his life. He’s simply too trustworthy and finds himself taken advantage of time after time causing him to lose employment, money and prestige. He’s actually a failure at his many business undertakings, not because he lacks the mental capacity, but because he refuses to fathom that others around him can be quite ruthless and unsavory.

The one thing that Grant CAN do is lead an army in battle. After reading this book, you become convinced that this was his sole purpose in life. He proves this during the Mexican War as low grade officer. When the Civil War breaks out less than 15 years later, he’s basically the only commander of the Union army who knows how to command. His efforts are mostly secondary in the ‘newsworthy’ department because his battles are way out west.  The focus back then was mostly on the clashes closer to home (Washington D.C.) where the Union falters time and time again with numerous incompetent generals. In fact, one becomes convinced that had Grant been the commanding general at the start of the war, the conflict would have been over in about four months.  On the other hand, had he not been around at all, you could make a strong case that the Confederates would have won the war.

His turning point comes around 1864 when Lincoln puts him in charge. He’s loved by everyone north of the Mason-Dixon line, and people are already talking about him as the next president.  This notion, in Grant’s eyes, is utterly preposterous. Well, at the conclusion of the Civil War, Lincoln is assassinated shortly into his second term, and his Vice-President Andrew Johnson becomes the unlikely commander in chief. It’s too lengthy to go into all the details here, but Andrew Johnson was probably the worst President in U.S. history and manages to royally screw up many of Lincoln’s ideas for civil rights, reconstruction, and the treatment of the former slaves. One almost gets the idea that Johnson could have led the country into another civil war.

So Grant feels obliged to run for president. Despite what some say, Grant appears to be a diehard abolitionist (unlike Lincoln) and can’t fathom how poorly the black population is being treated.  Fortunately, he gets elected.  Progress is very slow, but at least it goes in the right direction.  Sadly, it took almost another 100 years before the country would pass a Civil Rights bill. Go back and read that last sentence about fifty times. 

His administration isn’t flawless. Mistakes are made. Quite often, though, these mistakes are made by his cabinet and other subordinates. Unfortunately, the buck stops with the Commander in Chief, and Grant still is too gentle and trustworthy of a soul.  The author maintains that Grant was actually a pretty good president and deserves fairer treatment from historians.  Obviously, the author is a big fan, and there are times when he seems a bit too strong of an apologist.  Especially when it comes to Grant’s drinking.  We read a lot about Grant’s drinking. While the author admits Grant did have a weakness, he seems to dismiss a lot of the stories told by others as innuendo.  And there are quite a lot of stories.  I guess we’ll never know for sure.  Too bad YouTube wasn’t around then.

Anyway, after Grant finishes his presidency, we read just enough about his waning years. He actually considers running for a third term later in his life for the same reasons he ran the first time, but times have changed and it’s not to be.   Sadly, Grant dies rather prematurely after a painful bout with throat cancer (20 cigars per day will do that do you), and he spends his declining years recording his memoirs while striking up a strong friendship with Mark Twain.

I loved this book. The main difference between this and the biography of Hamilton is that this narrative felt much more linear.  I felt I was reading much more about the man and not so much about the events. Yes, the events are covered (how could they not be?), but they seemed to be given a bit less attention than the man himself.   One wishes that every key figure in history could have such a wonderful, detailed and, most importantly, interesting biography written about them.

Very highly recommended.

The Wandering Hill: The Berrybender Narratives, Book 2

The Wandering Hill: The Berrybender Narratives, Book 2 by Larry McMurtry

First of all, don’t read this book until you‘ve read book 1.  I’m guessing in many cases it’s possible to enjoy reading a “sequel” without reading the prior book(s), but this is not the case here.  It’s hard enough to read the first book in this series (Sin Killer) without getting lost.  That’s not to say that either one of these books are poor. In fact, quite the opposite. There’s a just an awful lot of people and action within the pages.

These books are essentially comedy. A wealthy English aristocrat living in the 1830s decides that he wants to go on a hunting expedition in the wild, untamed western United States.  Since money is no object, he’s able to take with him an entourage of about 30 people. Some hired help, some servants from home, and some family.  The word “family” should be used very loosely. He’s so spoiled, selfish, and uncouth that he really doesn’t care a lick for anyone in his family, and such feelings are easily reciprocated.

After their rented steamer gets stuck in the ice at the conclusion of book 1, the entourage find themselves now relocated at a trading post somewhere near the Yellowstone. Being that this is the wild west, there are many casualties and fatalities along the way.  I would guess about 25% of the cast met an untimely death in book one, so the author quickly feels their shoes with many new locals only to see the injuries and fatalities continue to mount.  Some things I remember are an eye being gouged with a fork, an Indian who survives with a lance through him, and an unfortunate victim being sewed up in a corpse of a buffalo.  And on and on and on.

The wealthy eldest daughter of Lord Berrybender, Tasmin, is the center of the story.  We saw her impulsively marry the prairie man Jim (the ‘Sin Killer’) in the first narrative, and we continue to watch their odd relationship…..er….uh……”grow” in this story. So the book is filled with conflicting feelings, romantic doubts and three infants being born right around the same time.   Just what this wandering party needs.

The book is a rather quick read, although I found it a bit longer than necessary. Most chapters are about four or five pages, and the narrative jumps around quite a bit with so many thespians on the particular stage. The reader, therefore, never really gets bored. As I mentioned, it’s mostly a comedy, so despite all of the travails the encompass the players, you can’t help but laugh out loud many times.

I imagine that this series (there are four books altogether) is quite the diversion for author Larry McMurtry, so one should expect that many diehard fans might not welcome such a digression from what they might be used to, but I thought he did a superb job here.  These books have all the elements of great comedy, which is quite the feat considering the time and setting where the story takes place.

Khrushchev: The Man and His Era

Khrushchev: The Man and His Era by William Taubman

I’m not sure how Pulitzer Prizes are determined for biographies, but whatever the criteria, I’ve found I can safely trust the verdicts. This was one of the best bios I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of them. It’s certainly the best one I’ve read about any Russian subject.  As a native of North America, I find that sometimes reading about figures in a foreign land can be a bit daunting.  A lot of unfamiliar places, unfamiliar traditions, unfamiliar governments, and, in the case of Russia, plenty of long, hard to pronounce names. William Taubman does an excellent job in that he never lost me.  My interest never waned throughout the book.  Sure, there are a lot of unfamiliar figures throughout Nikita Khrushchev’s life for the reader to assimilate, but whether it’s the author’s pacing, or whether he simply tells a compelling story – I was able to keep track and was highly engrossed throughout.

Modern day U.S. laymen don’t think kindly of figures from Communist Russia. Mikhail Gorbachev might be the exception since he enacted Glasnost, but when one remembers Khrushchev, one tends to remember missiles in Cuba, pounding of shoes, and arguments in kitchens.  Taubman handles his subject matter in much gentler terms.  We see a man come to fruition in Communist Russia during the early twentieth century flareup.  Like a good communist, Khrushchev strongly believes in Karl Marx’s creation. Oh sure, it has problems, and these problems are only exasperated by such tyrants as Lenin and Stalin.  But deep-down Khrushchev believes that the ideology will work, as long as it’s given a fair chance.

That’s not to be the case with butcher Joe Stalin in power. In fact, a large part of this book shows Khrushchev’s relationship with Stalin, and we see that Stalin is in fact a brutal psychopath. It’s a wonder that Khrushchev survived the multitude of Stalin’s purges. It’s not that he did anything particularly unfavorable in Stalin’s eyes, it’s just that the terror was so fearsome, that it was literally a roll of the dice as to whether you would be the unlucky loser of the day and sent into exile, wither away in prison, or be chosen to receive a bullet in the head. Somehow, Khrushchev does the right dance around Stalin, and manages to survive while walking on egg shells.

A turning point in the history of communist Russia is when Khrushchev eventually becomes leader of Russia following Stalin’s death. He actually has the nerve to tell his countryman that Stalin was, in fact, a brutal despotic leader. This is a shock to the Russians. Someone is actually expressing these thoughts out loud. The people are in such an entrenched state of paranoia, that they can’t imagine anyone ever expressing these sentiments in public – even after the monster is dead and is being said by the new leader. One gets the feeling that the populace literally feared that Stalin would rise from his grave and extract vengeance for such criminalities.

Strangely, this seems to do Khrushchev more harm than good in his countrymen’s eyes. Also, the fact that he seems determined to prove that communism can and will work, and continues to proudly boast that this form of government will one day prevail over the entire world.  His big blind spot is that he’s believed in the ideology for so long, he can’t seem to view the problems from the outside looking in.  When quotas and goals aren’t met, Khrushchev resorts to screaming louder and digging his heals in deeper. He looks quite the fool at times, but for those in the Western world, he’s a very scary fool.  What if he actually does carry out all of these threats?  Is he bluffing? Or is he really serious?

It actually hurts him in the long run when he is able to achieve many short-term victories – such as Sputnik and bullying the new President of the U.S. who is younger than his children.  He keeps up the bluffing, only to have Kennedy prove that he really is no fool despite his age. When the Cuban Missile crises results in a bitter defeat for the First Secretary, it doesn’t take long before the powers in Russia oust him from the head job.

The author does a brilliant job telling a fairly linear account of all of the historical milestones, while at the same time telling us a pleasurable account of his family life as well. Although, as I’ve stated, this is my favorite book on any Russian subject, I still recommend going through the chronicle a bit slower than normal because of the many unfamiliar names in Khrushchev’s life – personal and professional.  There are lot of adversaries as well as friends, and loyalties change quite often as one would expect living under communist rule.

I absolutely loved this book and am eagerly looking forward to (one of these days) reading his biography of Mikhail Gorbachev. In fact, one gets the feeling that these two men were very similar in their sentiments and beliefs, yet in this sad tale, the subject matter was a tad too thickheaded to admit that in the 1960s, the times were definitely a-changin’ – for Russia as well as the U.S.