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.