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Ulysses S. Grant Book Review

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Ulysses S. Grant, The American President Series: The 18th President, 1869-1977 is a primary source from a book written by Josiah Bunting III. From the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln five days later, and until his own death in 1855, Ulysses S. Grant was the first in the hearts of his countrymen. He was saluted as a savior of the Union. Elected president by a humble majority in1868, reelected four years later; his second term was full of argument, disappointment, and “scandal”, he maintained a certain hold on peoples affections and full part of their gratitude. For the most part of his public development in 1862 through 1865, no one really knew what to make of Grant. Grant was a thoughtful bewilderment to his own generation; his character prevented and irked their powers of study. This foundation of Grant's presidency, being one of the nation's worst, was …show more content…

“When he looks at the camera dead-on (the Cold Harbor photograph everyone knows, the one in front of the tent), there is an unfathomable opacity to him: an impenetrability that almost seems to dare people to impute things to him. He won us the war, he helped save the Plains Indians, he was the steady if tormented guarantor of Reconstruction (at least while he was president the black people had a chance); he evinced calm bravery in vetoing the inflation bill of 1874 (in the face of overwhelming political pressure to the contrary)- these are the remarkable things he did.”(3). The author explains throughout the book that Grant was a writer of famously simple military orders, and he was capable of an almost cold-blooded disinterestedness in giving judgments about strategy: he saw things bluntly and directly. With rare combinations of qualities of character and mind in which made him a great commander, there was and is no question about Ulysses S.

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