We passed up History channel's miniseries on Ulysses S. Grant. Somehow, somewhere we fell for an inaccurate fact about our 18th president, 1869-1877. We were wrong.
If President Trump included him in his "parade" of great Americans on Saturday, we missed it. Grant was an army general, who reluctantly entered politics during the turbulent decade following the war - the Union at peace but still divided.
Grant's detractors say he was a drunk, a rumor that sticks until replaced by truth. What he was - bored, lonely and apart from his family in a California fort, after fighting in the Mexican-American War. A bestseller book in 2017 has it that Grant had drinking under control.
So, let's get his story under control. He had worked alongside black slaves, and eventually freed a slave from his in-laws. He advocated for blacks throughout his life.
Later, he commanded some of the Union's black troops.
Better known are his victories at Shiloh and Vicksburg. If you know about Lincoln's frustration with timid generals, you see why he hired Grant to get the nasty fight won and over with.
We read that the miniseries describes him as an expert horseman and military genius. He was fair and compassionate, giving Lee favorable surrender terms, and he ensured that starving Confederates got rations.
He loved his wife Julia, 1848-1885, and his country. Grant was a Methodist, though he prayed privately and seldom attended church.
Grant's Presidency
We unearthed our notes from a library book by Dr. Ivan Eland, who studied every president from Washington to Bush 43.
Grant was a West Point graduate, politically Republican. He inherited the continuing wreckage of the Civil War, and kept military presence in the South until the end of his presidency.
He wished conciliation with the South, and signed new rights guaranteed in the 14th and 15th amendments.
More on U.S. Grant, tomorrow
Jimmy
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