A great biography of a great man! ( )

After reading “The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace” (2012) by H.W. Brands, what impresses me most is that before the Civil War, Grant failed at virtually everything he tried, yet within a few years he became one of the most important figures in United States history, a hero not just in America but around the world.

He was a West Point graduate and had served bravely and ably in the Mexican War, but he had no interest in being a career soldier. Mostly he wanted to be near Julia Dent, the woman he loved. He tried farming and various business ventures, succeeding at nothing. Neither Julia's family nor his own father thought much of him. Then the war rescued him.

Officers were desperately needed for a rapidly expanding army, and Grant quickly rose in the ranks, soon becoming a general. While President Lincoln became increasingly frustrated by Union generals in the East who, despite advantages in men and arms, were continually reluctant to challenge Robert E. Lee, he noticed that Grant kept fighting and kept winning in the West. It was probably inevitable that Grant would eventually be brought East to settle matters with Lee.

One might think the title “The Man Who Saved the Union” refers to Grant's military heroism, but that is only partly true. No less important, according to Brands, was his service to the country after the war was over when he served two terms as president. Saving the Union involved more than just winning the war. It also meant unifying a nation that now included former slaves with all their rights of citizens and whites, both north and south, who were unwilling to accept that fact. Finding a place for Indians in the reformed nation was another challenge Grant tackled. He wasn't entirely successful, as everyone knows, yet he tried valiantly and, according to Brands, did more for civil rights than any American president for the next 100 years.

Grant isn't remembered today as one of the great U.S. presidents. Scandals and controversy filled his two terms in the White House. Brands finds him honest, but a bit naive. He expected everyone to be as committed to serving the public good as he was and to act just as honorably. This wasn't true in the political world, at least as divided then as it is now, and Grant paid a price for trusting people who were unworthy of trust.

Even so, after he left the presidency, many Americans clamored for him to run again, and he was mentioned as a possible nominee for president at every Republican national convention for years afterward. He never sought the office, not even in 1968 when he was first elected. In fact, the only political speeches Grant ever made were for somebody else.

Grant acted heroically even when he was dying, staying alive with throat cancer just long enough to finish his memoirs, the sale of which would support his wife for the rest of her life.

This a truly fine biography, worthy of the man, and its vigorous prose and brief 87 chapters make the 600-plus pages fly by. ( )

Another easy-to-read and informative biography of a president by the prolific H. W. Brands. Like many latter day biographies of Grant, this one takes pains to reassess his generalship and presidency. He was not just a butcher who used the North's superiority in men to grind down the South, but a real strategic thinker. And, his presidency was not just a morass of scandal and misconstrued Reconstruction policies. Scandal was rampant in Gilded Age politics. Reconstruction was a noble experiment that Grant endeavored to bring off, but it failed due to racism and intransigence after his administration (though signs of the failure were evident during his administration). Fair images; poor new-fangled citation system; index. ( )

Good biography on what is, for a Canadian, an obscure American President Very much an eye opener, never knew that he was such a hero and an advocate for equality for the races. Given what is still happening very much prescient for today. ( )

An excellent biography of one of America's most consistently-underrated historical figures. Brands does an excellent job of illuminating Grant's early life and struggles, not only with the bottle but with his failings as a provider--despite his best efforts. As he does so, Brands shows the character that enabled Grant to overcome these failures and rise to become the most beloved general since Washington, and the most popular President of the 19th Century (at least in terms of electoral success).

The outlining of Grant's military tenure during the Civil War is very solid, demonstrating that he was the best strategic thinker on either side, and no slouch as a tactician (Brands notes that Grant's casualty rates were lower as a proportion of men in combat than Lee's despite being on the offensive much more often).

But the eye-opener for me was Brands' revisionist (and I use that term advisedly) assessment of Grant's two terms as President. Far from the failure "everyone knows" it to be, Grant's Presidency had a remarkable number of achievements: the Fifteenth Amendment, the squelching of the attempt to corner the gold market, the settling of claims against England stemming from the giving of commerce raiders to the Confederacy and, most crucially, Grant's dedication to civil rights for freedmen. In enforcing the Ku Klux Klan Act and related civil rights legislation and appointing determined attorneys general like Amos Akerman, Grant was the President most devoted to civil rights and racial equality until the arrival of Lyndon Johnson.

Where this reassessment (slightly) fails is in providing a thorough explanation of *why* Grant's reputation as President went to and remains mostly in the dustbin at this late date. To be sure, Brands' treatment of 1872-1880 is not all praise--Grant is rapped for his too-restrictive handling of the Panic of 1873, America's first industrial depression, which cast a shadow over much of his tenure. Though, interestingly, it didn't damage his personal popularity much (as opposed to damaging the GOP)--he came close to winning a nomination for a third term in 1880, and almost certainly would have won that election, too.

Still, it's an eye-opener that should prove a welcome tonic to the Good General/Bad President canard that unjustly haunts him.

Finally, Brands deftly handles Grant's last battle--a race against time to finish his memoirs as he was dying of throat cancer. As he did through his military career, Grant won this battle through dogged determination, dying a few days after he finished them, ensuring that his wife and family would be well-provided for.

All in all, an exceptional read even if you aren't interested in the era--but absolutely essential if you are. Four stars. ( )