Grant

Resource Information

The work Grant represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Union Presbyterian Seminary Libraries. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Grant

Statement of responsibility

Ron Chernow

Creator

• Chernow, Ron

Author

• Chernow, Ron

Subject

• Presidents -- United States -- Biography
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Biography
• Generals -- United States -- Biography
• United States, Army -- Biography
• Grant, Ulysses S., (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Genre

• Biography

Language

eng

Summary

Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. He is often caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman, or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't capture the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency. Before the Civil War, Grant was flailing. His business ventures had ended dismally, and despite distinguished service in the Mexican War he ended up resigning from the army in disgrace amid recurring accusations of drunkenness. But in war, Grant began to realize his remarkable potential, soaring through the ranks of the Union army, prevailing at the battle of Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign, and ultimately defeating the legendary Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Along the way, Grant endeared himself to President Lincoln and became his most trusted general and the strategic genius of the war effort. Grant's military fame translated into a two-term presidency, but one plagued by corruption scandals involving his closest staff members. But during his administration he sought freedom and justice for black Americans, working to crush the Ku Klux Klan and earning the admiration of Frederick Douglass, who called him "the vigilant, firm, impartial, and wise protector of my race." After his presidency, he was brought low by a dashing young swindler on Wall Street, only to resuscitate his image by working with Mark Twain to publish his memoirs, which are recognized as a masterpiece of the genre. Ron Chernow finds the threads that bind these disparate stories together, shedding new light on the man whom Walt Whitman described as "nothing heroic... and yet the greatest hero."

Biography type

individual biography

Cataloging source

DLC

Dewey number

• 973.8/2092
• B

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps
• portraits
• plates

Index

index present

LC call number

E672

LC item number

.C47 2017

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography