He judges that “all available evidence suggests Grant had abstained from alcohol and largely vanquished the problem though sheer willpower and perseverance…It was one of the supreme triumphs of a life loaded with major accomplishments.” It seems that Julia Grant’s presence was the surest guarantee of sobriety and few, if any, lapses were committed during and after his presidency. He insists the reader understand that Grant’s rare benders were often preceded by bouts of loneliness, boredom, or pain. Chernow unearths every story (true or false) of Grant’s battles with the bottle. Two recurring themes stand out in the book in regard to Grant’s struggles: his alcoholism and his peculiarly naïve and trusting nature. He thrived in a long and happy marriage and was a loving father to four children. Grant’s relationships with a judgmental father, an undemonstrative mother, and a blowhard father-in-law are examined, yielding rich insights into his experiences with public and private humiliations that wounded him but also added to his strong character. Chernow threads the narrative with an astute psychological analysis of the man whose private wellsprings remained a mystery. Divided into four parts with a total of 43 chapters, Grant covers the Ohio-born and -bred Ulysses’ origins, education and hardscrabble period, his rapid ascent to fame and success as the Union’s top general, his turbulent and influential political career, and his post-presidential years. Gallo.īest-selling biographer Ron Chernow begins Grant with Walt Whitman’s famous assessment that includes the lines, “What a man he is! What a history!” Chernow proceeds to deliver a dense and riveting saga fully validating the poet’s declaration. The icing on the cake is the publication of the complete annotated edition of The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant are brilliant entries to the list of revisionist literature both deserve a wide readership. The arrival of Ron Chernow’s Grant and Charles Calhoun’s The Presidency of Ulysses S. More success has been notched in reevaluating Grant’s military reputation than with his troubled presidential tenure. Their collective work has provided a measured and often more appreciative evaluation of the soldier-statesman’s event-filled life and vital legacy. The general’s reputation has been trending upward as recent historians strive to replace the powerful stereotype of the top Union general and two-term president as a butcher commander and failed chief executive.
But that definition has become more complex. He was a heavy drinker who won the Civil War by slinging vast numbers of hapless Union soldiers at the outnumbered Confederacy. On the Rise: Three recent books redeem Ulysses S.