Grant
Hiram Ulysses Grant--mistakenly enrolled in the United States Military  Academy as Ulysses Simpson Grant, and so known ever since--was a failure in many  of the things to which he turned his hand. An indifferent, somewhat  undisciplined cadet who showed talent for mathematics and painting, he served  with unexpected distinction in the U.S. war against Mexico, then repeatedly went  broke as a real-estate speculator, freighter, and farmer. His reputation was  restored in the Civil War, in which he fulfilled a homespun philosophy of  battle: "Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him  as hard as you can and as often as you can, and keep moving on." Given to dark  moods and the solace of the bottle (although far less so than his political foes  made him out to be), Grant was ferocious in war, but chivalrous in peace, and  offered generous terms to the defeated armies of Robert E. Lee. His enemies on  the battlefield of politics showed him little honor, and they had a point:  Grant's presidency was marked by a legion of corrupt lieutenants and hangers-on  who built their fortunes on the back of a suffering people, and for whose  actions Grant's reputation long has suffered.Recent history has been kinder to Grant than were the chroniclers of his day,  not only for his undoubted abilities as a military leader, but also for his  conduct as a president who sought to rebuild a shattered nation.Jean Edward  Smith, the author of fine biographies ofJohn Marshalland Lucius D.  Clay, offers compelling reasons to accept this program of revision, while  acknowledging the shortcomings of Grant's administration. Surely and  thoughtfully written, this sprawling but swiftly moving book stands as a true  hallmark in the literature that is devoted to Grant.--Gregory McNamee