Ulysses S. Grant
Subtitle: the unlikely hero
By: Michael Korda.
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: Eminent lives
Publisher: Atlas Books/HarperCollins
Published: 2004
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 161
Subjects: Grant, Ulysses S. 1822-1885.; United States. Army -- Biography.; Presidents -- United States -- Biography.; Political leadership -- United States -- Case studies.; Generals -- United States -- Biography.
Genres: Biography.; Case studies.
Description: "The son of a tanner in Ohio, soft-spoken, taciturn, given to drink, easily hurt and embarrassed, Ulysses S. Grant was the most unlikely of heroes. But, as Korda demonstrates, Grant also possessed remarkable tenacity, decisiveness, a willingness to tackle conflict head-on, and a ruthlessly objective way of evaluating military situations. These characteristics are what enabled a shy and awkward boy to overcome his unhappy years as a West Point cadet and his lack of early success in the army. They propelled him through the ranks of military leadership to victory at Fort Donaldson, Shiloh, and Missionary Ridge; drove him in his epic pursuit of Lee to Appomattox; and eventually guided him to the presidency. Korda writes that it was Grant, with his slouchy hat, rumpled uniform, unkempt beard, and omnipresent cigar, who understood like no other man - Lincoln excepted - that the Civil War would be long and bloody, and would be won not by fancy maneuvers or clever strategy but by confronting the Confederate army in the field and defeating it." "Despite his battlefield successes, Grant is often dismissed as a failed president. Examining his leadership in the White House, however, both within the context of his time and in contrast to more recent American presidents, Korda shows that, although Grant's two terms were riddled with political and financial scandals, he managed to exert a calming influence on a country that had only recently emerged from civil war, and that he sought - above all things - peace between North and South, and between the United States and the rest of the world."--BOOK JACKET.