Ron Chernow's "Grant"

[@jimmypatterson3998]

Great interview and a great book.Grant saved our Union.

[@warrennicholsony.fernando4513]

Glad to see that Grant is getting a better critique of his legacy.

[@cloutdoors5674]

@@kansashoneybadger7899 your comment is interesting considering "the left" back then, was the Republicans.. The confederates were democrats.. but which side do we see proudly waving their confederate flags now and for the last 80 + years? Not "the left"

[@charlesbates9563]

I too believed the common myth that Grant was a butcher, until I studied the matter more closely. At a certain level that butchery was inevitably true, because the doctrine of firepower & maneuver was very short on ability to maneuver compared to modern armies. Given the inevitability of mass conflict by giant armies, I concluded that Grant did very well with the hand he was dealt. I am pleased that Chernow was able to articulate a much more effective vindication then any of which I would be capable. Compare his work, for instance, with the strategies employed in World War I by European commanders.

[@andrewwestman2407]

Yea it’s very easy for people to criticize him because he had the superior numbers. But the thing is…..all the previous Union generals had the same advantages as Grant and yet they couldn’t use them correctly. Grant didn’t wanna sacrifice his men at the levels that he did, but he realized that at a certain point, there was just no other way around this than to fight a war of attrition. And that the longer the war went on, the worse things would get. I can’t even imagine how a man with the moral fortitude of Grant was able to persist after seeing that much death all around him.

[@bp4187]

Grant saved our country, period. Won everywhere (West, South and finally the East), NEVER lost, and whipped the overrated Lee twice, and was generous in victory

[@jonathanziegler8126]

Lee was like Steve Balboni, he had one good season.

[@jonathanziegler8126]

Is a film still planned? Or is the History Channel documentary going to be the only use of Chernow's book? The English actor who played Grant did an amazing job. I missed the whole statement, but we forget Meade beat Lee. Regardless, I hope a movie is made.

[@MapleSyrupPoet]

Grant has look of greatness ...talk about his hands ...unusually graceful hands

[@victorlloyd5271]

I loved the book. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to hear from Mr. Chernow. I read Chernow's "Grant" shortly after reading Mark Perry's "Grant and Twain" which more than anything piqued my interest to learn more about Grant.

[@johnappleyard4123]

In all pictures of Grant as general his body language express confidence and make impression of commanding the situation

[@feudinggreeks3316]

It's a compensation for his lack of skills on the battlefield. Mentally lack-luster commoners such as yourself buy it.

[@garymcaleer6112]

Excellent post. What USG had to endure, few men could withstand. His generous attitude toward Lee and the south was as the balm of Gilead after such loss of life. A U.S. minted coin should have been given him.

[@garymcaleer6112]

@Sue Taft Agreed, Sue. Look at WWII. The blood that heroic men watered the earth to stop demon possessed tyrants who would snuff out our lives today in heartbeat if given opportunity deserves our highest regard. And to think how spoiled brats today spit on their graves.

[@northover]

The Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library is located a Mississippi State University. It is a ten million dollar addition to the University’s Mitchell Memorial Library opened three years ago.

[@pwb0511]

Great book, I’m reading it now, wonderful, amazing man, Grant.

[@bp4187]

I am always puzzled by the praise of Lee. He was a Traitor, Slaveholder, and Failed General who lost to McClellan, Meade, and twice to Grant (who, btw, freed his family's slaves years before the War and NEVER lost a battle). Lee benefitted greatly from post war revisionism by Southern hisotrians. Grant is the one worthy of admiration. Glad to see this revealing piece, TY!

[@susanr1903]

Wrong I heard that he did not have slaver his wife did nothe did want them he slow because of this time he let them go....he was not nasty that not prove it assume by one article.that you no it probly bais and during that linclon ask lee to be the head of the union only because of his state..he turn it down..

[@apollosassasincreed4038]

Lee was a brilliant man, who sided with the South (like so many) because of his loyalty to his state. You have to remember that this republic was created so that the states would hold the power and be the most important puzzle piece

[@waltblackadar4690]

@@susanr1903 Lee's actions (and inactions) after the Civil War showed where his true sympathies were - and those were with the slaveholding South and his support of things like Black Codes.

[@AudieHolland]

I already knew what kind of a commander Grant was from watching the "Battlefield" series. It was rather strange for me to see a military scholar with a distinct Southern drawl inform us how Grant, on the average, lost fewer men in battle than Lee did. That Battlefield episode is from the late 1990s early 2000s I think. Then again, my prior knowledge of the American Civil War was not much, apart from the movie "Gettysburg" and a rather great comic book (!) series by Belgian duo Cauvin-Lambil "The Bluecoats."

[@paulmc9203]

Great interview!

[@georgehunter4525]

Terrific book! For many years I often herd how great Lee was which I found odd in so many ways. Now, I'm armed with the facts. Gen. Grant was a brilliant commander.

[@Geopolitic157]

This was approximately a 1000 page book...And I really enjoyed it. Grant very much reminded me of Winston Churchill.... Both men had lots of flaws, but made for their unique time in history... I will say, Grant was an empathetic man, that was gracious to Lee and his men, in their surrender....That was admirable.

[@stevelenores5637]

Back of hand compliments turned me off. A prolonged war would have caused more casualties. For the most part Grant encircled his enemy cutting them off from supplies and ammunition (thus fewer casualties not more). Host should do his homework instead of smearing an American hero. Another point. The history of war shows retreating will cause more casualties. Example - the Army of the Potomac attacked Lee several times and retreated back north meaning all the lives lost during those encounters were wasted. That was until Grant should up and refused to retreat. War at that point lasted 3 years with no progress in Virginia. After Grant took over Lee surrendered in about a year. Because Grant did not retreat, no lives were lost without meaning (The end of slavery and the end of the war).

[@ronkrupovich7152]

a terrific book

[@peterbellini6102]

Chernow executes his passions better than most any current writer. His work on JP Morgan in particular is outstanding...

[@gilmorehappy7141]

I must Audio this Man’s Book

[@Raison_d-etre]

The interview made a point that few people have--the terms of surrender were way too generous. It may have maintained harmony at the time, but that fact alone showed that the racist ideology that caused a war based on slavery survived intact.

[@jrg144]

This book was a beast to read but I loved every bit of it

[@forealpat397]

He help saved the great UNION. USG lol lol lol 👍 FREE artist

[@forealpat397]

@Sue Taft Yes. For ALL people can be free. 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞 Sue do you really understand the word FREE or FREEDOM?

[@dangremillion]

Never put all of your trust in newspaper journalists, writers of school history books, or your teachers. You have to get out of the box.

[@joeavent5554]

General Grant was akin to Gen. Patton: break glass in case of war.

[@johnfleet235]

I read a book about the effort to finance the Civil War. Before the Civil War the US gate did not have large amounts money. The government was funded mostly be tariffs. The need to finance the war created more money so by the time Grant was president the US had huge amounts of money.

[@unckieherb]

I would say Truman also had considerable lows before rising to the presidency.

[@salamander337]

@@fredbarker9201 There's nothing we can do about that. The Japanese government spread propaganda to their civilians and wasn't going to let them surrendered. And every Japanese people in the country were forced to kill any American soldiers if they invade Japan. To save American lives it was the toughest decision Truman had to make.

[@fredbarker9201]

salamander337 yeah the samurai way is to die instead of surrender

[@robertpayne2717]

TRUMANN HAD THE CASUALTY INFO BOTH AMERICAN AND JAPANESE GROM THE Okinawa campaign and also the estimates of what an invasion of the Japanese home islands would entail The A-BOMB was the lessor of two evils...proper choice The simplest solution

[@unckieherb]

@Sue Taft Gee, really?

[@tanjiro9589]

Grant is 💪

[@shaggycan]

I think you also have to weigh his presidency against the state of the union he inherited. The country and especially the south was utterly smashed. No president since Roosevelt had to rebuild the country from such a great disaster. Had he more political experience going in he would have been revered as one of the greatest Presidents of all time.

[@MapleSyrupPoet]

Alcoholic brain ...is quite impressive ...especially if Creator channels through it ...thankful for Ulysses

[@rimfire8217]

Where’s this guys musical?!?????!!!

[@snowballcorners]

Sherman advised Grant to stay out of politics he should have listened to him.

[@localkiwi9988]

Why?

[@burdine26.120]

Really? And leave Andrew Johnson without check to reverse evthing Lincoln had acheived? You've got to be kidding me? You are really suggested that Grant just sit back and let Lincoln's achievements go down without a fight? Do you have any idea how important Grant was to civil rights after Lincoln died? Any idea? Here. Educate yourself, if you can... ----------- [The Southern] cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse” - Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Volume II ------------- Grant signed into law the most comprehensive civil rights legislation the United States would experience for almost a century. He was the last U.S. President until Lyndon Johnson a century later to pass aggressive legislation protecting the civil rights and delivering the right to vote African-Americans. "Grant" by Jean Edward Smith is one of the best biographies of U.S. Grant ever written. "Incredibly well researched with profound insights - especially the enormous and largely unrecognized contributions he fought for to advance civil rights during the era between Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson. One can only wonder how reconstruction may have been different had he won a third term instead of the Garfield/Tilden outcome. amzn.to/3fnAaln ------------- "He was the single most important figure behind the Reconstruction process in the South and presided over the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave blacks the right to vote, and landmark civil rights legislation outlawing discrimination in public accommodation. The imperishable story of Grant's presidency was his campaign to crush the Ku Klux Klan, which tried to overturn the Civil War's outcome and restore the prior status quo." Ron Chernow, author of the "Grant." www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/ulysses-s-grant-won-the-civil-war-then-battled-for-civil-rights/ ------------- "Grant was the only president to support civil rights until Lyndon Johnson." www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2012/11/02/the-man-who-saved-the-union-hw-brands-talks-us-grant?page=2 ------------- According to historian Brooks Simpson, Grant was on "the right side of history". Simpson said, "[w]e now view Reconstruction ... as something that should have succeeded in securing equality for African-Americans, and we see Grant as supportive of that effort and doing as much as any person could do to try to secure that within realm of political reality." John F. Marszalek said, "You have to go almost to Lyndon Johnson to find a president who tried to do as much to ensure black people found freedom." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_reputation_of_Ulysses_S._Grant, 4 March 2020 ------------- [The landmark achievement of U.S. Grant’s administration was his] effort to crush the Ku Klux Klan. Grant’s Justice Department brought three thousand (3,000) indictments against the Klan. His efforts to protect the African-American community, the fact that he became the most important president to the African-American community between Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson, this as a country is much bigger and more important story." - Ron Chernow, kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3umdaqelNClh5Y ------------- Mark Twain said that U.S. Grant was "The greatest man I have ever had the privilege of knowing personally. And I have not known a man with a kinder nature or a purer character. He was called the Silent Man -- the Sphynx -- and he was that, in public, but not in private. There he was a fluent and able talker -- with a large sense of humor, and a most rare gift of compacting meaty things into phrases of stunning felicity." - Mark Twain "Frank Fuller and My First New York Lecture," published in 2009 in Who Is Mark Twain? ------------- Historian Jean Edward Smith, Ulysses S. Grant. Grant was magnanimous in victory. The Grant presidency is one of the most under appreciated and overlooked. Ushering in equality was one of Grant's chief accomplishments. Grant was a beautiful and influential writer. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZaoZYWGrsdkq80 ------------- "I don't underrate the value of military knowledge, but if men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail." - Ulyssess S. Grant, quoted in A History of Militarism: Romance and Realities of a Profession (1937) by Alfred Vagts, p. 27 ------------- "'Man proposes and God disposes. There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice. " - Ulysses S. Grant. Military historian Ethan S. Rafuse of the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College, "My Earnest Endeavor": Grant Takes Command, 1864, The Kansas City Public Library, March 13, 2014, kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4HKi6Gil9ajrrs ------------- In some ways this is reflective of Grant’s generalship, his ability to accept that he may make plans but if the plans don’t work out, that’s just something that’s going to happen and he does not get flustered or flummoxed by this. His ability to adapt, to cope with problems as they come, not lose his cool and this is one of his great qualities as a general. - Military historian Ethan S. Rafuse of the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College, "My Earnest Endeavor": Grant Takes Command, 1864, The Kansas City Public Library, March 13, 2014, kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4HKi6Gil9ajrrs ------------- A decorated war hero, Ulysses S. Grant was the U.S. Army's first four-star general and the first Gilded Age President to serve back-to-back terms. Though he struggled as a young cadet, Grant returned to the military after a string of civilian business failures. His successes on the battle field brought him a wave of popularity that swept him into the Presidency in 1868. Credited with maintaining stability in the era of Reconstruction and for fostering the continued unity of the nation, he is perhaps most remembered for his second term which was marred by financial scandals and an ineffective cabinet. In 1885, Grant died nearly broke, as a victim of a swindle. His memoirs were published posthumously by friend and literary giant, Mark Twain. Jean Edward Smith is a senior scholar in the History Department at Columbia University and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Grant, a 2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as biographies of General Lucius D. Clay (1990), John Marshall (1996), Franklin D. Roosevelt (2007), and most recently, Dwight D. Eisenhower (2012). FDR, his biography of Roosevelt, won the 2008 Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians for the best nonfiction book on an American theme published the previous year. He is presently at work on a biography of George W. Bush. No Businessman How President Grant Saved the Economy but Lost His Own Shirt, Flagler Museum, Jul 24, 2014 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKiWqH-FjJd4l5o -------------

[@DemocritusWept]

Seneca Brown Bravo 👏

[@stewartmillen7708]

I saw the TV version of this, and I think it's filled with historical inaccuracies that serve to bolster Grant. First of all, the premise that the 'traditional view' of Grant was that of a mediocre general is a straw man--no serious historian of the Civil War in the past 75 years or more has promoted it. Everyone acknowledges Grant's strengths to varying degrees. Moreover, despite these talents Grant was human and I believe his Overland Campaign of 1864 was Grant at his worst, that because Grant shared the common bias of Westerners that the Army of Potomac had not been successful because it was 'soft' and 'hadn't been made to fight all-out', he attempted to run over Lee and almost wrecked the AoP's morale by doing so. All that was unnecessary, as fighting the Overland Campaign the way that Sherman moved against Johnston towards Atlanta, by skirmishing and continuously ditching around the flanks (which was the only way Grant advance as well) Grant would have backed Lee into a strategic corner just like Johnston was with a lot less loss of Union life and would have achieved the same results. Once pinned in the Richmond's defenses and reliant on the rickety Confederate rail network for food and supplies, Lee's army would have starved just like they did historically.

[@localkiwi9988]

Are you a Civil War historian to question Ron Chernow? or just one of those who sit back and throw stones?

[@stewartmillen7708]

@@localkiwi9988 Well, I do have a history degree (though that doesn't maybe mean much, as I see plenty of people on military history TV programs with history PhDs spout absolute falsehoods--I mean, stuff just plain factually *wrong*, not matters of opinion. But to the point, I have a bookshelf of Civil War books at my home by various authors such as James McPherson, Gary Gallagher, Noah Andre Trudeau, Stephen W. Sears, Glenn Tucker, Paddy Griffin, Edwin Coddington, Peter Cozzins, Clifford Dowdey, Shelby Foote, Bruce Catton, and more (unit histories, say on the Union Iron Brigade and the Frank Cheatham's 'forgotten' Confederate division). Of all this lot, maybe only Dowdey's conforms with Chernow's straw man argument that 'until me, historians underrated Grant'. None of the rest underrate Grant; quite the contrary, to my mind they make excuses for Grant's poor performance in the 1864 overland campaign. Gary Gallagher has an essay on General Gouverneur Warren (5th Corps commander) clash with Grant in the very first day of the Battle of the Wilderness. Grant orders Warren to 'pitch into' the Confederates in his front, but Grant underestimates the difficulty of moving large bodies of men through the Wilderness underbrush as Warren tries to organize an attack, gets irritated when hours go by without any fighting and overrides Warren's protests that 'if we bring everyone up, the attack will likely succeed, but if we just thrown one division (Charles Griffin's) in, the attack will just get shot to pieces with no gain whatsoever'. Grant orders the attack, and Griffin's division got shot to pieces just like Warren predicted. This is *not* Grant's intrinsic nature to override the commander at the front, Grant was not normally a 'butcher' like this and Grant did not act this way out west. But he acted this way in the Overland Campaign against Lee. One cannot help but refer to Bruce Catton's observation that Westerners like Grant shared a prejudice that the AoP "had never been made to fight" and by God Grant was going to make it fight. But if Grant had acted like he did out west, trusting Warren to make the dispositions, which included General John Sedgwick's corps coming up on his right, then Gallagher (who is defending Grant in this essay!) admits Warren's attack likely would have succeeded as Richard Ewell's Confederates in his front had no reserves or reinforcements in sight. What is sad about Warren's case is that Warren then tried so hard to be a member of "Grant's team" by later volunteering to make foolish attacks doomed to fail in the future, just to prove himself to Grant, but to no avail.

[@stewartmillen7708]

@@localkiwi9988 BTW, all the people I cite are professional historians. Chernow is just a freelance journalist. Don't get me wrong, sometimes non-professionals can write good history, but the very premise that is touted in the beginning that 'historians traditionally viewed Grant as a mediocre general' is **simply not true**. Bruce Catton, James McPherson, Noah Andre Trudeau, Gary Gallagher, and other professionals would be shocked if that was the impression anyone got from reading their works.

[@burdine26.120]

Grant signed into law the most comprehensive civil rights legislation the United States would experience for almost a century. He was the last U.S. President until Lyndon Johnson a century later to pass aggressive legislation protecting the civil rights and delivering the right to vote African-Americans. "Grant" by Jean Edward Smith is one of the best biographies of U.S. Grant ever written. "Incredibly well researched with profound insights - especially the enormous and largely unrecognized contributions he fought for to advance civil rights during the era between Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson. One can only wonder how reconstruction may have been different had he won a third term instead of the Garfield/Tilden outcome. amzn.to/3fnAaln ------------- "He was the single most important figure behind the Reconstruction process in the South and presided over the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave blacks the right to vote, and landmark civil rights legislation outlawing discrimination in public accommodation. The imperishable story of Grant's presidency was his campaign to crush the Ku Klux Klan, which tried to overturn the Civil War's outcome and restore the prior status quo." Ron Chernow, author of the "Grant." www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/ulysses-s-grant-won-the-civil-war-then-battled-for-civil-rights/ ------------- "Grant was the only president to support civil rights until Lyndon Johnson." www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2012/11/02/the-man-who-saved-the-union-hw-brands-talks-us-grant?page=2 ------------- According to historian Brooks Simpson, Grant was on "the right side of history". Simpson said, "[w]e now view Reconstruction ... as something that should have succeeded in securing equality for African-Americans, and we see Grant as supportive of that effort and doing as much as any person could do to try to secure that within realm of political reality." John F. Marszalek said, "You have to go almost to Lyndon Johnson to find a president who tried to do as much to ensure black people found freedom." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_reputation_of_Ulysses_S._Grant, 4 March 2020 ------------- "I don't underrate the value of military knowledge, but if men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail." - Ulyssess S. Grant, quoted in A History of Militarism: Romance and Realities of a Profession (1937) by Alfred Vagts, p. 27 ------------- "'Man proposes and God disposes. There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice. " - Ulysses S. Grant. Military historian Ethan S. Rafuse of the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College, "My Earnest Endeavor": Grant Takes Command, 1864, The Kansas City Public Library, March 13, 2014, kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4HKi6Gil9ajrrs ------------- In some ways this is reflective of Grant’s generalship, his ability to accept that he may make plans but if the plans don’t work out, that’s just something that’s going to happen and he does not get flustered or flummoxed by this. His ability to adapt, to cope with problems as they come, not lose his cool and this is one of his great qualities as a general. - Military historian Ethan S. Rafuse of the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College, "My Earnest Endeavor": Grant Takes Command, 1864, The Kansas City Public Library, March 13, 2014, kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4HKi6Gil9ajrrs ------------- A decorated war hero, Ulysses S. Grant was the U.S. Army's first four-star general and the first Gilded Age President to serve back-to-back terms. Though he struggled as a young cadet, Grant returned to the military after a string of civilian business failures. His successes on the battle field brought him a wave of popularity that swept him into the Presidency in 1868. Credited with maintaining stability in the era of Reconstruction and for fostering the continued unity of the nation, he is perhaps most remembered for his second term which was marred by financial scandals and an ineffective cabinet. In 1885, Grant died nearly broke, as a victim of a swindle. His memoirs were published posthumously by friend and literary giant, Mark Twain. Jean Edward Smith is a senior scholar in the History Department at Columbia University and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Grant, a 2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as biographies of General Lucius D. Clay (1990), John Marshall (1996), Franklin D. Roosevelt (2007), and most recently, Dwight D. Eisenhower (2012). FDR, his biography of Roosevelt, won the 2008 Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians for the best nonfiction book on an American theme published the previous year. He is presently at work on a biography of George W. Bush. No Businessman How President Grant Saved the Economy but Lost His Own Shirt, Flagler Museum, Jul 24, 2014 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKiWqH-FjJd4l5o -------------

[@localkiwi9988]

@@stewartmillen7708 Southern Historians. You write crap

[@teddylabis6969]

2nd