An unlikely hero

After reading The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses Grant in War and Peace (2012) by H.W. Brands, what impresses me most is that before the Civil War, Grant failed at virtually everything he tried, yet within a few years he became one of the most important figures in United States history, a hero not just in America but around the world.

He was a West Point graduate and had served bravely and ably in the Mexican War, but he had no interest in being a career soldier. Mostly he wanted to be near Julia Dent, the woman he loved. He tried farming and various business ventures, succeeding at nothing. Neither Julia's family nor his own father thought much of him. Then the war rescued him.

Officers were desperately needed for a rapidly expanding army, and Grant quickly rose in the ranks, soon becoming a general. While President Lincoln became increasingly frustrated by Union generals in the East who, despite advantages in men and arms, were continually reluctant to challenge Robert E. Lee, he noticed that Grant kept fighting and kept winning in the West. It was probably inevitable that Grant would eventually be brought East to settle matters with Lee.

One might think the title The Man Who Saved the Union refers to Grant's military heroism, but that is only partly true. No less important, according to Brands, was his service to the country after the war was over when he served two terms as president. Saving the Union involved more than just winning the war. It also meant unifying a nation that now included former slaves with all their rights of citizens and whites, both north and south, who were unwilling to accept that fact. Finding a place for Indians in the reformed nation was another challenge Grant tackled. He wasn't entirely successful, as everyone knows, yet he tried valiantly and, according to Brands, did more for civil rights than any American president for the next 100 years.

Grant isn't remembered today as one of the great U.S. presidents. Scandals and controversy filled his two terms in the White House. Brands finds him honest, but a bit naive. He expected everyone to be as committed to serving the public good as he was and to act just as honorably. This wasn't true in the political world, at least as divided then as it is now, and Grant paid a price for trusting people who were unworthy of trust.

Even so, after he left the presidency, many Americans clamored for him to run again, and he was mentioned as a possible nominee for president at every Republican national convention for years afterward. He never sought the office, not even in 1968 when he was first elected. In fact, the only political speeches Grant ever made were for somebody else.

Grant acted heroically even when he was dying, staying alive with throat cancer just long enough to finish his memoirs, the sale of which would support his wife for the rest of her life.

This a truly fine biography, worthy of the man, and its vigorous prose and brief 87 chapters make the 600-plus pages fly by.