Ulysses S. Grant : (The American Presidents Series) (The American Presidents)

Rating:
Summary: Ulysses S. Grant
Review: Alan Rockman wrote an excellent review which I am in almost total agreement with. However I couldn't help but wonder if the author (Bunting) intentionally avoided mentioning Grant's most praiseworthy and controversial proposal and one that if adopted, would have provided funding, without the need for an income tax, for all of our government's requirements even to this day! That is Grant's proposal to tax all church property.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good, But Not the Best in U.S Grant Literature
Review: It has been U.S. Grant's misfortune to rank behind Lincoln and Lee in the pantheon of the major notable Civil War heroes. A Presidency racked by scandal though largely not of his fault didn't help matters. But Grant was a winner - and that's what counts. From defeating the "Marble Man" Lee to his courageous drive to finish his memoirs as Cancer was taking his life, Grant showed nobility and character, which is the foci of Josiah Bunting's brief tome in this volume of "The American Presidents" series.

In focusing on the character and the nobility of Grant, Bunting does take a different perspective, though by no means new view of this subject. Indeed, Mark Feely, Jean Edward Smith, and to a lesser degree Geoffrey Perrett have already covered and done justice to Grant's character in their works - and I would recommend both Feely and Perrett to the Grant novice, not to mention his "Memoirs". I might also note that the late Stephen Ambrose, in his "To America" wrote a very lengthy essay on why Grant was a good President - not just a great General, and how he did do his best to stop the resurgence of segregation and anti-Black animus in the post-Civil War South, and why he could not succeed.

This isn't to say that Professor Bunting's book does not deserve a wide readership - it does. But do check out Feely, Perrett, and Smith first, and above all, get a copy of those "Personal Memoirs" - they are by far the best memoirs ever penned by an American President, and a classic of American Literature.

Rating:
Summary: Superb -- the best of the series
Review: Unlike his generalship during the Civil War, Grant's presidency has earned him few admirers among historians. The numerous scandals that took place during his two terms in office, and the Panic of 1873 which wrecked havoc on the country's economy during his second term, have generally diminished history's view of Grant's presidency. His consistently strong stewardship of the difficult task of Reconstruction, including his upholding of the laws which enabled Blacks to vote and hold office in the south, his successful foreign policy, and his fair treatment of Native Americans were often neglected. An historical consensus formed that split Grant's life into halves; General Grant was a heroic and needed leader, but President Grant was an admirable failure, unsuited for political leadership.

Josiah Bunting III is the perfect author to correct these misperceptions about Grant. As a former army officer, Bunting understands well the institution that was so much a part of Grant's adult life and the source for his fame which would catapult him into the White House. But he also has enough emotional distance from the army to provide insightful commentary. What's most surprising, however, is the literary skill Bunting brings to the task. His small book on Grant is a beautiful gem of a biography, burnished to a fine work of art. Bunting has written two novels and he shows a fine writer's gifts here. He has the great biographer's necessary gift of understanding the importance of character.

The Grant that comes alive in Bunting's pages is highly sympathetic, but always credibly so. Bunting shows how the usual slurs against Grant's character (alcohol, butchery, and scandal) were overdone, while many redeeming characteristics (good to friends and family, steady, moral) were overlooked. Bunting reevaluates the character of Grant in this more favorable light and recreates a president who won two elections by landslides and never was out of favor with the general public.

Bunting's defense of Grant succeeds splendidly. I've read all sixteen of these small biographies published so far in "The American Presidents" series, and while I've found all of them good, and many quite excellent, this one on Grant is the best. It belongs on the shelf of every reader interested in American history.