Ulysses S. Grant: Eighteenth President of the United States (Encyclopedia of Presidents)

Rating:
Summary: Why we remember General Grant more than President Grant
Review: At the end of this juvenile biography, Zachary Kent lets the final verdict on Ulysses S. Grant as a soldier be rendered by Robert E. Lee, who wrote: "I have carefully searched the military records of both ancient and modern history and have never found Grant's superior as a general." That is a most impressive comment, especially coming from the man who still enjoys a reputation as the most superb tactician in American military history. It also underscores the fact that even though Grant was the 18th President of the United States, his reputation ultimately rests on what he did as a general during the Civil War and not what happened in the two scandal plagued terms he served in the White House.

As with most of these volumes in the Encyclopedia of Presidents series, this particular volume begins "in media res," with the pivotal battle of Shiloh, which nearly derailed Grant's military career during the Civil War. Kent develops Grant's life as a series of peaks and valleys. Successful as a young lieutenant in the Mexican War, Grant was a failure in peacetime at everything he ever tried. However, during the Civil War "Unconditional Surrender" Grant achieved a series of notable military successes in the West until President Lincoln brought him East to take command of all Federal forces. After the war Grant becomes President, not out of any sense of ambition, but rather because he feels that he can fulfill Lincoln's vision of a reunited country, even in the face of strong Congressional opposition from the Radical Republicans. However, a series of scandals wearies Grant (who probably could have won a third term in any event), and he retired to discover he was broke. Dying of throat cancer and urged on by Mark Twain, Grant restored his family's fortune by writing his autobiography literally on his deathbed.

More than any other President, Grant's life story is inspiring when he is not in the White House. There are very few generals who became politicians who were comfortable in the change (Andrew Jackson would be the exception that proves the rule), and Grant repeatedly proved himself not to be a politician. But it says something that all of the scandals never touched upon his character or his reputation with the American people. Note: I was somewhat surprised that this book offers very few photographs of Grant, although there are dozens of historical etchings (including some that are based on photographs that I have seen before). As always, this Encyclopedia of Presidents volume is very informative. Kent does an above-average job of not only detailing the events in Grant's life but in giving young readers a true sense of the man. This is not surprising, because Kent is one of the better historians writing for young people around.