All the while Grant himself remained more or less above reproach. His military fame translated into a two-term presidency, but one plagued by corruption scandals involving his closest staff. Along the way Grant endeared himself to President Lincoln and became his most trusted general and the strategic genius of the war effort. Lee after a series of unbelievably bloody battles in Virginia.
But in the Civil War, Grant began to realize his remarkable potential, soaring through the ranks of the Union army, prevailing at the Battle of Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign and ultimately defeating the legendary Confederate general Robert E. His business ventures had been dismal, and despite distinguished service in the Mexican War, he ended up resigning from the army in disgrace amid recurring accusations of drunkenness. A biographer at the height of his powers, Chernow has produced a portrait of Grant that is a masterpiece, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency.īefore the Civil War, Grant was flailing. These stereotypes don't come close to capturing adequately his spirit and the sheer magnitude of his monumental accomplishments. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and inept businessman, fond of drinking to excess or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War or as a credulous and hapless president whose tenure came to symbolize the worst excesses of the Gilded Age. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood.
0 kommentar(er)
