“The line of progress is never straight.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
In reading Ron Chernow’s formidable biography of Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), it’s remarkable to consider these past 155 years since the Civil War and know, on the one hand, how much the United States has changed for the better, and on the other, how much some Americans have not changed at all. The racism, hate, and suppression of former slaves that provoked the secession of the South from the Union and the resulting Civil War are still present in the hearts and minds of far too many Americans.
Frederick Douglas regarded President Grant as the greatest friend to black Americans of any President to that point in American history, including Abraham Lincoln. But, it took far more than one President’s support and advocacy to turn the tide of history from brutal enslavement to freedom and equality. As much as Grant advocated on behalf of the rights, safety, and well-being of the 4 million former black slaves, the South reversed the gains made in the Civil War and during Reconstruction until the 1960s’ civil rights movement. Through whipping, shooting, wounding, maiming, mutilation, and the murder of black women, children, and defenseless men, white supremacists led by the Ku Klux Klan (founded in 1865) did everything possible to terrorize black Americans and create an Apartheid-like South.
As I waded through this 959-page presidential biography, I gained a sense of Grant’s heart, soul, mind, character, dignity, and leadership, his strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. He was an uncommon president, perhaps one of the greatest in American history. A graduate of West Point and a veteran of the Mexican wars, Grant was modest, quiet, and innately intelligent. His calm demeanor, strategic mind, and dogged determination inspired millions of Union troops during the Civil War including President Lincoln himself, America as a whole, and most international leaders in the last third of the 19th century.
Following President Andrew Johnson’s short term of office after Lincoln’s assassination, the Radical abolitionist Republican Party clamored for the heroic but hesitant Major General Ulysses S. Grant to run for President in 1868. He did so less from ego than a sense of duty winning comfortably both the popular vote and Electoral College. Grant’s political naiveté, however, made it difficult for him to cope effectively over two terms (1869-1877) with a scandal-ridden Washington, D.C. political culture and the violent resistance to Reconstruction by southern white Democrats. Yet, his accomplishments were significant including support for and advocacy of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution respectively outlawing slavery, granting citizenship to all born and naturalized persons, and securing the right to vote for all citizens of the United States – women’s suffrage would come on August 18, 1920 almost exactly a century ago.
One can’t help but compare the Obama and Trump years to Lincoln’s and Grant’s successes and reversals of fortune. Whereas Presidents Lincoln and Grant were tenacious, visionary, and of common moral cause in keeping the Union whole and bringing freedom and equality de jure to all Americans (including Native Americans and Jews), their legacy was undone to a great extent by racist, intolerant, and violent Southern State thugs and Northern racists.
Whereas the Obama-Biden administration brought back economic stability, expanded health care, sought greater equity for all Americans, promoted environmental responsibility, and engaged constructively in international agreements in their two terms, the Trump-Pence Administration has sought to undo and undermine most of the Obama-Biden accomplishments in just shy of 4 years.
Today’s Trump Republican Party, of course, bears little resemblance to the 19th century Republican Party of Lincoln and Grant. Whereas President Grant sought to expand citizenship and voting rights in fair and free elections for every born and naturalized American citizen, Trump’s Republican Party openly disdains expansive voting rights and an inclusive democracy, albeit far less violently than the 19th century South.
Ron Chernow’s biography Grant (publ. 2017) is a tour de force in research and writing and well worth the time to read especially for those who value history but know little about President Grant, the Civil War, his hopes for Reconstruction, and its chaotic and violent aftermath.
Rabbi John Rosove's Blog 
John, I have not YET read the new Chernow bio…of Grant. So my uninformed question: Are you satisfied with how Chernow handled Grant’s involvement with what has been perceived by many as anti-semitic acts against Jewish merchants during the Civil War? Also – you describe post-Civil War Southerners with a series of well-deserved unpleasant adjectives, but reserve only one such adjective for Northerners. By doing so I think that you are letting Northerners off way too easily. Northern thugs? Certainly. Northern racists? Certainly. Violent Northerners? Certainly. Just as “states rights” VERSUS “slavery” as the primary cause of the Civil war cannot be effectively answered by choosing one over the other, but rather seeing the two forces operating at the same time in the minds of widely diverse influencers – there is little to praise about the attitudes and actions of many Northerners both during and after the Civil War. That truth, sadly, helps us better understand what is going on in our dangerously divided and corrupt society today. Of course – I could always read the Chernow book – and I will. Many thanks.
Thanks Stan for your comments. Yes, Grant’s General Orders No. 11 stipulated that “the Jews, as a class, violating every regulation of trade established by the Treasury Department, and also Department orders, are hereby expelled from the Department…”. Chernow notes that “It was the most sweeping anti-Semitic action undertaken in American history.” (p. 233) Lincoln, to his credit, two weeks later rescinded the order and he reassured Jewish leaders. Grant came to deeply regret that order. Chernow wrote that “Grant as President atoned for his action in a multitude of meaningful ways. He was never a bigoted, hate-filled man and was haunted by his terrible action for the rest of his days. Even on his deathbed, according to a friend, ‘it was a source of great regret to him that he had been instrumental in inflicting a wrong upon [the Jews].’ (p. 236) Chernow notes that “Grant made extraordinary strides in naming blacks, Jews and Native Americans to federal positions–a forgotten chapter in American history.” (p. 641) Chernow also notes “Mortified at memories of General Orders No. 11, Grant compiled an outstanding record of incorporating Jews into his administration, one that far out-stripped his predecessors.’ The lawyer Simon Wolf estimated that Grant appointed more than fifty Jewish citizens at his request alone, including consuls, district attorneys, and deputy postmasters, with Wolf himself becoming recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia. When Grant made Edward S. Solomon governor of the Washington Territory, it was the first time an American Jew had occupied a gubernatorial post…Elated at this appointment, Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise said it showed “that President Grant had revoked General Grant’s notorious order No. 11” (pp 642-3). Chernow goes on to state how much President Grant did in protecting Jewish rights abroad including in Russia by protesting to the czar and documenting coercion against Russian Jews. He advocated for Jewish rights also in Romania and appointed Benjamin Franklin Peixotto, a Sephardic Jewish lawyer and journalist from San Francisco, to be the US consul general to Romania.
Yes – regarding the north – there is much to blame. After Grant left office, the dominant Republican party in the nation was moving forward, but violence was not only prevalent through the South, but in the North the Radical Republican party lost steam and Reconstruction failed. Racism reared its ugly head everywhere, but northern whites weren’t anything like Southern white supremacists who thought nothing of butchering blacks anywhere and everywhere including pulling them out of their beds in the middle of the night to murder them.
Thank you John, I always appreciate your thoughtful and insightful comments. Based on your recommendation, I will put the Grant biography on my reading list. I trust you are pleased with the newly announced Israeli and UAE agreement. Be safe and well. Best, Fred
Hope you and family are well and safe. >