
The Silent Type: On Ulysses S. Grant - samclemens
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/05/24/ulysses-grant-silent-type/
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rmason
I always felt that Grant's accomplishments had been given short shrift. Only
in America could a man with multiple failures in life rise to greatness.

But someone that I'd like to see reevaluated by historians is Grant's friend
William Sherman. Here's a reluctant warrior, running a Louisiana military
academy and accepting of slavery. But when asked to turn against his country
he resigned. He then met with President Lincoln and considered him hopelessly
naive about what was to come.

But when he did engage he excelled. Along the way he suffered a mental
breakdown only to come back to command. When his friend Grant tasked him with
conquering Atlanta and then marching North to attack Gen Lee's flank he became
a legend.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tecumseh_Sherman)

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benbreen
My favorite little factoid that I gleaned from reading Grant's memoirs last
summer was that his goal in young adulthood was to move to Northern California
and become a math professor. [1] It felt strangely anachronistic and also
completely changed my perception of his personality.

[1] Went ahead and dug up the quotes in his memoirs to fact check myself on
this. Here's one: "My idea then was to... obtain a permanent position as
professor in some respectable college; but circumstances always did shape my
course different from my plans." And then a bit later: "I left the Pacific
coast very much attached to it, and with the full expectation of making it my
future home."

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randcraw
Now THAT is how to write a book report. I'm pretty sure I already own Grant's
memoirs, but this review makes me think I need to own the newly annotated one
as well. Outstanding.

