Let's have peace
I didn't have a plan to read a
biography, let alone that of Ulysses Grant. While watching NPR news, I hear
about black life matters protesters toppling Ulysses S Grant's statue on Juneteenth
in San Francisco. Someone was arguing that president Grant doesn't deserve such
a treatment having done so much for the African American community and being
instrumental in freeing southern slaves. At the same time I noticed a thick
book behind Judy Woodruff with his name and picture. What a coincidence I
thought. Later that day I also noticed the same book in the book shelf behind
David Westin, one of the Bloomberg anchors. When I googled I saw the statue in
golden gate park in San Francisco, which I vaguely remember. It also lead me to
the biography written by Ron Chernow, the books behind NPR and Bloomberg
anchors. That is when I decided to read it. The July 4th long weekend was
around the corner. What a better way to spend an independence day. It
turned out to be an excellent read, a story with a lot of twists and turns, as
dramatic as any well written novel, more fights than any western movie due to
civil war and a lot of parallel to the current political situation relating to
race relations.
Born to a poor tanner in Ohio,
Grant did not show any exceptional ability except in riding horses. He didn't
want a military career but ended up in West Point due to his father's
insistence. He was a mediocre student at West Point, quit a promising army
career in the midst, fell into alcoholism, tried and failed at business
ventures before becoming the general who saved the union during the civil war.
He was not interested in seeking positions but high ranking responsibilities
came seeking him. He was not interested in political offices but was forced
into presidential candidacy, didn't bother to run a campaign but still won the
presidency. ‘Let us have peace’ was his campaign slogan. He was also linked to a few
robber barons and financial speculation. He led what seemed like a highly
successful Wall Street firm only to be swindled by a con artist in a Ponzi
scheme which bankrupted him and his whole family. To escape financial hardships
agreed to write a memoir and ended up writing one of the best-selling books of
the time. What a life to experience!
War and reconciliation
I didn't understand why Patrice Lumumba
wept to Cotton God or grasp the meaning of the phrase King Cotton until
recently. Before the civil war Cotton was the highest US export accounting for
more than 60 percent of the total. Southern Cotton states were getting richer
by the money flowing in from Britain and France. The competitive advantage in
Cotton production mainly came from the free labor in the form of slavery, the
other being free soil. When in 1860s northern states started freeing slaves and
giving compensation to the slave owners, southern states had started worry.
Cotton was their only economic production and slavery was the major part of the
mode of production. When Lincoln was elected as the president with less than 40
percent of the vote, even though the parties sympathetic to southern cause, southern
and northern democratic parties together got more votes than Republican
candidate, Lincoln. So in the name of state’s rights southern states decided to
secede. The real reason was economic, power and the fear of freeing slaves. Thus started the American civil war.
In the beginning, Confederate states
won a few battles and occupied many union forts and the Confederate army under
Robert E Lee was threatening the Union capital. Union states were barely holding
up in the eastern front, but in the west, under general Grant, union army was
winning a series of battles in Shiloh and Vicksburg and more. In addition
to being a fearless army leader, Grant was also providing moral and strategic
leadership by providing jobs to blacks and enrolling escaped black slaves from
the south in the union army. He had turned the tide in the western front and
had divided the Confederate state into two by capturing all the major ports and
forts including Vicksburg along the Mississippi River.
He was brought to the eastern board by
Lincoln as the chief general to do the same magic because of the indecisive
generals in the west who could not make progress against the confederate army.
Grant did not disappoint. We won brutal battles against the southern army and won
the war and thus saved the Union. During this period he earned the nick name ‘butcher’
for conducting bloody battles and willingness to sacrifice his own men for victory.
At the end of the war, how this tough general negotiated surrender from Lee and
earned the respect and won trust through his leniency towards the enemy army he
defeated and how it helped establish peace and reconciliation is remarkable.
Financial speculation and cornering
gold market
Grant's presidency was also marked by
the beginning of industrialization and gilded age. There were also
connection to robber barons and financial speculation. When Jay Gould and
Robert Fritz cornered the gold market Grant was the US president. They almost
convinced president Grant of the benefits of higher gold prices. When Grant
instructed his treasury secretary to stop the release of gold, gold prices shot
up. The theory was, higher gold prices will lower the commodity prices and make
American agricultural products more competitive in the international market.
Being rail road company owners and investors Gould and Fitz will profit from the
increased rail fright as well as increasing gold price. When Grant realized the
scheme he started the release of gold from the treasury. Gold prices plummeted,
stock market went down 20 percent, brokerage houses were bankrupted.
Abolition of slavery and rights of
freedmen
Grant provided protection and jobs to
the slaves escaped from the south. He also recruited them to army. This
inflicted a major blow to the Confederacy militarily and morally. In fact, Lincoln's emancipation proclamation did not free a single slave. The states he had
control had no slaves, in the states where there are slaves he had no control.
It was the protection and jobs provided by the army which gave them freedom.
There were close to two hundred thousand former slaves fought with the union
forces. Grant also lead the reconstruction effort. He was instrumental in enacting
civil right laws and civil services to select government employees based on
merit and funding for the education of the freedmen. This civil service
structure was dismantled in the 70’s. We probably would have a coordinated
approach to Covid and such emergencies if such a system is still in place.
Parallel to current political climate
More than fifty percent of the
population in Mississippi and South Carolina were blacks. Democracy and
majority rules meant that old slaves will become law makers in these states.
That was the beginning of KKK. Southern states also did not want to fund the
public education. They also invented ways for making voting difficult for the blacks.
They unleashed a brutal campaign against the newly freedmen. Grant's presidency
was thus marred with brutal lynching of many blacks and the beginning of KKK.
When state's security forces collaborated with KKK in attacking blacks, Grant
send federal forces to provide protection. Many civil rights laws were
implemented by Grant. But still many blacks migrated to northern cities fearing
for their lives. Sounds familiar? If you still see these issues today, they are
the remnants and unfinished business of those days.
Successful military leader but failed
political leadership
Leadership is different in different
environments. In military it is quick decision and decisiveness. Ability to
keep secrets can decide victory and defeat. In politics, it is different.
Secretiveness doesn't work in politics. One has to be flexible to consensus and
to achieve desirable results. Loyalty is of paramount importance in military
but in politics it can be viewed as nepotism. The qualities which helped Grant
to become a successful general failed him in politics. By some account he is
considered as one of the worst US presidents. His administration was rife with
nepotism and scandals. There were also an effort to portray him as a drunkard, a narrative pushed by the bitter southern polititians. They also try to paint the war's purpose was 'state's rights' rather than slavery. Grant was the president of the United States during is most tumultuous period. His achievements in civil rights and organizing civil services outweigh any of his short comings.
Victim of a Ponzi scheme
After the presidency, Grant tied up
with Ferdinand Ward in setting up a banking and brokerage house. Ward was
running a Ponzi scheme. Unsuspecting Grant fell for his trick and invested all
his money into the venture. He also encouraged his family members to invest.
When the Ponzi scheme blew up, he lost all his money and fell to serious
financial hardship and was forced to move to a cottage. Because he quit his
first military job and left the second to become the president he was not entitled
for the military pension. This was reinstated later.
Successful writer
To escape from financial hardships he
agreed to write a memoir about his battles. Unfortunately he became ill with
cancer shortly. The fighter in him finished the book in an year in anyway and it became a
best seller even though he didn't have any literary credentials to boast off. Everyone need to be reminded of his fights and achievements more often.
It is that book on my list next.
