Customer Reviews

President Grant Reconsidered

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This book presents a compelling argument for why US Grant's much-maligned presidency actually was far more successful than the "conventional wisdom" would hold. This especially is true in the areas of Reconstruction (where Grant's attempts to protect the rights of the freed blacks would not be equalled until the 1960s), international affairs (where the resolution of the ALABAMA claims established standards still used today for the peaceful arbitration of international disputes), the economy (in which Grant's politically unpopular stances on principle served well the long-term interests of the United States), and in presidential relationships with the Congress. It also dispells many of the myths surrounding the "corruption" in the Grant Administration, thus helping to explain why Grant remained extraordinarily popular after he left office, so much so that four years later (in 1880), there were serious efforts to have Grant break precedent and seek a third term. This book is but one of many recent scholarly efforts in which Grant's reputation, both as a brilliant general and as an able chief executive, are being restored.

This is probably the bravest Grant book ever written. Even those biographers favorable to him have a tendency, like so many sheep, to parrot the same old lines about him as the bumbling, inept politician who presided over one of the most corrupt administrations is American history. It does not seem to bother these historians that they are, for the most part, simply repeating partisan attacks that had been made against him by his political enemies for their own questionable (to say the least) reasons.

Frank Scaturro is the first writer I have ever seen to use a fresh approach to the Grant presidency, pointing out not only that the much touted scandals of his term in office were frequently based on weak or exaggerated evidence, but that Grant himself was a strong, enlightened leader who accomplished more than most want to admit. It seems that the victor of Vicksburg and Appomattox was not all that different from the man who occupied the White House, after all.

This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants to hear "the other side of the story" of Grant's oft-belittled political career.

During the 50 years following the Civil War, the presidency of U. S. Grant was completely distored in an attempt to diminish the accomplishments of the Grant era (Civil Rights) and to take away some of the luster from the man who saved the Union.

The Democratic party- particullary of the South- stiffled the great civil rights efforts of the Republicans during reconstruction. As time passed, and voting rights and other legislative initatives of the Granta administration were dismembered by the Southern Demacrats, they constantly sought to sully the memory of Grant. One of the keys to that effort was portraying the Grant administration in a bad light in terms of corruption. This was done by distortion history, and the outright falsification of the facts involved in the Grant administration. To a large extent these distortions have not been challanged.

Grant Reconsidered presents the historical record in a straight fowrward manner: The Grant presidency offered tremendous acomplishments- and really offered a bridge from a slave nation to a nation where all men have the same rights. An outstanding book!!

Mr. Scaturro effectively refutes over 100 years of uninformed and biased analysis of the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. This book is must reading for any admirer of Grant, presidential buff or student of American history.

President Grant has been maligned by the media for years.Every anniversary, the reporters must have looked at the dead file and merely copied what went before. Dee Brown, in his Chapter on Grant, wrote "They have written a dime novel about Grant" and was the last to take time to set tha record straight, in detail.(See "1876" The Nations Centennial.) The period after the Civil War was raucous; financiers, the railraods, land speculation on the opening of the West was high. But none of this touched Grant. Compared to other Presidents personal record, Grant comes out with high marks.His trouble was in his fairness and innate honesty, in his trust in people and his inability to turn his back on an honored member of his war time staff who dishonored him.My long term interest has been to write my book on "Grant Revisited" I would like to see Dee Brown's Chapter on Grant reprinted on Grants birthday, sometime. But don't wait for the editor's of the media. Their interest lies in their, or in the public's, pants, these day's.

At a time when one of America's most famous historians defends a President against rape charges by arguing that "gentlemen always lie about sex," this book is a welcome reminder that historians can greatly distort their subject matter. President Grant, as shown by Mr. Scaturro, was one of the great civil rights Presidents and a strong chief executive. That he is remembered as a failure says less about him as President than it does about the sheeplike quality of American academia who have tarnished his reputation. All Presidential Administrations probably have a certain level of corruption and the amount of publicity such corruption receives has nothing to do with the actual level of venality. This is one of the crucial books on American history.

Scaturro does a thorough job debunking some of the interpretations of history which keep plunking Grant in the "worst President" realm. For those interested in Grant this is a must read. As a Grant fan I was happy to see a defense come out in favor of Grant's accomplishments, however, Grant's shortcomings as a President (be they created by bad luck, bad spin, or bad policy) were manifold and I would have liked a more even-handed approach. Still, I enjoyed the book.

It really is about time for a thoughtful, well-researched book on President Grant. Too many historians don't do the work required to present truth, hence this book is a real contribution. Now, someone needs to call up the White House and have the "official" biography changed. The current one is pathetic. Thank you, thank you, thank you.