ulysses s. grant

In researching this post on Ulysses S. Grant - I turned to
three different books - in order to get a handle on our
18th President of the United States.

First - I read - in THE COMPLETE BOOK OF U.S. PRESIDENTS by
William A. Degregorio - that Ulysses S. Grant - after becoming
President - found himself surrounded by scandal. But William
Degregorio writes that Grant was himself 'rigidly incorruptible'
but in spite of his strong inner character - his administration
was certainly 'marked by major scandal.'

This - perhaps - is how we remember Ulysses S. Grant - as President.

But the book PRESIDENTS - written by Dorling Kindersley - in associaton
with the Smithsonian Institution - it says that Ulysses S. Grant
was a National Hero - as the leading Union General - in the Civil War.

And Dorling Kindersley goes on to say that when he found himself
positioned for the Presidency - Grant really had no political acumen - nor had he had any experience in politics - and he had 'no real desire
to use the full powers of his high office.'

In the end - it was what I read in the book - THE PRESIDENTS OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey - that
convinced me that Ulysses S. Grant was a man of Great Character -
in that - in the end - he stepped up and showed that he knew What Was Right - for Freidel and Sidey's book says that President Ulysses S.
Grant - knowing that he was dying of throat cancer - wrote his autobiography - so that his family would be provided for after he
died - and finished the book only shortly before his demise.

Ulysses S. Grant is buried at Grant's Tomb - in New York City.