Ulysses S Grant - Case Study Example

Ulysses S Grant Never has there been a more unlikely figure to occupy the office of the US Presidency than Ulysses S Grant. The man was so ordinarilyprone to failure that when he was promoted to Brigadier General it prompted his own father to remark "Be careful, Ulysses, you are a general now—its a good job, dont lose it!" (Schultz 26). This promotion began a long, and successful career as a major military hero. His aggressive heroics in the face of enemy became legendary as they propelled him into the nations highest office after a successful conclusion of the Civil War. Still, this average man that had been chosen to lead a recovering nation could not escape his legacy of failures and his administration was rocked with corruption and scandal. However, he was able to promote several issues that helped seal equality for the freed slaves and advocate for the future of civil rights. Ulysses S Grant was an average man with extraordinary courage who placed trust in his fellow man as he grew to fill the office of the US Presidency. Grant came from an unassuming background that carried no hint that he would one day be credited with saving the Union and be rewarded with the office of the Presidency. Born Hiram Ulysses Grant, he came from a rural background where his father had few economic means to get young Hiram an education save for winning him an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Hiram was reluctant to attend and had no interest in the military, but attended when he realized that it was his only opportunity to receive an education. He changed his name to Ulysses S Grant upon entering the Academy and the military did not suit him well.1 Grant would remark that "I had not the faintest idea of staying in the army even if I should be graduated, which I do not expect" but soon realized that "circumstances always did shape my course different from my plans" (Grant 27-28). In 1843, he graduated an unremarkable 21st out of 39 cadets leaning more towards mathematics and the arts than military history or maneuvers (Grant 27). While Grant hoped to secure a position teaching at the Academy, his plans would be far different from the situations that would soon unfold. Grant participated in the Mexican American War with little recognition, gained a minor promotion, and was unable to support his family on his military pay and failed business ventures. After resigning from the army in 1854, Grant returned to full time farming, but was recalled in 1861 to help recruit soldiers for the Civil War. He was immediately promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and was placed in command of the 21st Illinois Volunteers. He became known as a drunkard and there were private and public outcries for his dismissal. The editor of the Cincinnati Gazette spoke for many when he wrote, "Our noble army of the Mississippi is being wasted by the foolish, drunken, stupid Grant. He cannot recognize or control or fight in an army. I have no personal feeling about it; but I know he is an ass" (Schultz 7). However, he had Lincolns complete confidence that would later prove to be right, as Grant would be credited with the victory at Vicksburg Mississippi, a major turning point in the war. The Vicksburg Campaign had been an aggressive and courageous battle that earned Grant the reputation of a master battlefield strategist.2 Grant was promoted and placed in command of all US Armies, a position he held until the surrender of the confederacy at Appomattox. Grants military victories were not born out of a deep sense of military history or as a student of military strategy. They came from being determined and tenacious in the face of any odds. He accepted the battlefield as an occupation without the moral qualms of a normal man and "human life, however valued in other relations, becomes of no account when it stands in the way of the end to be attained" (Our New President 382). Grants tenacity and drive came from a "respect for the law, his devotion to the will of the people, his love of free institutions, his disinterestedness, modesty, and equanimity" (Our New President 382). Grant was a paradox that could lay aside his moral judgment of the wars dead by his humble reasoning and willing self-sacrifice. Grants wartime success had given him the popularity to become president but had not prepared him to lead the nation or manage the political process. He was a man by all measure not quite presidential enough, and "was not dashing in mind or manners; his personal appearance was not such as to awaken the least suspicion that he was above mediocrity; he was as plain as an untutored Westerner and as reserved as an educated Yankee; while of prestige he had absolutely nothing" (Our New President). His political appointments were often ill suited and reflected Grants inexperience. Grants administration was wracked by controversy, as his trusting nature failed to allow for the greed of human nature. In the darkest period of public integrity his term was a stream of scandals that "smirched executive, judiciary, banks, corporate systems, professions, and people, all the great active of society, in one dirty cesspool of vulgar corruption" (Adams 145). The country would recover, but Grants reputation never would. The mediocrity of Grants presidency would follow him after he left office and moved to New York City. During his two terms as president, Grant can only count among his accomplishments support for the ratification of the fifteenth amendment and "passage of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, although he was largely ineffective in enforcing the civil rights laws and other tenets of Reconstruction" ((Hiram) Ulysses S(impson) Grant Biography). While in New York, he invested his familys savings in Grant and Ward, a financial investment company where his son, Ulysses Jr., was a partner. The firm was swindled by Ferdinand Ward leaving Grant penniless and tarnishing what little was left of his reputation. After writing his memoirs the Grant family relocated to a modest cottage in Mount McGregor, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains, where Grant died a month later in 1885. Ulysses S Grant was a man that compensated for his lack of genius intelligence and military aptitude through hard work and rugged determination. In that I am a lot like Grant. People often remark that I excel at a particular subject or project and comment that I am talented and gifted. However, they do not see the hard work and extra effort I have put into completing an endeavor that I took on to accomplish. It was not talent or genius; it was the resolve to finish a job well done. Along with the success Grant got from his willpower also came the failures that were the result of the necessity of taking a risk. Grants business failures were due to his desire to make extra money for his family, but not being a good businessman. I, too, have tried many things to make extra money or become successful that have seldom yielded the payoff I expected. My unimposing stature and average looks also resemble the description given to Grant in the Atlantic Monthly as an average man that would normally gain no recognition. These traits that I share with President Grant have been gained from and tempered by a background similar to his. I came from a rural background where farming was a supplement to other employment in the trades. My family was of modest means and education was a family luxury, just as it was for Grant. For both Grant and I there is a phenomenon of life that we both share; I have found opportunity less often than opportunity has found me. These humble beginnings developed in me the same sense of fairness and respect for the law that Grant had. Though Grant fought his battles in public places against a known enemy, my battles have been more private but required the same level of dedication and tenacity. In conclusion, Ulysses S Grant was one of the most remarkable, yet unremarkable, men that ever occupied the office of the presidency. Grant, like I, was average in almost every measure of stature, intelligence, status, and social resources. Still, we also shared the same drive, determination, dedication, and willingness to never give up or accept defeat. Grant had a deep sense of duty to the law, a respect for his fellow man, and a belief in our public institutions that I also share. Our humble rural backgrounds offered few opportunities for future success, but opportunity has a way of finding us. It destined Grant to become a great military General that is credited with saving the Union. Opportunity also found him and helped him to become a two-term president. When I look at Grant and myself I am able to believe that I too could one day become President of this great nation. This certainly proves the ages old adage that contends that in the United States anyone can grow up to become President, even me. Works Cited Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams. Champaign, IL: Project Gutenberg, 1905. Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1996. "(Hiram) Ulysses S(impson) Grant Biography (1822 - 1885)." Biography. 2009. A&E Television Networks. 14 Jan. 2009 . "Our New President." Atlantic Monthly Mar. 1869: 378-84. Schultz, Duane. The Most Glorious Fourth. New York: W W Norton and Company, 2002. Read More