Today’s historians have a higher opinion of Ulysses S. Grant
Though his presidency was famous for corruption, his personal integrity and far-sightedness on race have worn well in the history books
Grant. By Ron Chernow. Penguin Press; 1,104 pages; $40. To be published in Britain by Head of Zeus in November; £30.
IN 1948, a survey of historians ranked Ulysses S. Grant as the second-worst American president. Corruption had badly tarred his administration, just as it had that of the man at the bottom, Warren Harding. But recent surveys have been kinder. Grant now lands in the middle, thanks to his extraordinarily progressive work on race relations. “Treat the Negro as a citizen and a voter—as he is, and must remain,” he told Congress in 1874, close to a century before the South would finally consent to doing so. The victorious general in the civil war, Grant tried to see that the principles his men had fought for endured.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline "History has its eyes on him"
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