by Bret Baier
First published 2021
Bret Baier examines Ulysses S. Grant's dual rescue of America during its most dangerous decades. The Fox News anchor traces Grant's path from Ohio tanner's son through Mexican War service to Civil War command. Lincoln promoted Grant to Lieutenant General in March 1864, and within a year Grant's armies captured Richmond and accepted Lee's surrender. After Lincoln's murder left the nation rudderless, Grant again stepped forward as president. He pushed Reconstruction policies and fought the Ku Klux Klan to protect freed slaves. The 1876 election between Hayes and Tilden produced no clear winner, with Southern states threatening revolt if their candidate lost. Grant created an electoral commission and negotiated a compromise that installed Hayes while ending Reconstruction. This bargain preserved the Union but condemned the South to decades more racial oppression. Baier argues that Grant's complexity and repeated willingness to serve place him among America's greatest leaders. The book draws on fresh research to follow Grant from Civil War battlefields to White House back rooms where crucial decisions shaped the nation's future.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, american, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction
Setting: Ohio, Richmond, South
Period: 1860s, 1870s
400 pages · Hardcover · Mariner Books