Status Updates From Grant

Chapter 2: The Darling Young Lieutenant✔️

Could’ve been avoided if there was an actual unifying effort during reconstruction… like how I will never understand how the rank and file nazis just sorta went home and resumed normal life after the war, I’ll never understand how all the ku klux members just got reabsorbed back into society. I feel like it explains a lot of the civil rights struggles in the southern states today…

I wonder what the authors thoughts are on the theory that if Grant wasn’t such a magnanimous victor to the south the confederacy wouldn’t have been so revered after (even today tbh). I blame Lee. I feel like he could’ve used his influence for good, repaid grant’s generosity at appamadox, and saved people in the south (even the white people) a lot of heartache. I wonder how much of today’s social issues

I still feel like Ron Chernow is very quick to make excuses for Grant. I really do think Grant is George Washington incarnate. But it’s also true that there’s so much scandal/corruption surrounding him, and how he dealt with black hills/indians and the democrats/ku klux towards the end of his second term was just objectively bad. (Even Ron chernow has to agree). What a wild and super interesting read.