U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth

Joan Waugh

Nov 2009 · Univ of North Carolina Press

About this ebook

At the time of his death, Ulysses S. Grant was the most famous person in America, considered by most citizens to be equal in stature to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Yet today his monuments are rarely visited, his military reputation is overshadowed by that of Robert E. Lee, and his presidency is permanently mired at the bottom of historical rankings. In U. S. Grant, Joan Waugh investigates Grant’s place in public memory and the reasons behind the rise and fall of his renown, while simultaneously underscoring the fluctuating memory of the Civil War itself.

Ratings and reviews

Finally a book that credits Grant for his accomplishments and goal of destroying the vestiges of slavery in the South. Waugh is good at exposing the racist pro slavery and segregation Dunning School who castigated Grant for protecting African American voting rights. What is amazing is how historians actually conspired together to lie, putting politics over the truth, concerning Grant Civil War record and his Presidency. The Dunning School attack on Grant needs to be a warning flag to readers that historians are not always the objective observers they are suppose to be. More could have been done to examine or defend the corruption charges against the Grant Administration made by partisan critics.

About the author

Joan Waugh is professor of history at the University of California at Los Angeles. She is author or coeditor of three books, including Wars within a War: Controversy and Conflict over the American Civil War.