~~~~ ” Grant first wrote several articles on his Civil War campaigns for The Century Magazine, which were warmly received.
Mark Twain offered Grant a generous contract for the publication of his memoirs, including 75% of the book’s sales as royalties.
Terminally ill, Grant finished the book just a few days before his death.
The Memoirs sold over 300,000 copies, earning the Grant family over $450,000.
Twain promoted the book as “the most remarkable work of its kind since the Commentaries of Julius Caesar,” and Grant’s memoirs are also regarded by such writers as Matthew Arnold and Gertrude Stein as among the finest ever written….” ~~~~
I really enjoyed reading Grant’s Memoirs… it made me realize how many variables there are in war… much of victory is a sheer grinding towards the goal… Grant was a very unusual man… beloved by his men…
Lee also was beloved… different nature … although his cause was unjust his personal nobility was to be remembered… he had so little to battle against the North…
New exhibit at the New York Historical Society… Grant and Lee in War and Peace…
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The Panic of 1873 hit the country hard during his presidency, and he never attempted decisive action, one way or the other, to alleviate distress.
The first law that he signed, in March 1869, established the value of the greenback currency issued during the Civil War, pledging to redeem the bills in gold.
In 1874, he vetoed a bill to increase the amount of a legal tender currency, which defused the currency crisis on Wall Street but did little to help the economy as a whole.
The depression led to Democratic victories in the 1874 off-year elections, as that party took control of the House for the first time since 1856.
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