Show Grant Grant- alp r pa s. s w s 1 ro ti r fr t w By ELMO SCOTT WATSON ATSON At 7 A PIUL PAIL 27 of this year marks the thel theone theone l one hundred fifth of the birth of t a remarkable Amor- Amor C iVl lean can He Is remarkable In the r I I L sense eMe that Ills hie life Ute story Is the paradox of ot a failure who succeeded sue sue- 4 seeded not once but many lUUY times Umes k R V W 13 Eo Woodward author of or George George Washington The Image and the Man recently announced an flounced that he lie Is at ot work on the reconstruction of another great American figure t tr t t Gen Ben Ulysses S. S S Grant Grunt From Froll other statements of ofIs oft i ta hl big lite subject J ind bolt ill It t Is evident Unit lie he Is approaching a 4 t from Irom the successful full failure ure angle at L ta x k Grants Grant's career was as I one oue At of the the ills most of l dramatic r thirty thirty- 11 U l l C Ill R v v s r h age uLe Ig he ta In our u history s. s t. t sitting nn g eight he ha una was nn nn nil obscure and onu b hen benten satin ten ma n g Silently around the stove sto In a 0 country store sture ilk His him He lie op opportunities were all 1111 behind had bid left the army lII under till tie charge harge of drunken drunken- teas and end lsd ld found himself unable to make a living In III s Who Vho would dreamed atthe at atthe the of the Civil war that this seedy discouraged failure was to h. 1 i bri i ale ne the great leader or of f the Union armless armies and to be for two terms 2 It I liberalise is Grants Grant's career was a n dramatic one cue end and hero because use his life storY has ball In It so 80 many elements that he hels Is such suh an nn Interesting ture Gure jure There Th re Is the farm II rm boy wy who became berame President Irest dent deat element and ond despite the failures failure In I bli bh k Career It tins lias In Its general outlines nil all the elements ele- ele ments of ot the success story of of which Americans seem wem to 10 he particularly fond Ai As a u military genius It Ills II I. doubtful If he was the equal of or half a 0 dozen other generals In the Union and Confederate Irate nut But Grant the soldier was a Ii picturesque character and It Is easy to understand how bow the picture of this stocky dark taciturn man chewing chew ing upon Ufton the Inevitable cigar would appeal to the of ot a u people so soon to become wedded to 10 a gospel of efficiency and a Ged H ted albeit by hy the movies of movies of a 0 strong silent man Ban as es an on Ideal Then there Is the matter of ot epigrammatic utter utter- in Inc Inee Ve We Americans are fond of laconic speech or CI our great grent sayings by great men words catch and the like So why should we not remember the man who said sold Let Iet us have peace I Imad wd mad whose brief unconditional surrender mes mes- rage Inge to tn the general ge of an un opposing army could coull j hf In n Identity of Initials make It easy eBBY to read U U. U S S. S Grant as all Ulysses Simpson Grant Gront or Surrender Grant or United states Grant Crant One other element Is the fact tact that the he manner of his becoming President followed hI tradition so closely The TIe tradition was when the new ne Republic made the George Washington ton Its first President resident R The tradition was perpetuated after the war of 1112 In the tile gift of the Ir Presidency to Andrew Andrlw Jackson hero lero of ot the Battle Dattle of New Orleans Orlean and nod andI I little later to William Henry Harrison the Old hero of another battle In that con COD Zachary Taylor the Old Rough Hough and ond Ready Kemly Sr Ir ll Mexican war fame was similarly rewarded re t his bli country So why should I not the th victorious general of ot the Hie war between the states be bl ele ele- rated al d to the residency Presidency as soon ns as the opportunity That qU question was WOI answered In 1368 ten beu General Grant became become President Grant Grant the President Is rather r a n dim vague ague nr tare rt in our minds t. t It Is Grant Grunt the till soldier who whoa is a and for tor lq 00 years jears those tho-e e two t word words h hire a Pen been Synonymous Simpson Grunt ts 18 eighth In descent nt from Matthen 1 Grant rant Rho came to Massachusetts In and ond w wa wo H ur- ur YOI ot of Connecticut in for more morl than forty years yarl there then Is no ho direct evidence 1 of ot the tUc fart fact It Mi iI not unlikely that Matthew Grant had a n part purt to III the Indian wars In New l England and aud thus ts Wished the line lIue of ot military Grunts At any Pate e the be soldier strain cropped out early for Noah oah G raUl and Solomon r. r Or M grandfather great linn rant hI hiM great granduncle held c IMI Iii during the 5 Reven Y Years ars or French and War r uso and both were In lu campaign Noah Nonh Grant hIs hu K M r. r d e a company In the Continental Iu Inn Banker t end and d served throughout the Revolution Involution froth t hill to Yorktown lh Ibe the v or n nut not lt a Grant of ot this lids line ln In Grant Gnat Ir r r. r a of f W 2 ls It not nut recorded hut but flyn e- e e eS S S. ChU II ehn hll sen ed 11 In the war and the lie f ar his I sun un Geri Frederick Pent Dent C ent Grunt Grant who due aw tU Iu thu tho In the th theaD Il h cr M ran aD an a ii ln In the llie timid his b iii Ih u CON Wr tw HI III who her war ar were o true to their her tinge and und carried on the tile tradition of military service servo sere ice by successive generations of Grants After the Revolution Involution Noah Grant emigrated to Pennsylvania and In 1 1709 1700 jt he continued westward to Ohio General Ge Grant Orant has hos recorded In m his hll memoirs that lint Nosh Noah Grunt was not thrifty In tho the w way y of laying up stores on earth and ond financial reverses reversE'S as well as S the death of his wife In 1805 1801 broke up the family Jesse Grant the fatter father of the future President was given a home by Judge Judg Tod of Ohio and he remained with Tod until he was old enough h to learn a trade and strike out for himself At Ravenna Ohio Jesse se Grant Orant established a tannery and ond later Inter moved to Point Pleasant Clermont Cler Cler- mont moat county Ohio There on April 22 1822 a ason ason ason son was born and alid given gl the name of Hiram Ulysses Grant Grunt was was 88 appointed to West Point In 1830 1810 and ond It was at that time tilDe that Hiram Ulysses became Ulysses Ulyses Simpson on In the course of mak mak- making ing log the appointment Congressman Hamer of Ohio was obliged d to give hive the full fult name of ot his Knowing that thaI the boys boy's name nama wa was Ulysses and his mothers mother's maiden name Dome was Simpson at aventure a aventure venture he wrote It down Ulysses Simpson Grant And so BO It remained through the remainder of Grants Grant's life lite While his career at the military academy cannot be called a 0 failure at least It was fur far from a 0 success The fact that his classmates classmates class class- mates mateN distorted Ulysses Into Useless has some significance Except for tor his superior horsemanship horseman ship and ond proficiency ncy In mathematics he tie was never squarely at either end of the class front nor rear Mediocrity Is perhaps the most fitting characterization tion of ot Grant the West Pointer Iii His 1115 class stand standIng standIng standIng Ing was Vas so low how that he served his fourth year rear 1 asa as at ata a o private and at the age of twenty twenty one one he was Will graduated with a 0 ranking of 21 In a class of 30 SO Ills His Interest t In hor horses horRell es both bolh as a boy In Ohio and as a 0 cadet rodet at West Yest Point had hod crystallized Into a desire to obtain a commission In the cavalry upon graduation Instead he was appointed a second lieutenant In the l Fourth Infantry If It this was not Grants Grant's first failure It was at least his hi first nt frustration which Is so nearly the same some thing He III was ordered ord red to Jefferson barracks barrack In to Missouri and while there his dissatisfaction with army life became so pronounced that he determined determined deter deter- mined to resign and f seek ek a professorship In tn mathematics In some college He lIe applied for an aD appointment as ns assistant professor of mat mathematics mathe mathe- he- he matics motil's at Dt West Point but hut again ho he was frustrated There was no such position open then one occurred ol the Mexican war broke out and an Grant Grunt was teas a I soldier on un active Instead of ot academic c service And this young lieutenant fed tell up liP on on garrison on life lIl and seeking an nn escape was us the man who a 0 few years later was to hero heroine me commander com of the greatest 1 army ever er assembled on American Amerlean Amer lean ican soil sell and the first American officer to be hI given Iven the rank of after r that grade was created by hy net act o of ot f congress sll I During the tha Mexican war Grant was promoted promotE to nr first t II 11 1 t f for r gallantry at nt the battle of ot bre captain for his hili conduit con on Molino del hey and dud duct at In iu lS 1813 1 he hp was Willi this time he was wan lOU iou blond lonN a captain lint hut by lt that he could not support his family on a It captains captain's pity pay II the consternation of hi Ms his So Sn In 18 4 much to family and hi his friends he hp resigned nell from the army In tn the th words of one biographer nf life lite wr were ny- ny Th next nest seven yar a of Gt nr wile but bul ro r on a wire thIns thing to Support It than ner necessary i-ary i to 10 g gt get t eo to and child quicklY a. a luO I. I after quitting Qu n the ib work k as 1111 law father hel helped him out y y putI put put- army HU ilia mall farm tarm he owned In hag n I on In a and harrowed rd M and curried his hi I here lIere re Gr Grant lowed with hU tile own lIn hands hanU a lo log house houe for tor horses horM OU I Guilt built them converted convert cut cut l down Ire tree r nii awl I H. H FX family corll III W ld and then hauled hf It II to the th nearest MartAl Into hunt hunt- town tramped around t the th Ulace W w er mn h wh u unity e on Inc Upon there thee wood wood- cud credit t- t bl C b proved c h 0 hauling tripe trip the tha man who later latr became bleam th thy greatest military figure gure of the world and aDd Preil- Preil dent dint of th the United States Stat was wae dressed In to a r ye very rr shabby old felt hat bat a patched bl blouse u. u coat and pant panta shoved In the tb top tops of ot th the tb boot booti that has hal een lIen much wear war Not being able to make mak a living at t tannin famine and wood cutting Grant Orant nit next tried M hl hi hand and In an endeavor to sell u 11 real ral tat estate and vol- vol ol- ol ol lest lect rents renta In St. St Louis Loul This venture w was W. no more mars Successful ful than th the previous one on From St. St Louts Loula he b. moved to Galena III Ill where he lie became bellm a clerk clerkIn In a leather and hardware ator tors owned by hi his hi father tather Thus r s a failure as a former farmer and a business man manWAI woe was WAI added to his record The opening guns of the Civil war brought him out of ot his obscurity but agal again fie be seemed destined to failure He lie offered his services to the tho government govern ment meat but despite Ms his West Point training and his bl Mexican war record no one tn to authority paid much attention to him Finally Governor Yates of Illinois offered him the colonelcy of ot the Twenty Twenty- first regiment of Illinois Infantry and on June 1 15 1801 1801 1861 he lie assumed command of that regiment From then on on OD his hll rise was rapid until the end nd came como at ot Appomattox and a BI as the successful general gen era eral I in ID one ODe of ot the greatest conflicts the world has haa ever known he readied one of his hi greatest triumphs If Grant the soldier was a great success Grant Orant the politician was wal equally equall a great failure Ills His two terms as 81 President proved that Although there was much that was 81 commendable In 10 his hS record as I the Chief Executive In the memory of most Americans this Is I. overshadowed o by the tho scandals resulting from misplaced confidence In is his friends which marred his eight years In the tho White House nut But through It all Grant the man emerged with reputation unsullied From this failure he went to the lI second ond great triumph of or his life life his his trip around the world during which he was Wall honored by other nations as BI few v men mea before or since have han been en honored He lie returned to this country In 1880 1830 to find his name nome proposed as 81 a candidate for the Republican nomination for President and he was not an aD unwilling candidate During the the exciting days day of the Republican convention the greatness of ot Grant the man mon and the weakness of Grant Orant the politician poll poli flashed forth again There was a deadlock deadlock dead dead- deadlock lock with neither Grant Sherman nor Garfield able to muster enough nough votes to get the nomination Then the tue Sherman supporters proposed proposed pro pro- posed to throw their strength to Grant If he would agree to make Sherman a member of hi his c cabinet This was Grants Grant's reply It was my Intention If nominated d and elected to appoint John Sherman lI secretary of the tile treasury ury Now you may be ho certain that I shall not Not to be bo beI I President of ot the United States would I consent that a bargain IlI should be made mode So flo James Jame- A. A ld became the nominee and President 11 He lie was Will destined to know one oae more failure e and ond andone one line more triumph before the end nd of 1 his l career career lie He became n a partner In a business firm which failed and he be was left almost penniless The country came rame to his rescue and congress by a enactment In 1 18 placed d him on the retired list Un of the th army as all general with full tull pay paya paye tI e a position he had hod resigned to heroine become President Urged thereto reto to by enterprising editors he set bout about the task of his hili memoirs the sale of which he lie hopes hoped would take toko care fir With ith the tilt shadow OW of ot death hovering over him t he I persisted In III Ms Ills work and finished It a n few V days furt the HIP end ind came HP lie died July 21 The magnificent tomb In park New York ill dt city I Is III man lilith thun than the last resting rl plane of Ulysses UIKI Simpson Grunt Brent general and President It Is 18 a national p of ut If American n genius for through failure i 4 |