Description

Easton Press leather edition of "Personal Memoirs of U.S." a Collector's edition, Edited with Notes and an Introduction by E.B. Long, one of the LIBRARY OF THE PRESIDENTS series, published in 1989. Bound in burgundy leather, the book has decorative paper end leaves, acid-free paper, Symth-sewn binding, a satin book marker, hubbed spine, gold gilding on three edges---in near FINE condition---except for a 'blank' attached bookplate on inside fly leaf. COLLECTOR'S NOTES is included. Ulysses S. Grant, who lived from 1822-1885, was the 18th President of the U.S.,1869-1877. Thanks to Grant, the United States of America remained united after the Civil War threatened its future and thousands of lives had been lost. From a sickbed---literally weeks before his death--- Ulysses S. Grant recounted his life from birth to 1865. Grant was born to tanner Jesse Grant in Ohio. Jesse insisted his son attend the military academy at West Point where he graduated in 1843. He was assigned to Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. Grant married JULIA DENT in 1848, and a day after their wedding, they left St. Louis on a leisurely journey down the Mississippi River and up the Ohio River to Louisville, Kentucky, where they visited some "wealthy Grant relatives." The Grants became parents to four children, including two sons: Frederick Dent and Jessie. Grant was a very private man and refused to allow his army men to see him naked when he was bathing---although he had a strong body, broad shoulders, a thick hairy chest---and a rugged handsome face. Until the Civil War, Grant's life was a litany of failures. Although a WEST POINT graduate and a veteran of the MEXICAN WAR, Grant botched his career in the peacetime army. Grant was morally opposed to the Mexican conflict. Shunted from one lonely outpost to another, he resigned his poorly paid commission to enter business----and rapidly went bankrupt. Virtually destitute, Grant borrowed money from his family to buy a tiny farm. For three years he struggled as a humble dirt farmer, often peddling firewood on a street corner in St. Louis. When the farm failed, Grant, nearing 40, begged jobs from friends. In 1861, when the first shots were fired on FORT SUMPTER, the man who would lead the Union Army to victory was a stock clerk in his brother's general store, the only job he could find. Then Destiny intervened: the CIVIL WAR exploded. His capture of Forts Henry and Donelson in early 1862 brought him to President Lincoln's attention and he was promoted to Major General. Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Appomattox. . .the victories rolled on. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865. The major cloud over this historic occasion was the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, whom Grant maintained "would have proven the best friend the South could have had." Lincoln's successor, ANDREW JOHNSON, was condemned as a duplicitous fool; Grant succeeded the impeached President Johnson in 1869. As President Grant was honest to a fault, but he unwittingly surrounded himself with dishonest appointees. He did reduce the national debt and negotiated favorable resolution of disputes with Great Britain. Despite BLACK FRIDAY. . . .the Credit Mobilier affair, the Whiskey Ring---scandal followed scandal---he left the Presidency as popular as the day he entered. Grant's memoir includes many insights on military preparedness, the roles of Federal and State governments, and the changing relationship between the U.S. and other world powers. Grant also predicted the outbreak of racial battles on city streets long after the abolition of slavery. 608 pages, including an index---a RARE title. I offer Combined shipping.