And why it matters.
Friends at the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site near St. Louis tell me most visitors arrive with little knowledge of Grant—but leave with deep appreciation.
In my biography of Abraham Lincoln, I wrote of Grant, the decorated Civil War general, but I now confess: I did not fully know the man. Grant’s rise to fame has always remained something of a mystery. As I dug deeper, I discovered his intellectual journey was filled with surprises, detours, questions, and insights. His personality is a palette not unlike the rich colors he learned to paint with at West Point.
