Sometimes history provides accidental lessons, things we learn from great leaders’ lives. What they teach can have direct application. One such figure is Ulysses S. Grant, the Union general who won the Civil War and later became a humble president.
Grant came from humble beginnings, attended West Point, but faced his darkness – valleys of death and depression. Young, he served in the Mexican-American War heroically, but left the army to raise a family and live as a civilian.
When the Civil War began in 1861, at the age of 39, Grant rejoined the Army – believing the Confederacy was composed of traitors. He was emotionally controlled, devoted to his wife, innately dutiful, and loved his country.
Rumors of him being drunk were wildly overblown, although he wrestled with depression, and – as in modern politics – got attacked for his accomplishments. He was an unrivalled horseman, liked cigars, and smoked them most of his life.
What makes him admirable? Grant was that rare public figure, firm of heart, resolved to fight for principle, brilliant, unalterably humble. One can be an expert, confident in God-given abilities, a strategist and tactician, yet humble. Grant was.
Ironically, Grant never wanted to be a soldier, just a family man and a hard worker. He used his hands to build a home, train horses, cut wood, and just live. But the Civil War changed everything, reawakened a “sleeping giant,” untapped his strength, and resolve.
Grant won at Donaldson and Chattanooga, got called East by Lincoln, built an Army to defeat the seemingly unstoppable Robert E. Lee, also a West Pointer.
Here is where the real story begins, life lessons taught by instinct, dignity, genius. In 1863, Grant managed a sweeping assault at Vicksburg. Odds makers would have called his chances 100 to one, but he won and now controlled the Mississippi.
In the East, Grant pushed through “The Wilderness” even as Lee’s troops ambushed and tried to burn Grant’s army to death, to no avail. Having lost thousands, Grant pressed on, always fired first, stealth raids, never let Lee sleep.
When Lee’s intelligence told him Grant was “retreating,” Lee – who knew his enemy – said, “Grant does not retreat.” Lesson: Facing pain, keep going forward. Known to Lee, taught by Grant’s life: Always forward, even when exhausted.
Grant wrote: “In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten … he who continues the attack wins.” Never stopped trying.
How often do we have a goal, let doubt creep in, lose focus on victory, stumble in belief? Grant’s humble life was defined by winning despite adversity, by resolve.
On what else does victory depend, beyond faith, effort, strategy, and unflustered decision-making? It depends, when built, on keeping momentum.
Wrote Grant: “The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get to him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.” Lee knew Grant, yet could not stop him. Grant was relentless. Be relentless.
What else brought Grant to Appomattox, forced Lee’s surrender, and brought the Confederacy to its knees? Being intrepid. When facts were known, he did not hesitate. Uncertainty, like doubt, has no place in winning. Decisions must be made – timely.
Wrote Grant: “Anything is better than indecision. We must decide. If I am wrong, we shall soon find out and can do the other thing. But not to decide wastes both time and money and may ruin everything.” Being able to make clear, firm, swift decisions is vital.
To Grant, life was not as complicated as masterminds of the political kind made it. This is why, although some around him were corrupt, he was not – was our 18th President, the one who “won the peace,” early in Reconstruction.
“Let us labor for the security of free thought, free speech, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and equal rights and privileges for all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion; leave the matter of religious teaching to the family altar, the church, and the private school…” Grant was a Constitutionalist.
Finally, Grant was a guide – although he would not say so – on mercy, which he showed Lee’s men, allowing them to keep sidearms and horses – and on friendship.
“The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who have helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.”
How much simpler does life become? Grant’s life and autobiography are instructive far beyond this, but here was a man who – as Micah says – even in war tried to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with his God.” No wonder, then, he saved the Union.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
