tGOAT American General U.S. Grant's memorial officially restored on the National Mall

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In 1877, three men were commonly regarded as the foremost heroes of the United States: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant.

For their efforts, each of these three Americans since has been recognized with a place of honor on the National Mall.

Yet over time, for various reasons, our appreciation of Grant—and the condition of his memorial—have deteriorated, while Lincoln’s and Washington’s have remained strong and well maintained. But there is reason for hope.

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As Chernow relates, Grant was truly a skillful general, and his 1863 victory at Vicksburg, Mississippi, is still studied at war colleges as a masterpiece of maneuver and tactics.

As president, Grant notably created the Justice Department to fight the KKK, helped shepherd the 15th Amendment giving blacks the right to vote, and then repeatedly deployed the Army to enforce those rights.

Of Grant, Princeton professor Sean Wilentz has written, “the evidence clearly shows that [Grant] created the most auspicious record on racial equality and civil rights of any president from Lincoln to Lyndon B. Johnson.”

Faced with the news that he was both dying of cancer and bankrupted by a villain who stole his money, Grant resolved to write his memoirs to provide for his family.

Despite the agony of cancer, Grant’s book is renowned for its clarity and lack of pretense. He died within days of finishing it, but his family’s finances were made secure.

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