His presidential accomplishments were as considerable as his military victories, says Smith, for the same strength of character that made him successful on the battlefield also characterized his years in the White House. Following the turmoil of Andrew Johnson's administration, Grant guided the nation through the post-Civil War era, overseeing Reconstruction in the South and enforcing the freedoms of new African-American citizens. He argues convincingly that Grant is greatly underrated as a president. In this comprehensive biography, Jean Edward Smith reconciles these conflicting assessments of Grant's life. After the Revolution, he slowly built a lucrative law practice in Richmond, Va. Smith (George Bush's War, 1992, etc.) attributes the chief justice of the Supreme Court's lifelong commitment to national, as against state, power to his service in Washington's army during the American Revolution, including the bitter winter at Valley Forge. In the 1970s, he turned his attention away from European history and toward American figures. Yet today Grant is remembered as a brilliant general but a failed president. A well-written biography of our most influential jurist. As president, he brought stability to the country after years of war and upheaval. As general in chief, Grant revolutionized modern warfare. A New York Times Notable Book of 1996 It was in tolling the death.

Grant was the first four-star general in the history of the United States Army and the only president between Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson to serve eight consecutive years in the White House. Read John Marshall Definer of a Nation by Jean Edward Smith available from Rakuten Kobo.

John Marshall by Jean Edward Smith