Bret Baier

Another accessible biography by journalist Bret Baier, this time of Ulysses S. Grant. Quick, lucid writing, nice story-telling, and such. Not as meaningful as full-scale biographies by Brands or Chernow, but, another in the line of books seeking to rehabilitate (or habilitate?) Grant's reputation. There is a focus, in part four, on the disputed election of 1876 and Grant's role in, again "rescuing the Republic." There was quite the shenanigans in the election of 1876, and I don't know if anybody, Grant included, come out of it smelling of roses. Baier is trying a tad too much to shoehorn this into the overall theme of his books: turning-points and rescues. There was much information, though, about that election that I did not know before, so it was appreciated. Some okay images, though a mistake in captioning on two. Some historical errors (one on brevets, p. 28) and some typos. Mostly respected secondary sources and printed primary sources; new dumb endnoting system; index.… (mere)

A bare-bones account of the Revolution and the Constitutional Convention through the eyes and telling of George Washington. Nowhere near as good as Chernow's biographies of Washington and Hamilton, McCullough's of Adams, and Meacham's of Jefferson, it serves as a good introductory account for those who may not know as much as they should about Washington and the birth of the nation. Resting on good secondary source biographies (like those mentioned above) and easily available primary sources, it is not a bad book, it's just not a great book. Okay pictures (though there was an error in captions in my text) with endnotes and an index. Start here if you're a novice or a teen. Start with Chernow, Flexner, or Ellis if you want some real meat on Washington.… (mere)

I’ve read dozens of biographies whose subjects were the Founding Fathers and histories of the events surrounding the American Revolution. Many were extremely detailed accounts (such as John Adams and Alexander Hamilton), while others were broader overviews. This would certainly fall in the latter category.

Certainly, George Washington is deserving of a multi-volume treatise. Clearly, the most indispensable of the Founding Fathers, and perhaps the ONLY individual that could have steered the struggling, young nation through its difficult beginning. This book focuses on the aftermath of the American Revolution and the transition from the unworkable Articles of Confederation to the Constitutional Republic which has existed for the past 235 years.

The book gives a very cursory background treatment of Washington’s early years and Revolutionary War service before moving to the post-War struggle to form an effective and workable federal government framework. The book concludes with a less than cursory overview of his subsequent Presidency and short retirement before his death.

There is certainly some good information here, but be aware that the treatment is extremely shallow and relatively simplistic. It is not a bad overview, but the subject matter is deserving of far more.… (mere)

I liked the book. It was an easy read. The gave insight into Grant's temperament, his relationship with his wife, Julia, and his indulgence of all his children. The personal portrait helps a person to understand that he was very loyal to people he thought were worthy and as a result, was a target for unscrupulous people within his administration. There were a lot of aspects of Grant's life that were discussed but not in-depth but I understand that Mr. Baier's goal was to give an account of the 1876-77 election crisis and Grant's calculation that the union would be in jeopardy without the compromise that made Rutherford B. Hayes president.… (mere)