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The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant v. 31; January 1, 1883-July 23, 1885 (Hardcover, 2nd Revised edition)
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The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant v. 31; January 1, 1883-July 23, 1885 (Hardcover, 2nd Revised edition)
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Mexico had interested Ulysses S. Grant since the young lieutenant
fought there. Now, as president of the Mexican Southern Railroad,
he emerged as a strong advocate of increased trade and investment.
Appointed by President Chester A. Arthur to negotiate a commercial
treaty, Grant spent most of January, 1883, at the capital, working
with his friend and counterpart Matias Romero. For months, Grant
promoted the resulting treaty, granting interviews, giving
speeches, and toasting visiting Mexican statesman Porfirio Diaz.
Success gave way to bitter failure when the Senate rejected the
treaty, led by sugar and tobacco protectionists, amid charges that
Grant had crafted provisions to benefit his moribund railroad.
Grant's support for Fitz John Porter, a former general who sought
to reverse a wartime court-martial, brought him more controversy in
Washington. U.S. Senator John A. Logan of Illinois, a stalwart
supporter, broke with Grant and fought the measure. The bill passed
anyway, but Arthur vetoed it. As Grant lost influence in the White
House and in Congress, he turned his attention and energy
elsewhere. In September, 1883, Grant joined a tour to celebrate the
completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad, begun during his first
presidential term. From Minnesota to Oregon, Grant saw firsthand
the rapid growth of the northwest. "I was not prepared to see so
rich a country or one so rapidly developing." On Christmas Eve,
1883, Grant slipped on an icy sidewalk. His injured leg kept him in
bed for weeks and on crutches for months. Another crippling blow
came in May, 1884, with the failure of Grant & Ward, the
brokerage firm co-founded by Ulysses, Jr., in which his father was
a silent partner. Ferdinand Ward had bilked the firm of its few
real assets and all the Grant family had. Grant was devastated. "I
could bear all the pecuniary loss if that was all, but that I could
be so long deceived by a man who I had such opportunity to know is
humiliating." Buoyed by loans from friends, determined to repay his
debts, Grant wrote a series of articles about his Civil War
campaigns, then began his "Memoirs." In February, 1885, he was
diagnosed with cancer. Newspapers published daily updates as Grant
steadily declined. Fading health spurred Grant to finish his
"Memoirs." He accepted a generous publishing offer from Samuel L.
Clemens and completed the first of two volumes by March. The second
was nearly done in June, when the Grants left sweltering New York
City for upstate Mount McGregor. Here Grant finished his work and
faced his end, unable to speak, communicating by notes to his
doctors and friends. "There never was one more willing to go than I
am." Grant died on July 23, his family at his side. The late John
Y. Simon was a professor of history at Southern Illinois University
Carbondale. He wrote or edited, in addition to the thirty published
volumes of the Grant Papers, four books, among which is "The
Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant." Aaron M. Lisec is associate
editor of the Grant Papers. Leigh Fought is assistant editor of the
Grant Papers. Cheryl R. Ragar is textual editor of the Grant
Papers.
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