Let Us Have Peace
Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868
1991
First Published
4.28
Average Rating
359
Number of Pages
Historians have traditionally drawn distinctions between Ulysses S. Grant's military and political careers. In Let Us Have Peace, Brooks Simpson questions such distinctions and offers a new understanding of this often enigmatic leader. He argues that during the 1860s Grant was both soldier and politician, for military and civil policy were inevitably intertwined during the Civil War and Reconstruction era. According to Simpson, Grant instinctively understood that war was 'politics by other means.' Moreover, he realized that civil wars presented special reconciliation, not conquest, was the Union's ultimate goal. And in peace, Grant sought to secure what had been won in war, stepping in to assume a more active role in policymaking when the intransigence of white Southerners and the obstructionist behavior of President Andrew Johnson threatened to spoil the fruits of Northern victory.
Avg Rating
4.28
Number of Ratings
39
5 STARS
56%
4 STARS
23%
3 STARS
15%
2 STARS
3%
1 STARS
3%
goodreads
Author
Brooks D. Simpson
Author · 8 books
Brooks Donohue Simpson is an historian who is the ASU Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University, specializing in studies of the American Civil War.
