On April 9, 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant got out of bed with a migraine. The pain had hit the day before as he rode through the Virginia countryside, where the United States Army had been harrying the Confederacy’s Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, for days.
In some ways it would be easier if today's fight for democracy was measured in men, food and guns. Those are concrete things you can be confident are what they seem to be. Today's battles are about words, some true, some noble, some sacred, some damned, some lies and some Damned Lies. I suppose one thing similar about the two eras is the side with the strongest army still wins. If truth mobilizes more warriors to the ballot box than damned lies, then democracy as we imagine it can win. Democracy as we know it is sick, and tired, and discouraged. We have a champion for democracy, but he seems a bit frail, and substantially alone. I'm looking for some strong voices in the other branches of government, strong enough to stand out from the crowd, to steal some media time from the Grahams, Pauls, McConnells, McCarthy's and the freshmen rabble in congress. I'm hoping some true statesmen will find their voice, and even more so, capture the imagination of the press. I'm tired of our press behaving like flies on a corpse. Unless, perhaps, it's the cold remains of that yellow narcissistic sociopath we endured for four too many years.
I read you every day, either last thing at night or first thing in the morning, and usually find some hope that our democracy perhaps might find a way to survive these perilous times. We have in the past, more than I knew about.
Most Americans are like Grant. We get up, get dressed (or not), get in our transportation (or not), and go to work. Once there we face a day of getting done what we must to keep ourselves and our families in the basics: food, shelter, clothing. No glitz, no glamour. The past two years have strained many of us to the breaking point, but we soldiered on. Your letters have been an anchor for me as I saw my beloved country being threatened by the twin disasters of a self coup attempt and SARS2-COV-19.
The same courage he used to finish his memoirs as he was dying, a project that would solve his financial problems and release his family from disaster when he was gone.
Grant's memoirs, which he wrote when he was old and sick, and broke, to try and make some money for his family, was published by Mark Twain and has never been out of print.
I hope history repeats itself very soon. The Ukraine winning and Russia surrendering. The Russian people having their supplies cut off and starving figuratively. Putin being taken down by his own people for incompetence and treachery. His generals surrendering by default.
Makes me feel like a dutiful scholar, that I remember learning about this day of Grant’s, a few years ago, reading your letters! He gave the enemy soldiers the rations because they were his countrymen and his brothers. Aren’t we all?
From the book "Grant," I learned that Ulysses Grant was a master of logistics. He taught himself logistics by humbly taking on the task that other officers -- who came from more elevated backgrounds -- didn't like doing. Unlike the Russian army in Ukraine, he paid farmers and merchants for food to feed his troops, even when he was operating in contested territory. In the early part of the Civil War, Northern generals that Abraham Lincoln assigned to the task of defending the nation's capital lost more battles than they won. But Grant took on the unwanted western part of the southern theater and won more battles than he lost. President Lincoln noticed the difference, and promoted Grant to the topmost post in the Northern army. After that, Grant and the competent generals he promoted started winning across a broad front from east to west. Grant could promise food to General Lee for his starving troops -- and deliver on his promise -- because he knew logistics.
This is a sad and beautiful tale, thank you. I just watched both episodes of Ken Burns' Ben Franklin, and that was also sad and beautiful, especially Franklin's wise and compassionate statements in the last years of his life. I wonder how many of the "Originalists' on the Supreme Court have listened to the words of this true Original.
I think of you, Heather, putting your head on the dining room table to get some sleep, then pulling on your clothes to get up and write and work for your country.
In some ways it would be easier if today's fight for democracy was measured in men, food and guns. Those are concrete things you can be confident are what they seem to be. Today's battles are about words, some true, some noble, some sacred, some damned, some lies and some Damned Lies. I suppose one thing similar about the two eras is the side with the strongest army still wins. If truth mobilizes more warriors to the ballot box than damned lies, then democracy as we imagine it can win. Democracy as we know it is sick, and tired, and discouraged. We have a champion for democracy, but he seems a bit frail, and substantially alone. I'm looking for some strong voices in the other branches of government, strong enough to stand out from the crowd, to steal some media time from the Grahams, Pauls, McConnells, McCarthy's and the freshmen rabble in congress. I'm hoping some true statesmen will find their voice, and even more so, capture the imagination of the press. I'm tired of our press behaving like flies on a corpse. Unless, perhaps, it's the cold remains of that yellow narcissistic sociopath we endured for four too many years.
I read you every day, either last thing at night or first thing in the morning, and usually find some hope that our democracy perhaps might find a way to survive these perilous times. We have in the past, more than I knew about.
Most Americans are like Grant. We get up, get dressed (or not), get in our transportation (or not), and go to work. Once there we face a day of getting done what we must to keep ourselves and our families in the basics: food, shelter, clothing. No glitz, no glamour. The past two years have strained many of us to the breaking point, but we soldiered on. Your letters have been an anchor for me as I saw my beloved country being threatened by the twin disasters of a self coup attempt and SARS2-COV-19.
A beautiful story.
As usual, Heather gives me hope with her lessons from history.
The same courage he used to finish his memoirs as he was dying, a project that would solve his financial problems and release his family from disaster when he was gone.
Grant's memoirs, which he wrote when he was old and sick, and broke, to try and make some money for his family, was published by Mark Twain and has never been out of print.
Grant=Zelenskyy--his appeals to God's ears....
I hope history repeats itself very soon. The Ukraine winning and Russia surrendering. The Russian people having their supplies cut off and starving figuratively. Putin being taken down by his own people for incompetence and treachery. His generals surrendering by default.
Just reading tonight’s letter rid me of my migraine headache.👏🏼👏🏼
Such a vivid and meaningful account — with lessons needed for today's struggle.
That's what it will take again.
Makes me feel like a dutiful scholar, that I remember learning about this day of Grant’s, a few years ago, reading your letters! He gave the enemy soldiers the rations because they were his countrymen and his brothers. Aren’t we all?
From the book "Grant," I learned that Ulysses Grant was a master of logistics. He taught himself logistics by humbly taking on the task that other officers -- who came from more elevated backgrounds -- didn't like doing. Unlike the Russian army in Ukraine, he paid farmers and merchants for food to feed his troops, even when he was operating in contested territory. In the early part of the Civil War, Northern generals that Abraham Lincoln assigned to the task of defending the nation's capital lost more battles than they won. But Grant took on the unwanted western part of the southern theater and won more battles than he lost. President Lincoln noticed the difference, and promoted Grant to the topmost post in the Northern army. After that, Grant and the competent generals he promoted started winning across a broad front from east to west. Grant could promise food to General Lee for his starving troops -- and deliver on his promise -- because he knew logistics.
This is a sad and beautiful tale, thank you. I just watched both episodes of Ken Burns' Ben Franklin, and that was also sad and beautiful, especially Franklin's wise and compassionate statements in the last years of his life. I wonder how many of the "Originalists' on the Supreme Court have listened to the words of this true Original.
I think of you, Heather, putting your head on the dining room table to get some sleep, then pulling on your clothes to get up and write and work for your country.
I love this story and how you framed it. Thank you!