Grant and Twain by Mark Perry

This fascinating and well written book brought to light a story that I had never been aware, a connection between Mark Twain and Ulysses Grant that had never even been hinted at in all my readings.  Perry did an excellent job of portraying these two men and their complex personalities.  I would have liked more of the interpersonal exchanges, but I suspect that there are too few records to go beyond what is in this book.

We meet Grant after the presidency at a time when one of his sons and an investment fraud cause the ex-president to lose his money, a time when retired presidents did not get the annual salary that comes today and because he resigned his rank to become president he also did not get his veteran's benefit either.

It was a time in Mark Twain's life when he was completing and publishing Huck Finn, the novel that would be his classic - to Hemingway, the greatest American Novel, and a time when Mark's lavish lifestyle and bad investments also had him hurting for money.

Grant learned of his throat cancer that had been caused by the many cigars he smoked - and probably smoked to great excess during the war.  Twain and Grant met and became friends - good friends.  Twain admired Grant and even as a peace advocate and a southerner their companionship was strong and without any barriers to mutual admiration.  Unlike his youth in Missouri, Twain had come to see the great evils of slavery and the false premises of rich and elite in the south.  His Huck Finn story was really the story of Jim, the slave and the float down the Mississippi was a flight for freedom - even though it was a float south.

Huck Finn was banned by many when it first came out and continues to have great controversy.  The racial language that was used is coarse and offensive, but the real language of the day was coarser and more offensive.  Twain incorporated real stories he had collected and put these in to the book as fictions.  In this book, Twain was trying to manage his book, but became engaged with Grant over the writing of Grant's memoirs.

Grant had been reticent to write about the war until this point in his life when he was doing it as a conclusion to a long and admirable life and to provide his wife with some income after he died.  He began with an agreement to publish four battle articles - Vicksburg, Shiloh, Wilderness, Appomattox to Century magazine and then they began to talk to him about putting out a book.

Twain loved the idea of the book but saw that Grant should get greater compensation and said so.  Eventually this led to Twain being the publisher.  During the writing, Grant was suffering greatly from the cancer, but like a warrior he internalized the pain and used it to propel his writing.

Grant died shortly after completing the book and the book project might have been responsible for prolonging his life.  At least one of his aids lamented that he did not know what would keep Grant alive after the writing was done.


The result was satisfying to both men and has had great reception as one of the truly classic war memoirs. The following is from Wiki - "The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant is an autobiography of American President Ulysses S. Grant, focused mainly on the general's actions during the American Civil War. Written as Grant was dying in 1885, the two-volume set was published by Mark Twain shortly after Grant's death.

Twain created a unique marketing system designed to reach millions of veterans with a patriotic appeal just as Grant's death was being mourned. Ten thousand agents canvassed the North, following a script Twain had devised; many were themselves veterans who dressed in their old uniforms. They sold 350,000 two-volume sets at prices from $3.50 to $12 (depending on the binding). Each copy contained what looked like a handwritten note from Grant himself. In the end, Grant's widow Julia received about $450,000, suggesting a gross royalty before expenses of about 30%.^[1][2]

The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant has been highly regarded by the general public, military historians^[3] and literary critics.^[4] Grant was a shrewd, intelligent, and effective writer. He portrayed himself in the persona of the honorable Western hero, whose strength lies in his honesty and straightforwardness. He candidly depicts his battles against both the external Confederates and his internal Army foes.^[5]"

To think that these two men of such different backgrounds could collaborate on this effort might be to sell both of them short.  Grant did what the country needed and Twain saw this.  He saw a man who did not glorify himself in war, but shared the brotherhood of the combatant with his men.  He was not an officer above his men, but an officer who shared the battle with his men and he cared.

Grant had been in the Mexican war before the Civil War and his statement on that war would have found Twain's ears to be receptive of the message, "Generally, the officers of the army were indifferent whether the annexation was consummated or not; but not so all of them. For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory.^{[7]"  (Wiki)}