I thought this might be fake, but apparently it is true.
In the book Words of Our Hero, Ulysses S. Grant, published circa 1885, the remarks appear in a transcribed speech attributed to Grant. According to the book, the speech was given to the Annual Reunion of the Army of Tennessee on September 29 1875.
Reposted from 2021
I read Grant's memoirs about ten years ago. He was a very good writer who could meticulously craft a sentence. That he wrote that book while in terrible physical pain made his work all the more impressive.
ReplyDeleteHe definitely hit the nail on the head with that one.
ReplyDeleteGrat thing is, both sides agree 100% with his statement. They just think it's not about them.
DeleteAlso worth a read: If Grant Had Been Drinking At Appomattox by James Thurber.
ReplyDeletehttps://storyoftheweek.loa.org/2017/09/if-grant-had-been-drinking-at-appomattox.html
The problem is that what Grant said can be applied to BOTH SIDES! And I suppose everyone will interpret it according to their political lights.
ReplyDelete"There are good people on both sides," as someone famously said...
DeleteMinnesotastan, do you, my friend, not agree that there are indeed good people on both sides? Do you suppose that everyone who might support Trump is not a good person? If so, then--and with respect--I'm not sure how different that it from the right acting like the left is nothing but boiled down evil.
DeleteNo, this is not a "BOTH SIDES" argument. The religious fundamentalists are utterly superstitious, and the other side far less so. But plenty of ambition and ignorance all around.
ReplyDeleteWe've had three years of "return to normalcy/adults are in charge" and things are far worse than when Trump was in charge. All you have now is fear and resentment towards half the country, and I don't think there's any reconciliation coming.
ReplyDeleteIf you think things are worse without COVID and that Trump didn’t encourage fear and resentment of the more than half the voters who voted against him in 2016 you haven’t been paying attention.
DeleteRight-wing projectionism at its finest, topped with reality denialism. On so many objectively verifiable standards, we are immeasurably better now without DJT throwing food in the White House dining room. Stay in your cocoon and let actual patriots be in charge.
Delete"Things are far worse than when Trump was in charge"? Sure, a lot of things are far worse now, but are you blaming Democrats for the wave of abortion regulations, "don't say gay" policies, and fewer health care options for trans folk (and women, and, well, just about everyone, really)? It's easy to say things are fine when you're not the one being oppressed.
DeleteLet's not pretend the problem isn't the Dolt 45 cult. Superstition and ignorance is synonymous with conservatism. It is where one finds all the science denial.
DeleteBiden just isn't cruel enough to be Presidential material.
DeleteFor conservatives, the problem is not Trump's policies, but Trump. If we had had a Biden or a Hillary that espoused the right's values--AND FOLLOWED THROUGH--Trump wouldn't have stood much of a chance.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as much as I don't like Trump as a person (though I do support his policies), I have come to believe that the ONLY WAY Trump would have gotten ANYTHING done was either through abject surrender to the left, leaving behind his campaign promises (some of which he left behind anyway)...or his take-no-prisoners approach to politics. Brutal, hard, nasty, even disturbing. But do we suppose that he would have accomplished anything at all had he been soft and gentle? Nope.
Further, if Obama or Biden had made such an attempt to engage with North Korea--or had landed the Abraham Accords as Trump did--does anyone suppose that they would not have won the Nobel Peace Prize? If nothing else, they would have been a finalist.
"Annual Reunion of the Army of Tennessee"
ReplyDeleteI am certain this is incorrect. There is often confusion about The Army of Tennessee and The Army of the Tennessee.
According to The American Presidency Project, Grant gave this speech at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Army of the Tennessee in Des Moines, Iowa on September 29, 1875. The Army of the Tennessee was a union army, named after the Tennessee River and was under the command of Grant in April 1862 and he was with them until after the Vicksburg campaign in July 1863. It was later commanded by the likes of Sherman and Hooker.
The Army of Tennessee was a Confederate force formed in late 1862. Its first commander was Braxton Bragg. The Army of Tennessee was the largest Confederate Army in the west during the civil war.
The opening of the speech seems to make it obvious that Grant was speaking to the Army of the Tennessee:
"It always affords me much gratification to meet my old comrades-in-arms of ten to fourteen years ago..."
(https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-ninth-annual-meeting-the-army-the-tennessee-des-moines-iowa#:~:text=Leave%20the%20matter%20of%20religion,have%20been%20fought%20in%20vain.)
His closing remarks regarding schools are worth a perusal as well.
Army of the Tennessee: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_the_Tennessee
Army of Tennessee: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_Tennessee