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Visit att.com slash guarantee for details. This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories and we tell stories about everything here on this show from the arts to sports and from business to history and everything in between and we love telling stories about history. As always, all of our stories about American History are brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College where you can go to study and learn about all the things that matter in life and all the things that are beautiful in life. And if you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free and terrific online courses.
Go to hillsdale.edu. And now, this is the story of our 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. But this story isn't about his time as Commander-in-Chief, but rather the events in his life up to that point that shaped and molded him as a man. Here's our own Monty Montgomery on the story. Ulysses S. Grant was born on April 27th, 1822 in the small town of Point Pleasant, Ohio to parents Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Simpson Grant.
Here's Dr. John Marzlak of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library with more. His mother and father were very, very important people in his life in different ways. His father is more or less of an abolitionist and he also wrote for a newspaper which leaned in an abolitionist direction. So he's very outgoing. The mother, she is a very, very shy person. She doesn't give Grant the kind of love or support that you might expect for a mother to give. The father was always a presence in his life and always told him what to do, etc., etc., etc. Grant is much more like his mother than he is like his father. So this whole idea of Grant being a quiet person I think you could trace back to the time when he's living at home. Grant is pretty much not interested in anything but farming and not interested in doing much of anything else.
He's certainly not one of these people who wants to follow his father in his father's footsteps because one of the things his father did was his father worked in a tannery, or owned a tannery actually, and Grant hated it. Grant loved horses. He reacted very well to horses and he knew how to train them.
He knew how to get them to do. He could do things with horses that nobody else could do. And there's a very famous story of his experience with that where he really wanted his horse and his father thought it was just, the horse just wasn't worth it.
He shouldn't do that. So Grant kept working on him, working on him, working on him. So finally the father said, okay go in there, but what I want you to do is make an offer for that horse.
If the neighbor who owns this horse doesn't accept the offer, then raise it up a little bit and raise it up again. And so what Grant did actually, he went to this neighbor and he said, well my father told me that I should come and talk to you and I should offer you this much, and if you didn't take that I should up it a little bit, and if you didn't take that I should finally pay no more than I think it was $25. And so you have a situation where Grant actually gets what he wants, but he does it in such a way that it's something that he has to live down for the rest of his life. And while Grant was busy developing a love for horses, Jesse Root-Grant was busy developing a roadmap for his son's education. His father was a great believer in education, and so Grant was sent off out of town to schools where he learned, and he learned I think more about abolitionism than he learned about anything else, but he was a very, very much of a real supporter, was the father of Grant and getting as much education as he possibly could. He was obsessed with education. He wanted his children, and particularly Grant, his most important child as he saw it, to have as much education as possible. Here's Eddie Ringau of the Ulysses S. Grant Museum with more on Jesse Root-Grant's drive to have his son properly educated. I think one of those important moments was his father's drive to push him to think, to read, to be educated, so to speak. This is sort of unusual at the time for Grant's upbringing.
He was an average person. He would have been expected to take over the family farm, but his father wanted him to study, to continue to learn. And so I think this drive that his father instilled in him, although they didn't have a great relationship, it's something that Grant is going to carry through the rest of his life as he develops at West Point and then after that. He didn't want to go to West Point. His father shows up one day and basically tells him, I have secured an appointment for you to West Point. There was somebody in that town that didn't make it flunked out, basically. And so there was an opening and Grant's father was willing to go for. And Grant is like, what? It's sort of that typical scenario that has happened over the centuries where parents tell their child that they're going to do something or they will major in this.
And their child sort of says, why? He thought it was a terrible mistake. He'd be a terrible soldier. He thought, and if he just disliked the military all his life, even when he was a famous general, he didn't particularly care about this. But the reason why his father really secures this appointment from him is because Jesse Ruth Grant knows that West Point will be free. He won't have to pay for this education when he gets that appointment.
And so that's reason number one. And then reason number two, and perhaps most important, is that this education that West Point is going to provide for him will secure his future for the rest of his life. Once Grant completes that degree, he doesn't have to spend a lot of time in the military and then he can go and do whatever he wants with a world-class education at the time, of course. And so he's going to West Point sort of against his will, but this is for his future and for his benefit, so to speak. He only went because he liked traveling. And so he thought, well, maybe this way I'll get to see some of the country that I ordinarily won't see. He did it because his father, in fact, he said, since my father said I should go, I guess I better go.
I better change my mind and go. And you're listening to the story of Ulysses S. Grant. And my goodness, without his dad's influence, the world could have been changed. Certainly Ulysses S. Grant's world. When we come back, more of this remarkable life, the early life, the life before the life most of us know about Ulysses S. Grant, here on Our American Story. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell, and love America like we do, we're asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation. A monthly gift of $17.76 is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to OurAmericanStories.com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.
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Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. What's good, fam? The Black Effect Podcast Festival is back and taking over Pullman Yards in Atlanta on Saturday, April 26th, and it's going to be a whole vibe.
Doors open at 11 a.m., so you already know it's an all-day celebration of Black excellence. And we're partnering with Nissan to bring you an event you won't want to miss, because it's all going down in the Nissan Lounge. If you haven't seen the all-new 2025 Nissan Kicks or the Nissan Rogue yet, this is your moment. From available intelligent around-view monitor to available Bose Personal Plus sound system, the all-new Nissan Kicks is ready, whether you're cruising through the city or hitting the highway.
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Visit ADDYI.com to learn more about Addi. And we continue with our American stories and we return with our look into Ulysses S. Grant's backstory. When we last left off, Grant's father Jesse Root Grant had secured him an appointment at West Point.
An appointment Grant would rather not have taken and here's Dr. John Marzalek with more. Grant is not a very popular figure at West Point. He doesn't make a lot of a lot of friends. He is not somebody that people look up to as one of the individuals who's going to really make a difference and they're going to say yeah that Grant boy when he gets when he gets in the army he's going to he's going to be a terrific person etc etc but it doesn't it doesn't really work out but even at West Point he he's tried to stay never read his lessons more than once because he just was bored by it he spent most of his time reading novels more than anything else. One of the important moments I think for Grant even even at a time where I think he's very unhappy but he begins to develop his love for horses a little bit more into sort of a more useful skill. Grant is actually a very good horseman. He breaks several records that are going to stand for a long time at West Point.
This is a skill that later especially in the Mexican War and in the Civil War as well are are going to be are going to be important. Grant would graduate West Point in a middling position within his class 21st out of some 40 students but he would meet someone there who would change his life and lead him to someone who would become very important to him. I think two of the most important things that that happened to him is he met two people. One person was a fellow named Fred Dent and Dent was his roommate.
Dent said look you're going you're going to be going you're going to be going to to the St. Louis area. My father and my family has a has a place there and you're welcome to come anytime and so he does go there and he meets his future wife Julia. Of course Grant like we said comes from a very modest abolitionist family from Ohio and Julia is the daughter of a relatively well-to-do plantation owner with a pretty sizable number of of enslaved persons working at the plantation and so her family is part of this slave economy whereas Grant's is not. Now Julia's father was not very thrilled with the idea of her you know being courted by Grant and Grant's father Jesse Ruth Grant was certainly not thrilled with the idea of his son courting a the daughter of a of a slave owner. It's my understanding that the Grant family no members of the Grant family showed up to to the wedding. One one thing that really did draw them together the one thing was Julia liked to horseback ride and so they would take rides together you know he on his horse and she had her horse along the plantation and that that I think helped bring them bring them together and interestingly enough Julia is one of the few people who thinks that that Grant is going to amount to anything.
Most people say nah he's not going to be good. In fact the father her father didn't like Grant at all and thought he was going to be he's an absolute loser. Grant would soon find himself in a more uncomfortable position than simply dealing with an unimpressed father-in-law. He would be shipped out to the front in the Mexican-American war and Grant went despite his personal opinion on the conflict and the fact he would be assigned to a job which he didn't like. Quartermaster a glorified paper pusher in the eyes of Grant. He's one of these people who believes that if you're given an order like with his father if you're given an order you follow the order you do what you're supposed to do and so you have a situation where Grant in numerous occasions is willing to do the quartermaster master work even though he doesn't like it but he'll do it anyway but yet when he gets a chance he sneaks into into battle. He really learns a lot from General Zachary Taylor he sees the way he commands troops the way he inspires the way he leads his men from the front not from the back these moments are really important for Grant even though Grant opposed the Mexican war he saw it as a war of aggression towards a neighboring state he thought it was unjust he understood that the political motivations behind it from President James K Polk to essentially start a war with Mexico to gain this territory that Mexico would refuse to sell and continue to expand west to fulfill manifest destiny Grant finds a problem with this but nevertheless his time in the Mexican war really becomes this really important moment for Grant.
And after the Mexican-American war Grant was sent all across the expanded United States to remote forts in order to protect settlers falling into a depression as a result of being away from home and family for so long. In fact one of the children he doesn't even see until seven years later when he shows up back at his house in St. Louis the child doesn't even recognize him and what Grant was doing he was drinking during that time and the reason he was drinking was because he missed his wife and his family so much one could almost argue that he's self-medicating himself. And this led to problems with his superiors especially a man by the name of Robert Buchanan who would issue him an ultimatum after finding Grant hung over on the job. Buchanan says you can't behave like that we can't do that so you have a choice you either straighten out or you resign and so what what actually happens is is Grant doesn't want to resign but he has no choice.
This is where these rumors really that will follow him for the rest of his life originate of him being being a drunk. He was not addicted to alcohol in the same sense that that an alcoholic is as opposed to perhaps more of an abuse of alcohol to alleviate some of that depression or or you know angst that he has. That episode just made it so much more difficult for him and he's had to battle that for the rest of his life and even to the present day. After resigning from the military Grant would return home and return home broke. There's a couple instances where he's such bad shape that he's got to sell firewood on the street corners of St. Louis and there's a very famous famous episode where Grant and Sherman who don't know each other all that well meet and I think Sherman says what heck of a thing for former West Pointers isn't it Grant and Grant just said yeah I guess it is and that was about it so he did that and he also had to sell a favorite watch so he could buy his his family his kids something for Christmas so you have some of that so there's just a number of instances where where Grant tries things and usually come to think of it usually it has something to do with farming and that's something he thinks he can really do well but he doesn't do well. And with no other options Grant would be forced to ask his father for a job. What happened was he went to his father which was a incredibly difficult thing for him to do to go to his father and say give me a job in your store where we sell sell these tanned tanned goods so Grant doesn't like that he's not involved he doesn't do anything to do with with tanning but he's involved in selling and he tours the midwest and he sells and the father's doing doing quite successfully you know at this at this particular time so yeah Grant convinces his father look I can't make it on my own give me a job in the store and he's got a brother an older brother who's ill and so he helps him and it's a very very confused thing but the result is that Grant does work for the father and the father never lets him forget that and so for the rest of the life even when he's president the father is still trying to get get stuff from Grant for some of his friends.
What a rich and complicated early history Grant going to a college he doesn't want to go to doesn't like the military but while there develops his craft his skill horsemanship by the way that mattered if you were a soldier back in the 19th century your ability to do or a soldier back in the 19th century your ability to move and maneuver with a horse and my goodness the drinking well we can understand it away from his kid his kid didn't even recognize him when he comes back to see him and ultimately chooses to resign knowing he won't be able to give up drinking comes back home selling firewood on a street corner and then in the end having to beg his dad for a job he never wanted when we come back more of this remarkable life story the early life of Ulysses S Grant these were real life people folks who walked around before us with real life stories and real life heartbreak and when we come back more of this remarkable story of Ulysses S Grant here on Our American Stories. Tired of spills and stains on your sofa wash away your worries with Anibay. Anibay is the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly prices that's right sofas start at just $699. Enjoy a no risk experience with pet friendly stain resistant and changeable slip covers made with performance fabric experience cloud-like comfort with high resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs fluffing the sturdy steel frame ensures longevity and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime shop washablesofas.com for up to 60% off site-wide backed by a 30-day satisfaction guarantee if you're not absolutely in love send it back for a full refund no return shipping or restocking fees every penny back upgrade now at washablesofas.com offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start thumbtack knows homes so you don't have to don't know the difference between matte paint finish or satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is with thumbtack you don't have to be a home pro you just have to hire one you can hire top-rated pros see price estimates and read reviews all in the app download today hi it's Jenny Garth we all know the importance of taking care of our physical and mental health but what about our sexual health i've been there feeling totally stuck when it comes to my libido that's why i started taking addy and let me tell you i've seen firsthand what a difference it can make in how you feel addy is the only fda approved pill clinically proven to help certain pre-menopausal women have more interest in sex have more satisfying sex and lower the stress from low libido addy has helped hundreds of thousands of women get their drive back including me talk to your doctor or visit a ddy.com to learn more about addy the little pink pill individual results may vary addy or flip answering is for premenopausal women with acquired generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder hsdd who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past who have had low sexual desire no matter the type of sexual activity the situation or the sexual partner this low sexual desire is troubling to them and is not due to a medical or mental health problem problems in the relationship or medicine or other drug use addy is not for use in children men or to enhance sexual performance your risk of severe low blood pressure and fainting is increased if you drink one to two standard alcoholic drinks close in time to your addy dose wait at least two hours after drinking before taking addy at bedtime this risk increases if you take certain prescriptions otc or herbal medications or have liver problems and can happen when you take addy without alcohol or other medicines do not take if you're allergic to any of addy's ingredients allergic reaction may include hives itching or trouble breathing sometimes serious sleepiness can occur common side effects include dizziness nausea tiredness difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep and dry mouth see full pi and medication guide including boxed warning at addy.com slash pi visit a ddy.com to learn more about addy hey everybody so when you get asked what is odo what comes to mind well i'll tell you odo is a bit of everything odo is a suite of business management software that
