Research Paper on:
Jean Edward Smith's Grant

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
in the best of lights, and historians have had a tendency to illustrate his errors. In Jean Edward Smiths book "Grant" we are given a different perspective of the man  who was the infamous Grant. In Smiths book, an examination that is filled with a great deal of documented proof, we find that Grant was actually a man ahead of  his times in many ways. In the following paper we examine the man that was Grant, as presented by Jean Edward Smith. Grant "Ulysses Grant was born at  Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822" (Smith 21). He did relatively poorly in his early education, and was prone to enjoying his time with horses, as well as with physical  labor on the farm. Grants mother, Hannah, once stated that "Horses seem to understand Ulysses" (Smith 23). When he was eleven he was plowing the familys fields and stated, "From  that age until seventeen I did all the work with the horses. For this I was compensated by the fact that there was never any scolding or punishment by my  parents; no objections to rational enjoyments, such as fishing, going to the creek to swim in the summer, taking a horse and visiting my grandparents in the adjoining county, fifteen  miles off" (Smith 23). When he was seventeen his father informed him that he would be attending West Point. In essence, according to Smith, Ulysses father wanted an education  of prestige for his son and West Point offered such an opportunity. However, Ulysses was less than enthusiastic about the idea, though eventually conceded to his fathers wishes. "Grant went  to the academy without enthusiasm. The one bright spot he saw was the opportunity to travel" (Smith 24). He established himself in the environment and made friends. In the following