HIS 131 - American History I: Civil War Leaders

Pres Ulysses S. Grant is profiled. Grant was a hero when elected, but he quickly fell to the point where his presidency is considered a failure.

When he heard that Confederate troops were marching toward Paducah, Ky., at the mouth of the Tennessee River on the eastern shore of the Mississippi River, Grant stole a march on his opponents and occupied the town, which controlled access to the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.

Tackling a new leadership position is a challenge that can cause even the most talented humans to feel (and sometimes behave) like primates. Perhaps no new leader in history, though, has faced a more daunting array of difficulties than did President Abraham "The Original Gorilla" Lincoln upon taking office in 1861.

The life and writings of Frederick Douglass are far from forgotten. Even if the twenty-first century were to fulfill millenarian hopes of racial harmony, Douglass's writing would still have the power to provoke and enlighten.