U.S. GRANT

Since our country is in the midst of another general election year, we've been looking through some of the Bullis books about past elections. This week, we focused on:

A New, Original and Authentic Record of the Life and Deeds of

General U.S. Grant

By Frank A. Burr

Published by H.B. Graves, Rochester N.Y., 1885

Included in the text is an account of Ulysses S. Grant's election to the presidency.  At their May, 1868 national convention, the Republicans  unanimously selected Grant as their candidate for the presidency. The 1868 election was the first following the Civil War and this nation was still in recovery from that devastating event.  The Republican party supported the Reconstruction plan set up following that war, while the Democratic party generally opposed the plan.  Grant's victory resulted in the original Reconstruction plan being implemented. (And one result of this was Congress's ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, a/k/a the right to vote.)

Can books about past elections give us some perspective on the current campaign? We suggest that they can. Author Frank Burr's book is available for your use, during regular library hours.