‘One visitor to the White House noted “a puzzled pathos, as of a man with a problem before him of which he does not understand the terms.”’
Wrong president.
Sherman on Grant - “I knew Grant would make the fur fly when he started down through Virginia. Wherever he is the enemy will never find any trouble about getting up a fight. He has all the tenacity of a Scotch terrier.” And this from General Horace Porter - “His (Grant) methods were all stamped with tenacity of purpose, originality, and ingenuity. He depended for his success more upon the powers of invention than of adaptation . . . . He was calm amid excitement, patient under trials, sure in judgment, clear in foresight, never depressed by reverses or unduly elated by success (italics mine). . . . His singular self-reliance enabled him at critical junctures to decide instantly questions of vital moment without dangerous delay in seeking advice from others, and to assume the gravest responsibilities without asking any one to share them.” And this from General Sheridan’s Memoirs - “When his military history is analyzed after the lapse of years, it will show even more clearly than now that during these, as well as his previous campaigns, he was the steadfast center about and on which everything else turned.” The best book I’ve ever read on Grant is Campaigning With Grant by General Horace Porter. Porter’s opening paragraph describing when he first met Grant at Chattanooga is absolutely riveting. If you guys were to read just one more book in your entire lives you couldn’t do any better than reading it.
Compare this to that empty suit in the White House.