Gilded Age and Grant

It has been a while since I’ve written on my blog. 2022 was filled with some discouraging rejections on so many levels. It took the wind out of my passion for writing and even reading. Maybe this was a necessary break? I don’t know.

What does this have to do with the Gilded Age and Grant? During the past few months, I have gone down a rabbit hole learning more about President Grant and the Gilded Age. One of the books I read was about the collaboration of President Grant and Mark Twain. It was Mark Twain that coined the phrase, “The Gilded Age.”

President Grant was never a good business man, and in the 1880s Grant and his son were swindled out of their money. Even though he was not a good businessman, Grant was a man of duty and he didn’t want to leave his beloved family destitute. Grant was offered money for his memoirs and was considering many offers, but ultimately, it was Mark Twain who persuaded Grant to work with Twain and his publishing company to publish the memoirs.

Grant and Twain had an interesting partnership. Grant was reserved and dutiful. Twain was outgoing and flamboyant. Despite these differences, they formed and excellent partnership in the development and sales of Grant’s memoirs. Grant was racing against time. He had throat cancer and was in great pain, but doggedly worked on his memoirs. Twain had devised a plan for serializing the memoir, and when it was complete, he enlisted Union veterans to sell it.

Grant died shortly after completing his memoirs. It was a bestseller and his family was financially secure. Grant cared deeply for his family, and his eldest granddaughter, Julia, had happy memories of her grandfather singing songs and spending time with him in the cottage the Grant family owned in rural New York. (The photo is the Grant family at the Cottage)