History is usually written by the winners, but for a long time, Ulysses S. Grant was the exception. He won the war and then somehow lost the narrative. If you grew up reading textbooks from thirty years ago, you probably remember him as a "butcher" who only won by throwing bodies at Lee or a drunk who stumbled his way into the White House. Honestly, it's a mess. But if you've watched the recent Ulysses S. Grant documentary on History—produced by Ron Chernow and Leonardo DiCaprio—you know that the "drunk butcher" trope is basically a myth manufactured by Lost Cause ideologues.
He was actually a brilliant strategist. He was a civil rights pioneer. And yeah, he was a guy who struggled with some pretty heavy personal demons.
The three-part documentary series, titled simply Grant, didn't just rehash the Civil War. It tried to fix a century of bad PR. You see, after the war, a group of Southern writers and historians started the "Lost Cause" movement. They wanted to make Robert E. Lee look like a tragic saint and Grant look like a clumsy oaf. It worked for a long time. People bought it. But the documentary, based on Chernow’s massive biography, pulls the receipts. It shows a man who was deeply sensitive, an expert horseman, and arguably the most underrated President in American history.
Why the Ulysses S Grant Documentary Finally Changed the Conversation
Most people think they know Grant. They don’t. The documentary kicks off by dismantling the idea that Grant was a failure before the war. Sure, he struggled in business. He sold firewood on street corners in St. Louis just to feed his family. It’s a gut-wrenching visual. Imagine the guy who would eventually command millions of men standing in the cold, trying to sell a few logs. But the documentary argues that these "failures" were what made him resilient. He didn't have the ego of George McClellan. He wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty.
When the war broke out, Grant didn't have political connections. He just showed up.
The Myth of the Butcher
One of the most intense parts of the Ulysses S. Grant documentary covers the Overland Campaign. This is where the "butcher" label comes from. People look at the casualties at Cold Harbor and shudder. It was horrific. It was a bloodbath. But the film brings in experts like Ta-Nehisi Coates and Elizabeth Samet to provide context that’s usually missing. Grant wasn't reckless; he was the only one who understood that the Confederacy's only hope was a long, drawn-out stalemate that would exhaust the North’s will to fight.
He didn't retreat.
Unlike every general before him in the Army of the Potomac, Grant kept moving forward. When the soldiers realized he wasn't turning back after the Battle of the Wilderness, they cheered. They knew the war was finally going to end because this guy wouldn't quit. It’s a nuance that gets lost in simple casualty counts. Lee lost a higher percentage of his army throughout the war than Grant did. Think about that. The "gentlemanly" Lee was actually more aggressive with his men's lives relative to his resources.
The Reconstruction President
The documentary really shines when it moves past 1865. Most Civil War docs end at Appomattox. This one doesn't. It dives into the presidency, which is where Grant’s legacy gets really interesting and, frankly, quite moving. He took on the KKK.
In 1871, Grant signed the Ku Klux Klan Act. He used the power of the federal government to crush the first iteration of the Klan in the South. He was trying to protect the rights of newly freed Black citizens when almost nobody else in Washington cared. The documentary makes it clear: Grant was the last president for nearly a century to seriously use federal might to enforce civil rights.
The Drinking Question: Fact vs. Fiction
You can't talk about a Ulysses S. Grant documentary without talking about the whiskey. It’s the elephant in the room. The film handles this with a lot of empathy. It doesn't deny he had a problem with alcohol, but it reframes it. Grant didn't drink while he was working. He drank when he was bored and away from his wife, Julia.
Isolation was his trigger.
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The documentary uses some really effective "living history" reenactments to show Grant in his tent, struggling with the loneliness of command. It paints a picture of a man with a clinical condition—alcoholism—rather than a moral failing. More importantly, it shows that he almost always stayed sober when the stakes were high. Rawlins, his chief of staff, acted as a sort of 19th-century AA sponsor. It’s a very humanizing portrayal. It makes him relatable. Who hasn't struggled with something?
The Final Act: Writing Against Death
The ending of the documentary is a genuine tear-jerker. Grant is broke—scammed by a Ponzi scheme artist named Ferdinand Ward. He’s dying of throat cancer from a lifetime of cigar smoking. He can barely swallow. He’s in constant agony. And yet, he sits on his porch in Mt. McGregor, New York, wrapped in blankets, frantically writing his memoirs.
Why? To save his family from poverty.
He finished the manuscript just days before he died. Mark Twain, who published the book, called it the finest literary work of its kind since Caesar’s Commentaries. The documentary captures that race against time beautifully. It’s a reminder that Grant’s greatest victory might not have been Vicksburg, but the quiet, painful struggle to finish those pages.
The memoirs became a massive bestseller. They provided Julia with a small fortune. He won his final battle.
Essential Insights for Your Next Watch
If you're planning on diving into the History Channel's series or any other Ulysses S. Grant documentary, keep these specific details in mind. They help separate the cinematic drama from the hard history.
- The Vicksburg Campaign: Pay attention to how the documentary explains the geography. Vicksburg was an "impregnable" fortress on a hill. Grant’s move to cut his own supply lines and live off the land was a total gamble. It was also one of the most brilliant maneuvers in military history.
- The Relationship with Lincoln: The two men were outsiders. Lincoln, the self-taught lawyer; Grant, the failed tanner. They "got" each other. The documentary highlights how Lincoln finally found a general who didn't ask for more reinforcements every five minutes.
- The Corruption Scandals: While the documentary is pro-Grant, it doesn't ignore the scandals of his administration, like the Whiskey Ring. It makes a vital distinction, though: Grant wasn't corrupt, but he was often too loyal to people who were. His "blind spot" for friends was his biggest political weakness.
- The Global Tour: After his presidency, Grant traveled the world. He was the most famous American alive. He met the Queen of England, the Emperor of Japan, and Bismarck. The documentary touches on this to show that the rest of the world saw him as the Great Emancipator, even while his reputation was being attacked at home.
How to Explore Grant’s Legacy Today
Watching a film is a great start, but the real depth comes from following the trail the documentary leaves behind. If you want to understand the man beyond the screen, start with his own words.
- Read the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. Honestly, it’s not a dry history book. It reads like a modern memoir—clear, concise, and incredibly humble. You can find free digital copies easily since it’s in the public domain.
- Visit the Grant Cottage in New York. If you're ever near Saratoga Springs, go to Mt. McGregor. You can see the bed where he died and the clock that was stopped at the moment of his passing. It’s haunting.
- Check out the Ron Chernow Biography. The documentary is basically a "best of" version of this book. If you want the 1,000-page version with every gritty detail, this is the gold standard.
- Listen to the "Grant" Audiobook. If the 900-page book is too much, the audiobook narrated by Mark Bramhall is fantastic for long drives.
- Compare Perspectives. Watch the older Ken Burns Civil War series alongside the newer Grant documentary. Notice how the narrative around Grant has shifted from "capable but brutal" to "visionary and essential."
Ulysses S. Grant was a man who failed at almost everything except the two things that mattered most: saving the United States and protecting the people within it. The documentary serves as a long-overdue apology to a man who deserved better from history. It’s not just a war story; it’s a story about a guy who kept getting knocked down and kept getting back up. That’s about as American as it gets.