#1 New York Times Bestseller
Fox News Channel's Chief Political Anchor illuminates the heroic life
of Ulysses S. Grant
"To Rescue the Republic is narrative history at its absolute finest.
A fast-paced, thrilling and enormously important book." --Douglas
Brinkley
An epic history spanning the battlegrounds of the Civil War and the
violent turmoil of Reconstruction to the forgotten electoral crisis that
nearly fractured a reunited nation, Bret Baier's To Rescue the
Republic dramatically reveals Ulysses S. Grant's essential yet
underappreciated role in preserving the United States during an
unprecedented period of division.
Born a tanner's son in rugged Ohio in 1822 and battle-tested by the
Mexican American War, Grant met his destiny on the bloody fields of the
Civil War. His daring and resolve as a general gained the attention of
President Lincoln, then desperate for bold leadership. Lincoln appointed
Grant as Lieutenant General of the Union Army in March 1864. Within a
year, Grant's forces had seized Richmond and forced Robert E. Lee to
surrender.
Four years later, the reunified nation faced another leadership void
after Lincoln's assassination and an unworthy successor completed his
term. Again, Grant answered the call. At stake once more was the future
of the Union, for though the Southern states had been defeated, it
remained to be seen if the former Confederacy could be reintegrated into
the country--and if the Union could ensure the rights and welfare of
African Americans in the South. Grant met the challenge by boldly
advancing an agenda of Reconstruction and aggressively countering the Ku
Klux Klan.
In his final weeks in the White House, however, Grant faced a crisis
that threatened to undo his life's work. The contested presidential
election of 1876 produced no clear victory for either Republican
Rutherford B. Hayes or Democrat Samuel Tilden, who carried most of the
former Confederacy. Soon Southern states vowed to revolt if Tilden was
not declared the victor. Grant was determined to use his influence to
preserve the Union, establishing an electoral commission to peaceably
settle the issue. Grant brokered a grand bargain: the installation of
Republican Hayes to the presidency, with concessions to the Democrats
that effectively ended Reconstruction. This painful compromise saved the
nation, but tragically condemned the South to another century of
civil-rights oppression.
Deep with contemporary resonance and brimming with fresh detail that
takes readers from the battlefields of the Civil War to the corridors of
power where men decided the fate of the nation in back rooms, To Rescue
the Republic reveals Grant, for all his complexity, to be among the
first rank of American heroes.
