Ulysses S. Grant's story is one of the great American adventures. Geoffrey Perret's account, based on extensive research and using new material, offers fresh insights into Grant the commander and Grant the president. Perret describes Grant's innovative military genius and his efforts to lead the rich, industrialized United States as the first modern president. From a frontier boyhood to West Point; from heroic fears in the Mexican War to electoral triumph; from his two-year journey around the world to his final battle to finish his Personal Memoirs: Grant is wholly captured in this account.