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Twain writes about it himself in his (insanely long) autobiography. Grant was nearly broke when Twain - who was a great admirer of his - pushed him to write it

Twain writes about it himself in his (insanely long) autobiography. Grant was nearly broke when Twain - who was a great admirer of his - pushed him to write it and set him up with a publisher. After the publisher tried to screw Grant with a horrible contract, Twain published it himself.

NoZebra120vClip 4y ago
Wikipedia has an interesting paragraph on the circumstances whereby his autobiography will not enter into the Public Domain as scheduled, but later, due to some "gaming the system".
- bryanrasmussen 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Memoirs_of_U._S._Grant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Memoirs_of_U._S._Gran... searching for gaming, public domain, and copyright all come up empty - do you have more details.
  - lIl-IIIl 4y ago
    I think that comment was about Twain's autobiography, not Grant's: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Mark_Twain#Copyright_status https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Mark_Twain#.... I remember when it first came out, which was surprisingly recently, in 2010. They published it in secret in 2001 so that it is not considered "unpublished" and doesn't enter public domain in 2003. Although I don't understand how "publishing in secret" is still considering publishing.
    - bryanrasmussen 4y ago
      hmm, well Twain was quite committed to the idea of perpetual copyright, so seems fitting somehow.
enkid 4y ago
One of Grant's failings was trusting too easily. He was broke because he was taken in by a con artist, then developed throat cancer before he could get his feet back under him, and spent his dying months writing out the manuscript by hand because he couldn't do tate to a secretary any more.
- drewcoo 4y ago
  > One of Grant's failings was trusting too easily. And a general who trusts too easily, just might possibly trust too readily, sir. He was no Sherman, but his "governance" of the south led to carpetbaggers and "south shall rise again" BS that remains to this day. If Lee had won the war or McClellan . . . we would have very different, much stronger ideas of republic today.
  - themitigating 4y ago
    "and "south shall rise again" Are you sure this can't be explained much more easily as pride?
  - bryanrasmussen 4y ago
    I mean the whole being strict on the south was not just Grant's view, there were lots of people who wanted it. Johnson evidently wanted to be more lenient but was forced by the Congress to be hard. As far as McClellan winning the war!! That really moves the alternate history from the realm of Science Fiction to one of Fantasy.
  - sonofthesouf 4y ago
    You have "South Shall Rise Again," at least these days, because folks have disdain towards the Federal apparatus and so the Confederacy makes for an easy monument around which to gather. Arguably, the reason "the South" is a contentious topic as it stands presently - is a lack of folks being touched by the better angels of our nature. Grant wisely understood that in order to rebuild the nation, one couldn't become punitive towards his erstwhile and future countrymen.
  - yardie 4y ago

NoZebra120vClip 4y ago

Wikipedia has an interesting paragraph on the circumstances whereby his autobiography will not enter into the Public Domain as scheduled, but later, due to some "gaming the system".

bryanrasmussen 4y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Memoirs_of_U._S._Grant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Memoirs_of_U._S._Gran... searching for gaming, public domain, and copyright all come up empty - do you have more details.
- lIl-IIIl 4y ago
  I think that comment was about Twain's autobiography, not Grant's: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Mark_Twain#Copyright_status https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_Mark_Twain#.... I remember when it first came out, which was surprisingly recently, in 2010. They published it in secret in 2001 so that it is not considered "unpublished" and doesn't enter public domain in 2003. Although I don't understand how "publishing in secret" is still considering publishing.
  - bryanrasmussen 4y ago
    hmm, well Twain was quite committed to the idea of perpetual copyright, so seems fitting somehow.

enkid 4y ago

One of Grant's failings was trusting too easily. He was broke because he was taken in by a con artist, then developed throat cancer before he could get his feet back under him, and spent his dying months writing out the manuscript by hand because he couldn't do tate to a secretary any more.

drewcoo 4y ago
> One of Grant's failings was trusting too easily. And a general who trusts too easily, just might possibly trust too readily, sir. He was no Sherman, but his "governance" of the south led to carpetbaggers and "south shall rise again" BS that remains to this day. If Lee had won the war or McClellan . . . we would have very different, much stronger ideas of republic today.
- themitigating 4y ago
  "and "south shall rise again" Are you sure this can't be explained much more easily as pride?
- bryanrasmussen 4y ago
  I mean the whole being strict on the south was not just Grant's view, there were lots of people who wanted it. Johnson evidently wanted to be more lenient but was forced by the Congress to be hard. As far as McClellan winning the war!! That really moves the alternate history from the realm of Science Fiction to one of Fantasy.
- sonofthesouf 4y ago
  You have "South Shall Rise Again," at least these days, because folks have disdain towards the Federal apparatus and so the Confederacy makes for an easy monument around which to gather. Arguably, the reason "the South" is a contentious topic as it stands presently - is a lack of folks being touched by the better angels of our nature. Grant wisely understood that in order to rebuild the nation, one couldn't become punitive towards his erstwhile and future countrymen.
- yardie 4y ago