This piece left me with three thoughts: 1. Had circumstances been even sightly different, Grant would have been considered a failure, perhaps even by himself.

This piece left me with three thoughts: 1. Had circumstances been even sightly different, Grant would have been considered a failure, perhaps even by himself. 2. It took a certain amount of mentorship to get Grant going as a noteworthy writer. I wonder if so it came that Mark Twain was the only figure Grant could receive mentorship from. 3. The article describes how for a brief period after a horrible war, there was a demand for politicians acting genuinely and in good faith. I wonder if there's any way to reach this state sustainably.