Civil War general and later president of the United States. Grant is notable, at least among post-Civil War American presidents, for being both a distinguished soldier and relatively sympathetic to Native American issues. As president, he appointed his old friend Donehogawa to the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and in general he tended to take a softer line against Native American resisters than other American politicians of the era. For example, he ordered a thorough, fair investigation into the rumors of the massacre of the Blackfeet tribe. However, Grant also supported the westward expansion of American industry and society, meaning that his policies undeniably hastened the decline of Native American society.
President Ulysses S. Grant Quotes in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
The Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee quotes below are all either spoken by President Ulysses S. Grant or refer to President Ulysses S. Grant. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Picador edition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee published in 2007.
Chapter 8
Quotes
For several months he debated what his next course of action should be. Above all he wanted to help the advancement of his race, but if he remained in office with political enemies constantly sniping at him because he was an Indian himself, he feared that he might do his people more harm than good. He also wondered if his continuance in office might not be a political embarrassment to his old friend President Grant.
Related Characters:
President Ulysses S. Grant, Donehogawa / Ely Samuel Parker
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Explanation and Analysis:
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President Ulysses S. Grant Character Timeline in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
The timeline below shows where the character President Ulysses S. Grant appears in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8: The Rise and Fall of Donehogawa
Around the same time, President Ulysses S. Grant was taking office. He appointed a Native American to be the Commissioner of Indian Affairs....
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...a civil engineer on the Erie Canal, and during the Civil War he’d served under Ulysses S. Grant .
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On June 9, Red Cloud met with President Grant . He explained that his people were being denied their trading rights—rights which had been...
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