# "Grant" documentary on the History channel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615 "2020-05-28T17:51:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/1 "2020-05-28T17:51:29Z")
Anyone else watching? Really terrific, IMO – rightly emphasizing how Grant was ahead of his time among Presidents (aside from Lincoln) in recognizing the pivotal importance and necessity of civil rights for black Americans. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/2 "2020-05-29T02:41:30Z")
That sounds interesting, and a break from “Pawn Stars” and “Ancient Aliens.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/3 "2020-05-29T02:50:01Z")
It was great. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2020, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/4 "2020-05-29T21:53:32Z")
I missed it, which is really annoying because I had been looking forward to it. Unfortunately, every preview ad I ever saw for it did not give any indication of when it would be broadcast, just saying “Coming Soon”. And of course, unlike the way History Channel re-re-re-runs all of their “Ancient Aliens” type crap, this was only aired once. Although on checking with U-verse’s On Demand schedule, it looks like the first episode is now available until June 29, which gives me hope that all three episodes will eventually show up there. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/5 "2020-05-30T01:52:56Z")
Sam Grant is a hero to me. Being here, I am unable to see any of this miniseries except the trailer. From that, I did not thing the actor looked like Grant. The fellow who played him in the recent _Lincoln_ movie had him nailed, reddish hair, and a look as if he was about to drive his head through a brick wall. Hell of man, that Sam Grant. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/6 "2020-05-30T02:12:16Z")
My mother actually called and said that I would like this series. After her call and this thread, I will watch it and contribute to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/7 "2020-05-30T16:26:46Z")
Started it last night. The actor playing Young Man Grant and the actor playing Young Missus Julia Grant-to-be were distractingly gorgeous. Much as I admire the two of them, I’d never thought of them as eye candy. The actors were replaced by appropriately homely ones as the characters aged. And yes, the writing, performances, and cinematography are excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/8 "2020-05-30T23:20:18Z")
I’m unlikely to watch this as I don’t have access to the History channel, but Grant was quite a fascinating character. I’m partway through “The Annotated Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant”, which is quite the tome. But he was quite an engaging writer and the book is pleasure to read. There’s some comfort in reading a steady handed and matter of fact account of very uncertain times. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/9 "2020-06-01T19:31:36Z")
Loved the show. It gave me a lot more respect for Grant. I don’t think that the war would have been won without him, he seemed to be the only general who didn’t crap his pants at the mention of Lee’s name. As president, I think he was better than usually given credit for and I have to move him up a few pegs on my presidential rankings. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/10 "2020-06-01T19:51:34Z")
The interesting thing that I was exposed was how decisive he became when the combat shit hit the fan. He certainly made costly errors in judgment but unlike many other commanders on both sides, he didn’t let the debilitating fog of war keep him from freezing with indecision. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/11 "2020-06-01T20:08:15Z")
I thought it was great. Grant’s arc in the Civil War, from obscure officer in the West to ultimate victory over Lee in Virginia is an amazing history and was really done on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/12 "2020-06-02T12:37:50Z")
Being born and raised in the Deep South I was taught at an early age that he was a corrupt cigar smoking drunkard who was responsible for all the suffering caused by the war and the evil post-war reconstruction period. That statement at the end of the third episode about history being rewritten after his death and his passing from living memory really struck home with me. Prior to watching this program I never had any reason to reevaluate what I had been taught, but I now have a much greater understanding and admiration for Grant. Without his uncommon decency and steadying hand, things could have been much worse for the South during and after the war. It’s good to have a clearer view of the other side of the story. (It’s still hard to forgive the “salting of the earth” tactics Sherman and Sheridan used in Georgia and the Shenandoah valley, but it certainly was effective in ending the war!) ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/13 "2020-06-02T14:20:16Z")
> [@Stana\_Claus](#): > > Being born and raised in the Deep South I was taught at an early age that he was a corrupt cigar smoking drunkard who was responsible for all the suffering caused by the war and the evil post-war reconstruction period. That statement at the end of the third episode about history being rewritten after his death and his passing from living memory really struck home with me. > > Prior to watching this program I never had any reason to reevaluate what I had been taught, but I now have a much greater understanding and admiration for Grant. Without his uncommon decency and steadying hand, things could have been much worse for the South during and after the war. It’s good to have a clearer view of the other side of the story. (It’s still hard to forgive the “salting of the earth” tactics Sherman and Sheridan used in Georgia and the Shenandoah valley, but it certainly was effective in ending the war!) I lived for many years in the Shenandoah. I don’t think the earth was nearly as salted as southern apologists make it out to have been. Everyone at my Alma mater pisses and moans about Hunter’s Raid, for instance, but then what did they destroy? Oh, yeah, the military school that sent it’s student body to fight elsewhere in the Shenandoah Valley just a month before. Like, how do you go from a bayonet charge to “it was a place of learning and not a legitimate military target.” Have some self-awareness, people! (is what I would say to certain other graduates of this certain military school) Oh, bonus points because at the time, the school was still an arsenal for the VA militia. In fact, the school was established where it was because of the arsenal, as part of an early NIMBY movement: get rid of all these drunken militiamen guarding the arsenal. Keep the arsenal (it’s the south, so we like having guns nearby, after all), but put some college boys from well-to-do families there instead. In short, I’m glad this documentary seems to have encouraged some to re-evaluate what they know and understand about the Civil War and its aftermath. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grant-documentary-on-the-history-channel/854615/14 "2020-06-03T16:51:19Z")
I missed the original broadcast and had to go to OnDemand to view it (fortunately, whoever at Spectrum cable that set it up had it fast-forward through the commercials). What’s up with no additional showings? And why was Leonardo DiCrapio a producer? I’ve watched all of the Ken Burns shows, been to many of the sites (like Gettysburg and Vicksburg, plus Grant’s Galena house), and belong to a local Civil War roundtable (study group). I found the battle descriptions to be detailed enough to give a good overview of Grant’s movements without going into the weeds with overwhelming detail, which I appreciated. The final summary was quite generous to Grant considering how he has been portrayed as a terrible president. History Channel: if you’re listening, do more like this!