On this episode of Our American Stories, Ulysses S. Grant returned from a triumphal world tour as one of the most admired men on earth—then, almost overnight, he was ruined. After a catastrophic investment collapse left him bankrupt and in debt, Grant was diagnosed with inoperable throat and tongue cancer. With death approaching, he took on one last fight: writing his memoirs to ensure his wife Julia and their children would not be left destitute. Louis Picone, author of Grant’s Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant, shares the remarkable story of how Grant rejected a bad publishing deal, turned to Mark Twain, and wrote in agony until he finished the manuscript just days before he died.

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