Tragic, flawed and beloved–US Grant

“Without a word, the general turned and slowly stumped his way back out of the office, past the silent reporters, into the elevator that carried him upstairs to his office at the Mexican Southern Railroad. He stayed there all alone, till five o’clock, when he called for George Spencer, Grant &Ward’s clerk.

“Spencer found him slumped behind his desk.

“‘Spencer,” he murmured, “how is it that man deceived us all in this way?”

“The clerk had no answer.

“‘I have made it the rule of my life to trust a man long after other people give him up.” the general continued. “But I don’t see how I can ever trust any human being again.”

He buried his face in his hands.

When Grant left home that morning he had believed himself a millionaire. When he got home in the evening he had $80 in his pocket. His wife had another $130. There was nothing else.”   A Disposition to be Rich by Geoffrey C. Ward

I’ll admit it. I love US Grant.