Grant’s Tomb Speech
April 27, 2008
[Applause]
Dirk Kempthorne: Maria, thank you very much. And to you and all of the wonderful men and women who serve the National Park Service -- it’s greatly appreciated by all the citizens of the United States. Mr. Dietz, what a joy to meet you and have Grace grace us with her presence today, very special. General Caslen, an honor, sir, to meet you, Commandant of the cadets of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. And Cadet Michael Viti who is the commander of the Third Regiment, very special to have the cadets here today. Diana, well spoken with your proclamation. And Commissioner Benepe and Commissioner Castro, a pleasure, we are united in our partnership and passion for parks and it’s tremendous what has taken place. Also to the officers of the Grant Memorial Association, it’s very special, what you do. And Bishop you gave beautiful words which we then joined with our Amen with their delivery. And Victoria, beautiful voice, the clarity of every note, beautiful.
Ladies and gentlemen, I wanted to be here today. Last night in Washington D.C. was the Correspondents’ Dinner, with the President, the First Lady, the Vice President, Mrs. Cheney in attendance, probably 1,200 – 1,500 people. I mentioned that simply because those events run late, I finally was able to get to sleep at 1:30 this morning and the alarm was set for 4:30 to catch the six a.m. train to New York and in a few hours I’ll be in Tennessee.
But I did that because how often do you get the chance to pay homage to a truly great man? Someone who did so much for this blessed United States of America. And to do it where he lies in state, next to his beloved Julia, to be here with actual blood relations of the great man and the great lady. To do it in a magnificent memorial that has in it another bloodline. And those are the Cadets of West Point, to see these young men and women, to know of the training which they receive, General Grant would be very honored at their presence and he would encourage them.
I think Ulysses S. Grant’s life is one that is amazing. A man who, yes, graduated from West Point, served in the Mexican War, but then in the late 1850’s, as our wonderful historians point out, was trying his hand at business and a variety of things. If you would have taken a snapshot at that point, I don’t know that you would say, “Well, this man is now destined to do something where the crossroads of history and need combined.” And yet it was Ulysses S. Grant who really brought the first major victory for the North at Fort Donelson, Tennessee. Ironically I’ll be in Tennessee, as I said.
When you go to Washington D.C. -- and Ulysses, I don’t know if you’ve noted this but that magnificent statue of your great, great grandfather on his horse, right below the steps of the Capitol, he is facing the Lincoln memorial. He is facing his Commander-in-Chief, President Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln, who was in search of a general that would achieve victory. And I do not believe that it was in Abraham Lincoln’s mind to achieve victory, of defeating the Confederates, it was to achieve the victory of finally finding peace, so we could remain the United States.
I think what draws so many of us who love history to the Civil War is, that every soldier who fell was an American, it did not matter whether it was blue or gray, they were Americans. I think one of the greatnesses of General Grant is the fact that he realized the assets that he had at his disposal. Being from the North, and thathe knew that with those assets they far outweighed the assets of General Robert E. Lee. But it was Lee’s tactics and intelligence, his cunning ability that kept the South so vibrant, but General Grant realized if you just stay with it, if you have the tenacity, you will be victorious.
After he became the general in charge of all of the soldiers of the North -- the first battle was not a success for the North -- and after that engagement General Grant turned the troops and headed South. It was the first time that a general from the North, after taking a bit of a beating, put it in high gear to go right after the rebels. And those soldiers that had experienced the day before, what was not a victory, began cheering because they knew that now we had a leader, knew that we had someone that will stay the course and would achieve the victory, no matter what was necessary. It gave strength and comfort to Abraham Lincoln that now had a general.
I think too, one of the reasons that the Civil War was prolonged, it was because you had many great generals, both sides educated at West Point. Ironically, some of those graduates such as Longstreet, and Pratt and Wilcox along with Grant and Lee -- but those three generals were groomsmen at the wedding of Ulysses S. Grant and Julia -- those three generals, Longstreet, Pratt and Wilcox were there at Appomattox courthouse waiting with General Robert E. Lee for General Grant to arrive.
I believe also the genius of Ulysses S. Grant, he did not know that that day that there would be a request from Robert E. Lee, to know what the terms of surrender would be. There had been an exchange of notes that was taking place but time, lapses et cetera -- so General Grant who was ahead of his own personal luggage by two days, thought that perhaps this was another day that we had to be engaged in fighting. He was mud-splattered, he did not wear great adornment, but the note came through the line that General Lee would like to meet with General Grant.
General Lee who knew that he was going to ask that day, what would the terms of surrender be? So he put on a magnificent uniform with the red sash, with the ceremonial sword. And you can imagine when those two gentlemen met, one who was looking very dignified in ceremonial dress and the other who is just coming out of the field, mud-splattered. And when Robert E. Lee said, “General what would the terms of surrender be, I ask?” It was pretty impromptu and General Grant borrowed a pencil and sat down at the table and wrote out the terms of surrender and gave them to Robert E. Lee who read them and said, “General, unlike your government, our horses are not issued by the government. They belong to the officers.” And General Grant said, “Sir, I should have recognized that,” and he made that change. Here’s a man that had the wherewithal, thinking that perhaps the battle must continue. But to sit down and to write what would become those words that would allow the re-unification of the United States. This is a great man.
And I’ve said on other occasions that if I were to say, Yosemite, Yellowstone, National Park Service they conjure such positive thoughts. But do you realize that Yosemite was 1864, signed by Abraham Lincoln during the war? Yellowstone,1872, signed by General Grant, President Grant. And he sent his friend, his former General, Phil Sheridan, to go into the Yellowstone area to determine how to put some of these forest fires out and we still use much of the protocol that Phil Sheridan put in place in fighting forest fires throughout the United States. The National Park Service is quasi-military because of this lineage, of Ulysses S. Grant and Phil Sheridan.
So we celebrate one of those great moments, of someone who was a warrior, as are these men and women who are here today, who are actively engaged as cadets at West Point. They are warriors but they are also, ladies and gentlemen. I believe that our military in the United States is the crucible of our values and ethics. They will protect our freedom at whatever the cost.
When you visit Washington D.C. and you see the monuments -- and ironically, the monument or the mall itself from the Capitol to the Lincoln memorial is two miles, and think of that straight line which is the national mall -- it almost could be a number one. And I think it could be fitting because the first amendment is the freedom of speech and assembly, and surrounding that number one of our freedoms are the tributes to the heroes of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War. We know the price of freedom.
So as we commemorate the great life, the 186th birthday of General Ulysses S. Grant, I believe it is very important that we congratulate these young men and women that carry on his tradition and the tradition of those great generals that came from West Point and remind them that none of you may know when history or the needs of your nation will put you in a particular point in time. And the thought I would leave with you is that with your magnificent training, with your abilities, if that moment happens in your life that indeed you are ready and you will be, we salute General Grant and we salute these young soldiers. God bless you all on this very important day for the United States.
[Applause]