Few men can have known General and President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant as well as General Adam Badeau. As Grant's military secretary during 1864-1865, he came to know and work closely with the future president; after the war he would go on to write a three volume history of Grant's military campaigns and serve as senior research assistant to Grant when the later was writing his memoirs. General Badeau came to recognize Grant's capabilities of healing a divided nation and was a frequent correspondent and eventually the President's confidant. General Badeau would go on to write of his friend's history in both his military and peacetime periods with great success. In this volume, Badeau charts Grant's political career and his manoeuvring that led to his appointment as President.