>> Stephen: HEY, EVERYBODY, WE'RE BACK WITH THE AUTHOR OF
"TO RESCUE THE REPUBLIC," BRET BAIER.
WELL, THE BOOK IS CALLED "TO RESCUE THE REPUBLIC," AS I SAID.
AND IT'S ABOUT ULYSSES S. GRANT.
LET'S GET TO THE BOTTOM OF SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT--
THAT WASN'T EVEN HIS NAME.
>> HIS NAME WAS HIRAM ULYSSES GRANT AND HIS FATHER WANTED HIM
TO GO TO WEST POINT AND HE DIDN'T WANT TO GO.
HE GETS THE APPOINTMENT, THEY GET TO WEST POINT AND THEY SAID
YOUR NAME IS ULYSSES S. GRANT.
AND THEY SAID YOU CAN ONLY HAVE THE APPOINTMENT WITH ULYSSES S.
GRANT.
THERE IS NO S.
IT DOESN'T STAND FOR ANYTHING.
SO THE CADET WHO WERE WITH HIM CALLED HIM SAM, AND "UNCLE SAM"
STUCK AFTER THAT.
>> Stephen: THE BOOK STARTS ON JANUARY 6, 2021, THE ACTUAL RIOT
INSURRECTION ON CAPITOL HILL.
WHY DID YOU START IT THERE?
>> SO I WAS ENDING THE BOOK AND PUTTING ALL THESE THINGS
TOGETHER, AND I WAS COVERING JANUARY 6.
AND COVERING ALL OF THE RIOT AND ALL THAT WAS HAPPENING REAL
TIME, AND IN 1876, WHICH IS REALLY THE CLIMAX OF THIS BOOK,
GRANT AS PRESIDENT MAKES A GRAND BARGAIN AND HOLDS THE COUNTRY
TOGETHER AS AN ELECTION IS CONTESTED.
LOUISIANA, FLORIDA, SOUTH CAROLINA REFUSED TO MOVE
ELECTORS UP.
AND SO HE DOES THIS GRAND BARGAIN WITH REPUBLICANS AND
DEMOCRATS TO HOLD EVERYTHING TOGETHER.
THIS 2020, OBVIOUSLY, WAS ANOTHER ELECTION WHERE THERE
WERE PEOPLE VERY UPSET ABOUT IT, AND THAT MOMENT, THAT CHAOS,
THAT DARK DAY IN WASHINGTON IS SIMILAR TO WHAT WE SAW IN 1876.
>> Stephen: PART OF HIM SORT OF BRINGING AN END TO THAT
CONFLICT OVER WHO HAD WON THE PRESIDENTIAL RECOLLECTION WAS
THE COMPROMISE THAT PULLED UNION TROOPS OUT OF THE SOUTH.
>> EXACTLY.
>> Stephen: WHICH ESSENTIALLY ENDED RECONSTRUCTION.
>> IT DOES.
>> Stephen: SO WE NEVER REALLY HAD A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE
CONFEDERACY, WHICH IS WHY, AS MY FRIEND CHARLEMAGNE SAID, WE
NEVER DE-CRACKERRIFIED AMERICA.
AND YOU HAD PEOPLE STILL BELIEVING IN THE CONFEDERACY
HAVING THE RIGHT TO RISE AGAIN AND MARCHING INTO THE CAPITOL
JANUARY 6, 2021, AND CARRYING THE FLAG, AND THERE SEEMS A
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THAT DEAL AND THE FACT THAT THE SOUTH IS
STILL A CAUSE WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
>> THAT'S ONE WAY TO LOOK AT IT.
ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT IT IS GRANT KNEW RECONSTRCONSTRUCTION
RUN ITS COURSE, AND THE SOUTH WAS NOT GOING TO PUT UP WITH IT.
THEY WERE ALREADY RIOTING.
BY MAKING THIS DEAL, HE GOT THEM TO ESSENTIALLY SIGN ON TO BEING
A PART OF THE UNION WITHOUT FALLING BACK INTO A CIVIL WAR.
YOU KNOW, GRANT, WE FORGET, THE 13th, 14th, 15th
AMENDMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTION ARE BECAUSE OF GRANT.
AND HE FOUGHT THE K.K.K. WITH FEDERAL TROOPS.
HE REALLY FOUGHT FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS, BLACK COMMUNITIES TO
BE CITIZENS AND TO HAVE A REAL LIFE IN AMERICA.
AND BECAUSE THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA HAD TO COME YEARS LATER, A LOT
OF PEOPLE POINT BACK TO THAT MOMENT.
BUT GRANT DID AMAZING THINGS IN HIS TWO TERMS.
>> Stephen: I'M NOT TAKING ANYTHING AWAY FROM THE
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF ULYSSES S.
GRANT, BUT I DO BELIEVE THE PRESSURES PUT ON HIM AT THAT
MOMENT ACTUALLY LED TO A...
STRANGLING THE IDEA IN THE CRADLE OF REFORMING THE SOUTH.
>> I AGREE.
>> Stephen: BECAUSE WHILE THERE WAS RIOTING, THAT'S WHAT
THE TROOPS WERE FOR.
>> AND ALSO ANDREW JOHNSON, AFTER LINCOLN, WAS A RACIST KIND
OF PRESIDENT.
>> Stephen: YEAH, DEEPLY CORRUPT.
AND THERE WAS ALSO A FAIR AMOUNT OF CORRUPTION IN GRANT'S
ADMINISTRATION AS WELL.
DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT AT ALL?
>> YES, AND WE DEAL WITH ALL OF THE CORRUPTION.
HE TRUSTED A LOT OF PEOPLE.
HE WASN'T A POLITICIAN BEFORE, AND HE HAD A LOT OF FOIBLES, A
LOT OF FLAWS.
BUT HE, IF YOU LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE, WAS A BIG LEADER.
AND THE BOOK ENDS-- IT BEGINS ON JANUARY 6, BUT IT ENDS WITH
PROTESTERS IN SAN FRANCISCO RIPPING DOWN A GRANT STATUE.
AND THEN BEING ASKED, "WHY ARE YOU RIPPING THIS DOWN?"
AND THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHY THEY WERE DOING IT.
AND I JUST THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO LOOK BACK IN
HISTORY AND REALIZE WHO DID WHAT AND HOW WE CAN LEARN FROM IT
GOING FORWARD.
>> Stephen: WELL, BRET, LOVELY TO HAVE YOU AGAIN, THANKS SO
MUCH.
>> THANKS A LOT, STEPHEN.
>> Stephen: THE BOOK, "TO RESCUE THE REPUBLIC" IS AVAILABLE
OCTOBER 12.
THE MAN IS BRET BAIER, EVERYBODY.
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH "CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM" STAR, SUSIE
ESSMAN.
♪ ♪ ♪