In the latest chapter in the decades-long conservative campaign to canonize Ronald Reagan, North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry proposed replacing the image of Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill with that of the Gipper. But as Sean Wilentz eloquently detailed Sunday in the NewYork Times, that recognition would erase the legacy of Grant not only as the victorious Civil War general who preserved the Union, but of a president who expanded civil rights and freedom. But Wilentz may have understated Grant's essential - and irreplaceable - role as national healer in the wake of the war that consumed over 600,000 American lives.
From the outset, Wilentz summarizes a case for Grant which he proceeds to expound in convincing detail:

Ronald Reagan deserves posterity's honor, and so it makes sense that the capital's airport and a major building there are named for him. But the proposal to substitute his image for that of Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill is a travesty that would dishonor the nation's bedrock principles of union, freedom and equality -- and damage its historical identity. Although slandered since his death, Grant, as general and as president, stood second only to Abraham Lincoln as the vindicator of those principles in the Civil War era.

If anything, Wilentz gives short shift to Grant's role at Appomattox and beyond in binding up the nation's wounds and welcoming back into the Union as brothers the Confederate soldiers he fought against at such great cost.
And to be sure, the respect and dignity Grant accorded Robert E. Lee and his surrendering Army of Northern Virginia was offered despite his disdain for their cause of slavery and secessionism. As he prepared to accept their capitulation, Grant later wrote of the moment in April 1865:

"I felt sad and depressed at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though their cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought."

Nevertheless, Grant offered Lee such generous and compassionate terms for his beaten and hungry troops that "Lee never forgot Grant's magnanimity during the surrender, and for the rest of his life would not tolerate an unkind word about Grant in his presence." Not only were Lee's men not imprisoned, but they were allowed to retain their personal horses and side arms. And on the day of their formal surrender, Grant forbade Union troops from displays of celebration or gloating as Lee's men filed past.
Years later, the Confederate General John Gordon recalled with appreciation and thanks the honor shown his men by his Northern counterpart, General Joshua Chamberlain:

One of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal army, General Joshua L. Chamberlain of Maine, who afterward served with distinction as governor of his state, called his troops into line, and as my men marched in front of them, the veterans in blue gave a soldierly salute to those vanquished heroes - a token of respect from Americans to Americans, a final and fitting tribute from Northern to Southern chivalry.

As President, Ulysses Grant continued to offer not recriminations or retribution but respect to Southern sensibilities. In 1869, several Congressmen sought to add to Capitol rotunda a huge mural depicting Lee surrendering to Grant at Appomattox. As authors Harold Holzer and Gabor Boritt wrote, Grant would have none of it. "He said he would never take part in producing a picture that commemorated a victory in which his own countrymen were losers." Grant is said to have remarked:

"No, gentlemen, it won't do. No power on earth will make me agree to your proposal. I will not humiliate General Lee or our Southern friends in depicting their humiliation and then celebrating the event in the nation's capitol."

(One can only wish that today's supporters of the Confederate flag would show as much consideration, sensitivity and respect to their fellow Americans as U.S. Grant afforded their ancestors 150 years ago.)
As Will Bunch documented in his book, Tear Down This Myth, the right-wing's Ronald Reagan legacy project has affixed the 40th president's name to parks and roads, office buildings and libraries, airports and museums and so much more across the country. But that is the country that Ulysses S. Grant fought to preserve and reunite. That failed businessman, often troubled solder and sometimes stumbling president wasn't just an American hero, but an American healer.
And that's worth a lot more than the $50 bill.