Summary

Chapter 40 is the beginning of Part IV and describes a world tour Grant took immediately following his Presidency. Ulysses and Julia, along with a small entourage, spent two years visiting countries throughout Asia and Europe. They were adoringly and often ceremonially received by foreign governments and populations. Along the way, he helped to mediate a territorial dispute between China and Japan. Chernow argues that Grant was the first former President to engage in this sort at-large diplomacy that we now consider normal, though Ulysses himself preferred to observe the lives of common people. After his return to the United States, Grant conducted a similar tour of the country, leading to speculation that he was planning to run for a third Presidential term in 1880. By now, Grant was a far more confident public speaker and had several new foreign policy ideas developed...