According to fans, we will be following the birthday of a famous army general who deserves a promotion, even though it has been 137 years since his death. We’ll also look at Mayor Eric Adams’ vision for the city’s revitalization, outlined in his first State of the City speech.
For once, this is no joke: Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?
A general does not have the highest rank of the Army. Anyway, not yet.
Ulysses S. Grant fans are campaigning for a promotion that would elevate Grant to a rank held only by two other former generals, George Washington and World War I hero John J. Pershing, the general of the United States Army. Ky, above all five-star general.
Grant became the nation’s first four-star general in 1866, after the Civil War. His supporters had hoped for a promotion after the legacy that came in time for the 200th anniversary of Grant’s birth, which is today.
But such things take time. The Army did not make Washington its general until 1978, two years after Congress passed a resolution calling for the move – and 179 years after his death.
Grant “was the first general of the modern world,” said Frank Scaturro, president of Grant Monument Associationis related to a celebration that begins at 11 a.m. today at General Grant National Monument, on Riverside Drive at 122 West Street. “This promotion will be a recognition of what he means to the modern United States Army and the survival of the republic and the broader cause that he believes, liberated, has become. cause of alliances in the Civil War.”
A similar joint resolution on Grant’s behalf was introduced last fall with bipartisan support. Two House donors are occasional allies: Representative Adriano Espaillat, a Democrat from Harlem who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021, and the House of Representatives. Congressman Elise Stefanik, who voted against impeachment both times and became the 3rd Republican in the House with Trump’s endorsement.
Last week, three of the sponsors of the Grant resolution – Senator Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri; Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio; and Representative Ann Wagner, a Republican from Missouri – wrote to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, requesting a review of Grant’s record and “a determination on the merits of a post-mortem promotion.” .” They argued that Washington’s promotion in 1978 had the effect of “lowering the rank to which Grant was appointed in 1866.”
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment, saying the Defense Department would respond to the three lawmakers.
The army doesn’t have any five-star generals since General Omar Bradley died in 1981, and F. Lee Reynolds of the Army’s Center for Military History said it’s unclear how many stars an army general will have. That has not been announced by Congress or the military itself, he said. He noted that Washington’s promotion in 1978 provided that he would always be the Army’s highest-ranking officer, even in the presence of other army generals.
For much of the 20th century, Grant held an embarrassing position among presidents. He is often near the bottom of the table when historians rank them. His reputation – great general, great writer but bad executive – has been restored at least somewhat in the past 25 years. His fans say he is personally unaffected by the corruption that pervades his administration. Scaturro, author of “President Grand Reconsidered” (1998), said “his political career was bogged down.”
“I think he was punished” – by history – “for doing the right thing,” he said. “The Grant era is the age of America as a multiracial republic,” said Grant, who oversaw Reconstruction and the effort to keep the country on track set forth by President Abraham Lincoln. “It took a generation to reverse that by Jim Crow,” says Scaturro.
One more thing. About Grant’s tomb quiz, a major part of Groucho Marx’s quiz show “You Bet Your Life” in the 1940s and 1950s: The correct answer is “nobody.”
Derrick Head, a National Park Service ranger at General Grant National Monument, referring to Grant and his wife, Julia. “They are on the ground. They reside in two coffins.”
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The mayor’s vision for recovery
In City State or State speeches like the one given by Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday, there is often a statement that “the state of [blank] To be [blank]. ”
Apparently, Adams filled in the first box with “city”. His choice for the second blank was “strong” – although, as he admitted seconds later, “We are still in a time of deep concern.”
The 116 days since he took office have been ravaged by violence, including a mass shooting on the subway this month. Coronavirus cases are on the rise again, caused by new sub-variants of Omicron. The city’s unemployment rate, 6.5% in March when seasonally adjustedmuch higher than 3.6 percent national rate.
But Adams is optimistic and called for “a hopeful new chapter,” arguing he could kickstart the city’s comeback by focusing more deeply on public safety and inequality.
My colleagues Emma G. Fitzsimmons wrote that the mayor, a former police captain, said he would spend more money tackling what he considers the root causes of crime: guns, mental illness and homelessness. He said the city’s recovery won’t happen unless New Yorkers feel safe.
“We can’t have a city where people are afraid to walk on the street, take the subway or send their children to school,” he said.
He outlined other spending priorities in his latest $99.7 billion budget proposal, including $5 billion for affordable housing over 10 years and $55 million to expand the program. bring emergency medical technicians and mental health professionals to certain 911 calls. He also said there will be plans to expand child care soon, allowing some families making $55,000 a year to pay just $10 a week.
Adams has faced criticism in his first 100 days for bringing back controversial crime-fighting police units, cleaning up homeless shelters, withdrawing pandemic restrictions and appeared reluctant to release its tax returns. But he does find positives to highlight – 2,300 guns have been taken off the streets, for example. He also said he drew inspiration from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who faced “a series of crises unlike those we are experiencing today” during the Great Depression.
“Then, as now, there were no easy solutions or quick fixes,” Adams said. “FDR understands that people need to calculate honestly about problems and make bold plans to solve them. That is what I intend to give to my New Yorkers. ”
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METROPOLITAN . Diary
Prepare
Dear Diary:
I was walking slowly around Stuy Town, completely immersed in my phone as I prepared for a job interview.
I was so caught up in what I was doing that I almost bumped into an elderly man walking around. He looked at me with disapproval.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’m interviewing for my dream job tomorrow and all I can do is prepare.”
