Existing comment:
Sphinx?
During the Civil War, Grant was called "Grant the Sphinx" and "Ulysses the Silent." These sobriquets, when applied in a negative manner, equated his silence with stupidity. Quiet by nature, Grant's distaste for public speaking developed early in his military career. He seldom publicly defended himself or let others talk in his behalf. Believing rebuttals only added credence to accusations, he chose to let his actions speak for him. As a result, Grant remains something of an enigma, confounding historians who try to interpret the meaning of his silence.
In nineteenth century American culture, the sphinx represented a riddle or a puzzle. Because Grant was silent, many people thought he was unknowable and caricaturized him as a sphinx.
Although publicly Grant was taciturn and silent, privately he was an animated talker who always enjoyed a good story, witticism or joke. In this photograph taken at City Point, Virginia in 1864, Grant is seen relaxed, enjoying his cigar and the company around him.
"[General Grant's was] a silence born of confidence and command... he could listen to other men's chatter but have no need to add to it himself. This is the silence not of a man deadened to the world, but rather of one come alive to engage it... as others busily talked, he sat silent and in control."
-- Williams S. McFeely, "Grant: A Biography" |