Susan-Mary Grant

Join Robert Cook, Erik Mathisen, and Susan-Mary Grant as they dive into the multifaceted legacy of Ulysses S. Grant. They discuss his pivotal role during the Reconstruction era, notably his efforts to secure civil rights for freed slaves and combatting the Ku Klux Klan. The conversation also highlights Grant's later tarnished reputation due to corruption scandals and his complex relationship with Native American rights. Their insights reveal a significant reassessment of Grant's contributions to American history and the tangled nature of his presidency.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) and his examination of the American democratic system. He wrote De La Démocratie en Amérique in two parts, published in 1835 and 1840, when France was ruled by the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe. Tocqueville was interested in how aspects of American democracy, in the age of President Andrew Jackson, could be applied to Europe as it moved away from rule by monarchs and aristocrats. His work has been revisited by politicians ever since, particularly in America, with its analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of direct democracy and its warnings of mediocrity and the tyranny of the majority.WithRobert Gildea Professor of Modern History at the University of OxfordSusan-Mary Grant Professor of American History at Newcastle Universityand Jeremy Jennings Professor of Political Theory and Head of the School of Politics & Economics at King's College LondonProducer: Simon Tillotson.