I see that we have more encyclopedic info available to us -- :ohmy:

The "drunken wastrel" comment was deliberate hyperbole intended to illustrate a point......not to be taken literally.    Although it's certainly true that Grant liked the sauce to excess.

The point being that defining those men on the basis of one or two items is to seriously err.

By today's analysis:

Grant was an alcoholic
Sherman suffered from mental illness
Mrs. Lincoln was bipolar (?)
A. Lincoln suffered from clinical depression
Stonewall Jackson had a mild form of autism known as Aspergers Syndrome

And so forth............

Also, as I've hinted at earlier -- Grant was far better at being a general than he was at the job of being a president:

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h234.html

There's a section on the Grant presidency in the article at this Wiki link, including a section dealing with the various scandals (among them evidence of serious anti-semitism coming either from Grant himself, or from his close relatives, or from both).  Grant himself was never personally implicated in direct scandal, but he seemed clueless about the things that others -- especially close relatives appointed to his administration -- were doing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant

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"Sterling" is a well-deserved descriptor for Lee.  He was among the finest of men.  There have been few like him in positions of power throughout history.  Most powerful people display a distinct tendency to be corrupt & self-serving: hiding their true natures underneath an outward facade of good-seeming -- if they aren't openly evil.  Not this man.  He was the genuine article.

So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this that I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost by the war, and have suffered all that I have suffered to have this object attained.  -- Robert E. Lee

With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the Army, and save in defense of my native State, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I may never be called on to draw my sword...  -- Robert E. Lee

They do not know what they say. If it came to a conflict of arms, the war will last at least four years. Northern politicians will not appreciate the determination and pluck of the South, and Southern politicians do not appreciate the numbers, resources, and patient perseverance of the North. Both sides forget that we are all Americans. I foresee that our country will pass through a terrible ordeal, a necessary expiation, perhaps, for our national sins.* -- Robert E. Lee

Something To Do At 3:00AM