Bret Baier: To Rescue The Republic: Ulysses S. Grant, The Fragile Union 36:12

It's time to take the quiz. Five questions, five minutes a day, five days a week. Take the quiz every weekday at thequiz.fox and then listen to the quiz podcast to find out how you did. Play, share, and of course, listen to the quiz at thequiz.fox. Welcome to the Jason in the House podcast. I'm Jason Chaffetz, and this week we'll get some thoughts on the news, highlight the stupid because there's always somebody doing something stupid somewhere.

And then we're going to phone a friend this time, Brett bear. He's got a new book coming out. Uh, you know, him as the host of special report, but we're going to have a good little conversation with, uh, Brett bear. So that's going to be, uh, that's going to be good and worth listening to, to, and, uh, hear about this book, um, that he's got coming out. And, uh,

I want to kick things off on some of the things that are happening in the news because, oh my gosh, every day you wake up, isn't it true? You just wake up every morning and just think, oh my gosh, what is this world coming to? Um,

Right at the top of my list here this week, I'm still mystified that the Department of Justice, specifically the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is actually looking and contemplating and figuring out a game plan on how to combat...

parents at school board meetings as if they were some sort of domestic terrorists. Are you kidding me? If that came across my desk, I would sit there and say, who brought this to me? You got to be kidding me, right? First of all, there is no federal jurisdiction at a school board meeting.

The FBI has plenty of counterterrorism type of things, money laundering, white collar crimes. You've got missing and exploited children. You've got sex crimes happening, particularly with children. I mean, how many things can we put on the list for the FBI rather than going after school board meetings? Are you kidding me? This is...

These are open meetings. But, you know, Democrats right now have taken a position, particularly Terry McAuliffe, who said, you know, parents really should have no position in what they educate their kids on. I mean, this is playing out in Virginia, and I could see where parents are outraged. But you know what?

It's the American way to go to an open meeting and express yourself. Now, you hope you do it in a very civil way. And if there needs to be a local sheriff there or local law enforcement, then there's local law enforcement. But you don't need the FBI and the Department of Justice. It really is kind of absurd. All right. The other thing that's out there for me is this.

So Hunter Biden, we've talked and heard a lot about Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden has had problems with Russian prostitutes. He's had a serious drug problems. He has had evidently the allegation is problems with guns that

potentially could lead to, you know, some very serious legal problems if it was looked into further. We know that he's been involved in these scandals that involve Ukraine and China and Mexico. And is he qualified? Did he engage in a quid pro quo to suggest that, you know,

If you do this, then maybe I'll give you some access to my father who just happened at the time to be vice president. I mean, these types of things are all out there. But then if you start to look at this newfound passion that he has in art, guess what? The art gallery repping Hunter Biden, they got some PPP money and some COVID relief loans from

Now, keep in mind, this is an art gallery that, according to the New York Post, has two employees. Two. That's the grand sum of this art gallery. Two employees. But they got $580,000 through these COVID loans. And I'm not going to pronounce this right because I'm sure it's got some fancy accent. But Georges Bourget's...

or whatever it is, gallery, they initially received $150,000 in COVID disaster assistance loan from the SBA. This, according to public records last year, as highlighted in the New York Post. But then the loan mysteriously was recently revised and they approved another $350,000 in this New York gallery loan.

shortly after they signed on to represent Hunter Biden. Doesn't that kind of strike you as odd? It strikes me as enough to look into it. I think there's enough evidence out there that they should look into it. Because of the nefarious background, because you've got a gallery with two employees, $580,000. I think that's enough of us smoking gun, flashing red light, if you will, to say,

Time to send in some investigators to go find out what really happened and what are the specific details. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more right after this. Precise, personal, powerful. It's America's weather team in the palm of your hands. Get Fox weather updates throughout your busy day every day. Subscribe and listen now at foxnewspodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

I've got two in particular this week. The first one I found in the Daily Signal, which is a great publication. A Minnesota middle school has decided that they are no longer going to give students Fs as they attempt to address systemic racism after conducting an equity audit.

Wow, that's really going to solve things. Sunrise Park Middle School in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, announced a new grading scale for the 2021-2022 school year that does not include anything under 50% or any Fs. This evidently on a video on YouTube as reported by the Daily Signal. And, you know, everybody gets a trophy. Let's bring everybody along. Huh?

that nobody can possibly not achieve. I just think that's a very uninformed, unfortunate thing to do. I think there will be lasting consequences there to just say, well, you know, really what they're doing is involving and engaging in segregation in a backwards kind of way saying, oh, we're trying to help everybody. We're trying to create equity. Well, no, let's get those kids actually educated. And if they're not reading at their grade level, hold them back.

Put them in a special class. Do whatever it takes. Employ school choice. Do things like that so that we can actually get these kids educated. All right, that was number one. Now, number two involves one of our favorites, Richard Simmons. This was in thesmokinggun.com. This happened a little while ago. But Richard Simmons evidently was charged with assaulting a person...

at the Phoenix Airport. Now, I've been to the Phoenix Airport. It's a big place. I fly in and out there. I've got family down there. This almost sounds like a joke. Now, keep in mind, Richard Simmons has been around forever. He's an older gentleman. I don't know how old he is. But, you know, he's kind of been watching through his whole life here. Evidently, according to the smoking gun, he's 5'7", 155 pounds. So he's a buck 55 at 5'7". He's not a big, large man. But evidently...

with this Chris Farney, who's 23 years old, 6'1", and 255. So he's 250. He's 100 pounds heavier than Richard Simmons. He's 6'1", compared to 5'7", and he's much younger by a few decades.

So, according to the Phoenix Police Department report, Farney, this is the big guy, spots Simmons, and he's walking through the airport, and he said, look, Richard Simmons, drop your bags, let's rock to the 50s. Kind of making a smart aleck joke about some of the previous work that Richard Simmons done. So, Farney told cops he was referring to an old workout tape that...

And then I guess it got under the skin of Richard Simmons because he walked over to Farney and said, and the quote in the article was, it's not nice to make fun of people with issues. And then he slapped Farney on the face. He's...

Now, I probably shouldn't laugh. Okay, you're not supposed to laugh. But I can just see Richard Simmons slapping the guy in the face saying it's not fun. It's not nice to make fun of people with issues. The big guy who's a motorcycle salesman for Harley Davidson, who was admittedly not injured, called the police and...

And they evidently charged, they had to, according to the police, we had to charge Simmons with assaulting this Harley Davidson salesman in a confrontation at the airport. That to me is just absolutely stupid. There is no way anybody is going to convict Richard Simmons for slapping a guy who's 100 pounds more than who was approached at the airport. So...

Yeah, probably not the best idea. But, you know, at that point, just walk away. I'm sure this Harley Davidson salesman was maybe a little bit embarrassed. But you brought it on, brother. According to what I've read, the limited information. And to me, that's just being stupid.

All right, so I'm really thrilled to call Brett Baer. Brett is, I've gotten to know him through my time at Fox News. He's one of the best reporters out there, a serious journalist. I think his special report is just one of the best products out there in terms of a news product. And I really do appreciate him. He's been through some hard things with his family along the way. He's an exceptional golfer, and he's got a new...

Hello.

Brett Baer. Hey, this is Jason Chaffetz. Hey, Jason. How are you? Thank you so much for joining us on the Jason in the House podcast. I do appreciate it. And since I became involved with Fox News, well, I was really in Congress. That's why I think when I first met you and then Fox News, it's been an honor and a privilege from time to time to bump into you. And hey, congratulations on yet another book.

that's just launched here. Yeah, thank you very much. I'm really excited about it. You know, I did these three history books before and I fell in love with this whole process and I've got a great team and I decided to focus a little bit further back. You know, I did books on Eisenhower and Reagan and FDR, Churchill and Stalin, but this book is about Grant

called To Rescue the Republic, Ulysses S. Grant, The Fragile Union, and the Crisis of 1876. And honestly, Jason, no, you know, I'm not just blowing smoke here. I really think that this is the most complete of the history books and really the most fun to read. So he was the 18th president of the United States. He was dealing with some tough times, but you had the whole world, all the people to go look at. Why did you hone in on Grant?

Because I think what's really interesting are times in history that are overlooked, that for one reason or another, historians have not really focused on.

uh... and i did that in the previous books this book we talk a lot about ulysses s grant as the commanding general of union forces about his tremendous success he's the first four-star general since george washington at the time he's he's an american hero he's beloved so much so is recruited as a republican candidate uh... for president he wins in a landslide and starts this two terms as president

But when we talk about his eight-year presidency, it's always about the difficulties and the petty corruption within his administration or the scandal. And that happened. There were a lot of people who took advantage of Grant, who was a non-politician. But in addition to that, he really works to keep the union together.

He fights for the 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments for the blacks for the right to vote for citizenship. He fights the KKK with federal troops. And then in really the biggest moment, the climax of this book.

The 1876 election is in contest, and he is the one that leads this grand bargain with Rutherford B. Hayes, who's the Republican, and Samuel Tilden, who's the Democrat, to make sure the South signs on to stay in the Union.

and to turn its back on slavery. Didn't always work out that way as far as where the South was and racism and years and years of civil strife, but Grant's effort really held the Union together in a time where we could have tilted back to the Civil War Part II. Yeah, we always focus, I guess, in that time on Abraham Lincoln and what was going on. But

What was the atmosphere like there? Why did Grant rise up? I mean, his prowess militarily, obviously, plays a role. But I don't know. I haven't read your book yet. So why does he rise up and become the leader of the nation in such this fragile time? He is somebody who is well-respected. He's humble.

humble. He's not a guy that's a firebrand. He works kind of behind the scenes a lot of times. And he establishes that the most important thing at that moment is to keep the union together. And he convinces the lawmakers in Congress that that is the most important thing. And that's really the forgotten moment. It's in jeopardy. The whole republic is in jeopardy.

And when the results come in in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, they have two sets of results, one for the Republican Hayes and one for the Democrat Tilden. And as the weeks pass without a resolution and more violence is threatened, Grant is really trying to resolve the matter behind the scenes. And he has the respect that.

to be able to do that. He convinces his friends in Congress to push for this electoral commission to resolve disputes, and it takes a long time. But right before the inauguration, they finally decide to give the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes and, in exchange, have the South sign on to stay in the union.

What happens after that is Grant leaves office and he starts writing his own memoir, but he sells it to a magazine. And during that time, he loses...

loses all of his money in a bad investment. All of it. A family friend says this is what he needs to do with his money. He trusts him, as he did in multiple cases inside his administration. He loses all of his money. So he desperately needs to make money. This magazine offers him $500,000

an article for his stories about the Civil War. His friend Mark Twain at the time says, "That's ridiculous that you're getting paid only that." And he says, "Start writing your memoir and I will publish the memoir." Well, Grant gets throat cancer and is dying and he is really in a race against time to finish this memoir.

Twain reads some of it and says it is gold. He says he's the best writer of a civilian non-writer he'd ever seen and the detail that he gives back to the Civil War and his descriptions. So he finishes the memoir and days later dies. Twain publishes that thing and it sells the most books ever.

And his wife, Julia Dent, gets at the time roughly $400,000. That is equivalent to about $14 million. And he meets the deadline to finally get it. But the reason I'm telling you that story is when he dies, just to show you the impact of this figure, the funeral and the procession is in New York City.

And he has four pallbearers, two are Union generals in Union general uniforms, and two are Confederate generals with Confederate general uniforms. And the street is lined with one million people, some former Confederacy, some Union, all wearing their old uniforms from the Civil War as they're saying goodbye to General Grant, President Grant, and a guy who was really well-respected at the time.

at the time. So that's how he can pull off this grand bargain. Yeah, there are some people in our history who have stepped up. They weren't career politicians. They didn't necessarily have the background, but they answered that call of our nation. As you kind of went through the process, I'm sure you had an outline or a sense of where this was going, but what really surprised you the most

as you dove deep into his background? A couple of things. One is how he came from nothing and really had a tough time in life. At one point, he kind of fails being a soldier. He gets busted for drinking out in the Northwest Territory. He's told that he's going to either be court-martialed or resign. He resigns, goes into prison,

What he thinks is business works horribly. His father was a leather tannery. He's just not good at it. He tries farming. He's horrible, not making money. He ends up selling firewood. Three years later, he is the commanding general of all Union forces in the Civil War. And that kind of rags to power is, you know, the ordinary man's story.

I didn't fully appreciate it. I knew a little bit about it. Also found out that Grant was supposed to be with Lincoln on the night that Lincoln's assassinated at Ford Theater. Really? He invited Lincoln and Mary Todd. Lincoln invited Grant and his wife, Julia, to the theater. And...

They were going to go, but they had an engagement with their children at their school in New Jersey and decided that they would send their regrets. When he gets to New Jersey and word filters up about the assassination, Grant is overcome with remorse.

remorse, sadness, but also guilt because he believes that had he been there, he would have been able to save Abraham Lincoln. But I guess the biggest thing, Jason, is that in tough times, my takeaway was that to keep our republic requires this constant vigilance. Our freedoms are

Aren't automatically given. They have to be pursued and won again and again and again. And each election offers us the opportunity to recast what we as the American people want. So I think it's just a really important lesson about the importance of what we do.

Were you a history nerd? Like when you were in high school, were you like that nerdy guy? The nerdy history guy? Yeah. Was that you? You know, no. I was in high school. I was into English and writing and I was the school newspaper editor and I did a little acting. I was kind of a ham. I played golf. And then I just got into history. I majored in college in political science and English, but I should have majored in history because once I...

found this later in life about the National Archives and digging into these treasure troves. It really became sort of like digging for nuggets and piecing them together like a quilt and coming up with this narrative that hopefully shows our leaders of the past to a younger generation that I don't think is getting enough of our own history. You're listening to Jason in the House. We'll be back with more of my conversation with Brett Baer right after this.

Well, and I think the medium's changed. I think the way they're written... Look, I'm glad you're doing these because I think it does give a fresh, new, vibrant approach than some of the stale...

You know, I think of Encyclopedia Britannica and you go through and pull out, you know, the letter and read through. I mean, that was kind of the old school. I'm old enough to know what those are. But I think for, you know, a new generation and even people who have been around the block, it's just a new fresh way to take not only look at it, but the lessons that are learned and the things that are forgotten, because it is amazing how quickly we forget some of these basics and

along the way. I agree. And it's really important because we can learn from where we've been. A lot of times it's cyclical. We've been there before in one way or another. It's a little different now. As I started the book, January 6th happened. It's obviously different, but it gives you a perspective of

about turmoil when an election is in doubt by one side or another. The book ends with the scene in San Francisco when after the George Floyd trial and all of the chaos surrounding that, the Ulysses S. Grant statue is pulled down in a park in San Francisco. And there's a live reporter there asking the people, "Why are you pulling the statue down?"

And they say, well, he had his slaves and he was in the slave time. You know, it's exactly the opposite. Grant was given a slave by his father-in-law, who then he, Grant, let the slave go and then spent the rest of his life fighting for black equality, fighting for the right to vote, fighting for citizenship, fighting the KKK. You know, it just gives you this perspective that these folks who were taking down that statue,

didn't really appreciate who Grant was or what he did. And I think they need to. Wow. That's an, that is a pivotal, important point. And, uh,

It is something that we all need to reflect on. And I, you know, I live in a part of the world where one of my neighbors here, not right next door, but neighbors was Stephen Covey. And he had this seek first to understand, then to be understood. And it is amazing how many times people jump, I guess, in the age of social media and everything to, you know, get their bits of information in 140 characters and draw an immediate conclusion over a complex story.

subject. And so the book is called To Rescue the Republic. And I think it's just out now. And so congratulations on that. You know, one of the things you mentioned about Grant is the hard times. You know, I think one of the common denominators here, and this is kind of my theory on life as I've gotten older and got to know people, is that every single one of us, we go through tough, difficult times.

Most don't wear it on their shirt sleeves. You don't even necessarily know about it. But whether it be a disease or an accident or an addiction or just flat out hard financial times, it's interesting how those that go on to have the greatest success lean on those experiences and draw upon those experiences to make them better, stronger, tougher.

And it builds their character. It doesn't, you know, it can tear you down and spit you out and put you down for the count. But it sounds like Grant also went through some real difficult times. I mean, if he's out there selling chopped wood, for goodness sake, in an era when chopped wood was pretty common, that's a fascinating part of the history here that I want to read about. Yeah. I mean, I think that that is a really, now that you bring it up, and I haven't really focused on this, but

It's a common denominator in all of the leaders that I chose to write about so far. Eisenhower goes through really tough times in Abilene, Kansas, and real poverty. Reagan comes from a middle-class family with an alcoholic father and goes through all of that turmoil. And FDR obviously comes from very, very significant wealth, but then has polio and is stricken by polio and has to fight through that.

And Grant has a really tough beginning and then fails at a bunch of things and gets to his lowest point. But each one of those leaders went through their own crucible, to your point. Their thing, everybody has something. This was their something. And it hardens them. It makes them better in some way to be able to handle the challenges ahead.

You know, you can't follow Brett Baer on social media without understanding and hearing about the, you know, what you and your wife, Amy, you got these two adorable kids who are turning out to be some pretty darn good golfers. I'm like way jealous of the swing here that you've, you've,

You've employed upon these kids because I didn't have that kind of coaching growing up. But your son, Paul, he went through some tough times that most kids don't have to go through. And how's he doing? Can you give us an update on his? I think the people that follow you and watch Fox, they care. You can't be a human without caring about Paul. Yeah, that's awesome. Thanks for asking. He's doing really great.

You know, Paul has had four open heart surgeries and 10 angioplasties. His last open heart surgery was in December. And he is how old? He's 14. So four open heart surgeries, 10 angioplasties at 14. And he is, Jason, six feet tall. He's taller than me. I'm 5'11".

Which is fairly embarrassing. He wears a size 13 shoe. He plays on the basketball team. He is a golfer. He plays on the golf team. And he's doing great. He's still beating up on his little brother, Daniel, who's not that little anymore either. But...

we're very, very blessed. And to the point we were talking about earlier, everybody has something that was our something. And we decided to share that in actually the first book that I wrote special heart. And I think that that being public with that has, uh, helped us, you know, it was cathartic in a way and hopefully, and we've heard from many people that it, it helped other families going through, uh, similar things. Yeah. I hope that's, uh, you know, I hope that, uh,

is inspirational to a lot of people because again, going back to my own personal theory, everybody has something and not everybody wants to talk about it or is in a position to

to do so. You know, our family, we've dealt with everything from, I lost both my parents to cancer. Our son-in-law recently had a horrific, you know, pool accident and, uh, and, and we're still dealing with that. And, and, but I hope it's also inspiring to others as they go through these tough, difficult times. And then you got all these people through history and my guess is in every family, there's some challenges and that's what, that's, uh, kind of what life's all about. And,

overcoming those challenges and making the most of them. And nobody goes through this life unscathed, I don't think. No, I agree. We relied on faith a lot. Some leaders that I looked at did that as well. Grant didn't talk about it a lot, but he was a God-fearing man. Everybody can figure out their own way to get through that. I'm sorry to hear about your son-in-law and your parents. Cancer is unbelievable. It really sucks. But

I think everybody has to figure out how to get through to the other side of the tunnel and people do it differently. Well, one of the tough things you're going to have to go through in life is answering my rapid questions. Nobody gets through this podcast, Brett, without answering the tough and difficult questions. All right.

I hope you're prepared for this. You ready? I'm ready. Because I don't care how many times you've putted on, you know, or how many times you've been out to the driving range. It's not going to properly prepare you for these rapid questions. All right. First concert you attended? Rush. Oh, that's pretty legit. Yeah. How old were you?

I probably was 11. I bet you were pretty young. Okay, we'll just leave it at that. What was your high school mascot? War Eagle. Marist War Eagle. See, that sounds like a tough one. It's better than some of these other ones that I've heard a lot. Who was your first celebrity crush?

That's a tough one. I mean, I think Heather Locklear was, I definitely had the poster, so I'd say that. Yeah. All right. I know exactly who she is. Favorite vegetable. Favorite vegetable, the Brussels sprout, underrated. I think so. I think the Brussels sprout, properly prepared, a little sweetened up. I like it. I like it. You know,

I've asked this question more than two dozen times. I've always gotten a different answer on favorite vegetable. Never once have we had the same answer. Variety. Because not 100% of them have been able to even name a vegetable. That's a bad sign. All right. So if you had a chance to, there on Special Report, have Bigfoot come sit down, what would you ask Bigfoot? Where you been?

I tell you what, I watch all those shows. For some reason, I get drawn to them. I do too. I'll be tuning in, going up and down the dial, and suddenly it's like, I hear the knocking in the woods. And I'm like, I cannot leave the show.

UFOs and Bigfoot, I tell you, I cannot get enough. I agree. John Ratcliffe, who I know you interviewed, he's a former director of national intelligence. He's seen all this stuff on the UFOs. But I said, come on, John, tell me a little bit. And he's like, I can't. And I'm like, oh.

Why do you come on? You've got to spill some beans on that one. But he's too he's got too much integrity. He won't spill the beans on anything else he might know in that category. See, that's why I think that I was really thinking that President Donald Trump towards the end of his term was going to say, all right, here's the deal with the UFOs.

And just do it. Just put it out on a Friday. Nobody would do it better than Donald Trump. Do it. Donald Trump in primetime doing a special on UFOs. Tell me you wouldn't watch that one. It'd be like Geraldo and Capone. I mean, it would be Super Bowl numbers. I bet he'd still do it, but now that he's not the president, he doesn't have the materials that he had. It's a little tough. All right. Pineapple on pizza. Yes or no?

I'm going to go now. It's just, it's sacrosanct. We all like it. And you know what? Putting a wet fruit on a pizza, that's just not right. Yeah, I agree. Best advice you ever got.

Don't stop driving. So the advice was if you are driving towards a goal, don't stop even though you don't know how you're going to get there. In other words, like you're this car in the middle of the night and you're driving on a darkened highway and you don't have headlights and then eventually you have headlights and then you have high beams and then the sun goes up over the mountains and then you see the road of how you're going to get there. But before you know it, you're already there.

So keep on driving. Great advice. Great advice. All right. If last question, if you could meet one person dead or alive and have them over to dinner, you and Amy, just sit down and spend an evening with that person. Who, who would that be?

Yeah, there's a bunch of people. I mean, it'd be a big party. Yeah, it'd be a big party. I mean, I'd probably have Jesus. I'd have Eisenhower. I'd have Reagan. I'd have all the people that I focused on to see if I really got it right on the books. Have them read the book before they show up at the dinner. Grant, have some wine with Jesus. That'd be good. All right. All right. Those are legit. Your book, To Rescue the Republic, Ulysses S. Grant. Yes.

The Fragile Union and the Crisis of 1876. It just came out. Thanks for doing it. I look forward to getting you it, and I hope I'm not sitting right by your side right now as we do this podcast, but I'd love to get a signed copy from you. And thank you so much for joining us on the Jason in the House podcast. Yeah, a lot of fun. Thanks for having me, and yeah, I'll get you that signed book. All right. Thanks, Brett. See you.

All right. I can't thank Brett Baer enough. That book, excited for it. I think everybody's going to enjoy it and really appreciate Brett taking the time and look forward to his special report night after night. And I hope you enjoyed it. So thanks for listening to the Jason in the House podcast.

We were hoping you can rate it, review it, like it, hit those little stars. That'd be helpful to us. We'll be back with more next week. And if you want to get some other podcasts in this genre, go to the Fox News Podcast Network over at foxnewspodcast.com. foxnewspodcast.com. I'm Jason Chaffetz. This has been Jason in the House.

Put the power of over 100 meteorologists and the worldwide resources of Fox in your hands with the Fox Weather Podcast. Precise, personal, powerful. Subscribe and listen now at foxnewspodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts.