One of the most widely disseminated myths about Ulysses S. Grant is that he regularly smoked "20 cigars a day." Like most myths, it has a basis in reality, but it's the nature of the statement that is misleading to the point of becoming mythological in nature. The image of the stern General puffing away on his trusty cigar as he directs the Union to victory has certainly been ingrained into the popular persona of Grant. The myth of “20 a day” seems to originate with a particularly long and highly stressful day in the military career of Grant. During the battle of the Wilderness in 1864 Grant’s nerves got the better of him. Smoking and whittling sticks obsessively throughout the day, when he went to give a fellow officer a cigar he realized it was his last one. A member of his staff Horace Porter said that “Deducting the number he had given away from the supply he had started out with in the morning showed that he had smoked that day about twenty, all very strong and of formidable size.” Porter added the important disclaimer that “it must be remembered that it was a particularly long day. He never afterward equaled that record in the use of tobacco.” Despite Porters’claim that around twenty cigars was an unusually high number many have asserted the figure as typical of Grant's habit. Grant biographer Ron Chernow maintains the claim that “Grant smoked  eighteen to twenty cigars a day and they became an inescapable part of his persona.” Chernow is certainly correct about the cigar becoming a part of his persona but repeats the claim stating that after the war “The cigar still served as his trademark, though he scaled back consumption from twenty per day during the war to ten, feeling virtuous in his self-restraint.” Neither of these claims are specifically cited but they both appear to originate from a newspaper article from 1866. The article quotes Grant as stating “I am breaking off from smoking. When I was in the field I smoked eighteen or twenty cigars a day, but now I only smoke nine or ten!” If the quote is in fact accurate it could also be interpreted as an attempt at humor or just an exaggerated estimate of his own habit. The exclamation point placed at the end of the sentence could be perceived as being a “laughing-at-your-own-joke” mark. A somewhat contradictory newspaper article quotes Grant as saying “I have heard a great deal about my being an inveterate smoker during the war. But this is due to the fact that while I usually had a cigar between my lips, a good deal more than half the time it was out. I am not a great smoker of cigars. I mean that I do not light one with another and keep it up all day.” The problem arises with the connotation the simple statement of "Grant smoked 20 cigars a day" gives the casual hearer with no further context provided. It leads many to conclude that this was the number of cigars he consumed on a daily basis throughout his life. Even with the caveats "up to" or "as many as" the statement can be misleading.  Most will not consider the matter long enough to realize the physical realities of that level of smoking. Although a regular smoker, who may have on one or more rare occasions smoked as many as 20 cigars, it’s hard to make a practical assertion that he was an intemperate chain-smoking tobacco fiend that would suck down 20 cigars every single day. Grant’s smoking habit did however play a significant role in his life as well as his death and legacy therefore it’s worthy of further exploration.

A casual study of cigar smoking factoring in the number of hours in a given day shows that it’s virtually impracticable for anyone to smoke 20 cigars per day on a consistent basis. In comparison, modern-day regular cigar smokers consume on average 2 cigars per day. Iconic heavy cigar smokers in history typically have numbers such as Winston Churchill at 8-10 per day and comedian George Burns at 10-15 per day. One other celebrity individual that seems to garner similar numbers as Grant is his friend Samuel Clemons (Mark Twain) with claims of over 20 per day as well. One article produced an estimate in regard to Mark Twain's smoking habit: "He is an inveterate smoker, and smokes constantly while at his work, and, indeed, all the time, from 8:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night, stopping only when at his meals. A cigar lasts him about forty minutes, now that he has reduced to an exact science the art of reducing the weed to ashes. So he smokes from fifteen to twenty cigars every day.'' It must be noted that the previous estimate was taken specifically during Twain's time at his summer writing study while working incessantly on his writing. I believe like Grant's example with Porter that these estimates were taken based on special circumstances and were not indicative of their habits in general. One factor in cigar consumption that must be considered is the size of the cigars themselves. A study of the numerous photographs of Grant holding or smoking cigars reveals that, although they vary in size to some degree, they are not of the smaller but of the common size of 5-7 inches in length and approximately ½-¾ inch in diameter. This cigar size range takes approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour to smoke. If Grant was truly a connoisseur of fine tobacco, as he was often described, he would not have “burned” his cigars too hot and fast therefore ruining the flavor. This fits with Grant being described as a smoker who liked to relish his cigars and frequently let them go out and relighted them. With all these conditions factored in during a 16-18 hour waking day, this would mean he would have had to consume about one cigar per hour to reach 18-20. If consistent this would constitute 120-140 cigars per week, 500-560 per month, 6000-6720 per year (approximate equivalent in cigarettes: 128 or six packs/day, 900 or 45 packs/week, 3600 or 180 packs/month, 44,000 or 2200 packs/year). This would mean consuming approximately 100 pounds of tobacco annually in a time when the per capita average was 6 pounds per year (1.5 pounds for cigars specifically). While it's technically plausible given the time available per day and the availability of cigars (at an approximately yearly value of $1000/$20,000 equivalency today), in a realistic sense this level of smoking is completely impracticable. It becomes even more unrealistic when this level is supposed to have been continuous for months and years on end.

Grant is described as smoking in one form or another from his young adulthood, but according to his own statements not as heavily before the Civil War. He is said to have first experimented with tobacco as a West Point cadet but gave it up due to a persistent lung condition. A few sources claim his first cigar was smoked at Camp Salubrity in Louisiana in 1844. In the Mexican War his son Fred states he was “smoking light cigars and cigarettes…” and that he “took a liking to the Mexican cigars and found that they agreed with him.” Many Mexican War soldiers developed the habit of smoking cigars while in Mexico contributing to the rapid growth of cigar smoking in America. Prior to the 1850s most tobacco was consumed as snuff, chew, or in a pipe. After resigning from the army and moving back in with his family in St. Louis, Missouri Grant is claimed to have smoked a pipe and developed a taste for chewing tobacco. A friend in Galena, IL would say he continued to enjoy a pipe in the evenings while living there just prior to the war. His regular habit of cigar smoking and “taste for fine tobacco” would not be refined however until after an incident at Fort Donelson in 1862.

The case can be made that the grateful northern public of the Civil War killed their favorite commander. General Grant would write in his memoirs that he “had been a relatively light smoker previous to the attack on [Fort] Donelson.” The accepted story is that after the victory the papers printed reports of Grant having a cigar (a gift from Admiral Samuel Foote just prior to the engagement) in his hand during the battle. One newspaper correspondent recorded a description of Grant at the surrender meeting with General Buckner. The reporter hastily attempted to describe the victorious general stating "Grant is about 45 years of age, sandy complexion, reddish beard, medium bight, pleasant twinkling eyes, and he weighs about 170 pounds - He smokes continually." This and apparently other references to Grant's smoking led to grateful citizens sending to his headquarters thousands of cigars. With all these cigars sitting around Grant stated in his memoirs “I gave away all that I could get rid of, but having such a quantity on hand, I naturally smoked more than I would have done under ordinary circumstances.” The innocent action of his admirers would be the impetus for a heavier smoking habit that would eventually claim his life.

The tobacco-related gifts kept coming, the following summer as Grant besieged Vicksburg he sent a letter of thanks to Mrs. Mary Duncan for the “…beautiful present of a Cigar Case and will continue to carry and, appreciate it, long after I could have done ‘smoked’ any number of cigars the Express Company are capable of transmitting.” During the siege, he was deep in thought and pacing the camps “turning and chewing restlessly the end of his unlighted cigar.” The habit did seem to have a clear link to Grant indulging for a calming effect, something to occupy the tense moments. His staff member Ely Parker recalled that “Smoking seemed to be a necessity to General Grant’s organism…he smoked the hardest when deep in thought, or engaged in writing an important document.” Julia would also recall his behavior at a particularly pressing time during her 1864 stay with Grant at City Point, VA “He lighted a cigar and seated himself, writing one dispatch after another. All this time, the only expression of excitement was the rapid puffs of his cigar. I remember it was like a little steam engine.” His physician Dr. Shrady would say he smoked more rapidly “when pressed with heavy responsibilities” and that “he was never better fitted for calm deliberation than when enveloped in its grateful and soothing fumes.” One staff member said he would come in at night with dispatches and the General would be lying in bed smoking, seemingly just in anticipation of fulfilling duties at any hour. Another intimate associate would claim Grant “smoked rather from restlessness than love of tobacco…” There would be a trademark cigar in his hands as he negotiated the surrender of Vicksburg and again when he wrote out his surrender terms for General Lee at Appomattox in 1865.

Grant continued to receive cigars as gifts after the war writing to a Miss Mary Stafford in 1867 that “The box containing it [your letter] came duly to hand and supposing it to be a box of cigars, a present which I often get, it was sent to the house where I have several dozen boxes just like it. [It was only later that I] found your letter and beautiful present [the cigar holder inside].” Grant’s cigar smoking became so iconic it was even used in an 1868 campaign song titled “For President Ulysses S. Grant A Smoking his Cigar.” This was countered by a line in an opposition song "I smoke my weed and drink my gin, playing with the people's tin." One 1884 newspaper went so far as to title him “the greatest smoker of the age.” Souvenir collecting, especially related to celebrities, was wildly popular in Grant’s time. There are many reports of people scrambling for his discarded cigar butts, or saving the cigars given to them by Grant. One man even pawned off a common smoked cigar as that of general Grant which was later photographed and the photos widely distributed. In 1881 one of the feature items shown at a Soldiers Bazaar in Boston along with “Custer’s cap” and “Sheridan’s sword” was “Grant’s cigar.” Grant would amass a small collection of smoking paraphernalia from admirers over the years including engraved cigar cases and ornate meerschaum pipes. One of his favorite pieces purportedly was a hand-carved cigar case made by a Union soldier from the wood of a Lookout Mountain tree. Cigars claimed to have been owned by, sometimes even partially smoked by Grant, are in museum collections and have also been sold at auction.

The rapidly growing 19th-century tobacco industry was largely responsible for the modern advertisement movement. Merchants took advantage of Grant’s celebrity connection to cigar smoking to increase sales. On the use of Grant as a tobacco advertisement one anti-tobacco article opined "Not only do smoky editors take advantage of this weakness of our president, but tobacconists, greedy of gain, are subjecting it to their sordid purposes. they now insult American pride, by installing at their doors a full, life-like, wooden bust of General Grant offering to passing travelers a cigar." Cigar ads featuring Grant were common well into the 20th century. His name as well as his image still appear on cigar packaging to the present day.

The jury was still out on smoking medically, socially, and morally during Grant’s lifetime. To some smoking represented a vice or sin, to others a status symbol, and to some even a healthy indulgence. Cigar smoke was even touted as a treatment for asthma. Julia no doubt having grown accustomed to the habit saw only the advantages of smoking “It is a great pleasure to smoke. Smoking quiets the nerves… and promotes sleep. Smoking is a great assistant to digestion.” These were not just random assumptions Julia had about smoking but claims seen in publications and advertisements of the era. Although there were also articles that came out strongly against Grant as a public figure encouraging others into a wasteful, useless and sinful habit. Rev. George Trask an anti-tobacconist of Massachusetts published a letter in 1867 telling the General his “habit is contagious, and, associated with your powerful name, is doing irreparable mischief in the great community…You have conquered a city… We ask you to conquer a despotic habit…” Some thought that “tobacco use and abuse… the great public nuisance of the nineteenth century.” Another anti-tobacco article stated “Tobacco has a big party - General Grant smokes the weed…” and that smoking, aside from use as a remedy “when the cigar… is everlastingly between the teeth or between the fingers… is a constant invasion of the rights of others, by a cloud of offensive smoke being puffed into somebody’s face.” Some decried the personal hygiene issues of heavy smokers like reeking of smoke and stained teeth.

Although unaware of the exact biological mechanisms, the effects of smoking on the body were recognized by some. One article stated that “smoking reduces the tone of the system and diminishes all the forces of the body…” Another gave a strong warning "A large proportion of habitual smokers are rendered lazy and listless... and incapable of much mental exertion. Others suffer from depression of the spirits. What will be the result, if this habit be continued by future generations? Tobacco is ruining our nation." Its addictive qualities while not fully understood were apparent. There were other associated dangers for the smoker as well. In 1875 Grant requested a yellow cord fuse device for lighting cigars in the wind. Within a month of his purchase, it was discovered that the yellow color came from lead and had caused lead poisoning. Coincidentally the medical report on the yellow cord was edited by Dr. George Shrady who would later care for Grant in his final months. Although exact health correlations are nearly impossible to ascertain, tobacco we now know, carries a host of varied risks, depending on how it is consumed. Studies have confirmed cigar and pipe smoking can lead to early tooth loss. Grant had false teeth by the Civil War and had extractions at other times. Research suggests smoking compounds themselves or the sudden lack of nicotine can both trigger and aggravate migraines like those suffered by Grant. Due to the way that cigars are made and consumed they increase the risk of oral cancers, especially the lip, tongue, mouth, throat, and larynx. Anyone chewing cigars as Grant did would have had an increased addiction to nicotine due to the concentrations present and its absorption through the mouth regardless of inhalation.

Perhaps the marked fascination with Grant's smoking habit was partially a result of his taciturn nature. The papers were forced into printing some kind of material, no matter how trivial, about him. An article in 1865 chastised a competing paper stating "Every cigar, almost, that Grant smokes is duly telegraphed as an incident of his journey round the country.” Some merely used his smoking as a joke or as a source of negative political cartoons and written insults. "Grant smokes so much he can't dispense with his stovepipe hat." was a popular joke in multiple papers. During the run-up to the 1868 election, one paper jested "The rumor that Senator Frelinghuysen will take the stump for Grant is incorrect. Grant smokes his stumps too short." One Democratic motto was "Seymour talks, Grant smokes." One negative article alluded to smoking as a character flaw in the newly elected Grant stating "Grant smokes since the election more inveterately than ever. His brilliant nose gleams through the smoke of his cigar like a powder flash through the dun smoke of battle." Another Democratic paper stated, "General Grant failed in everything except smoking cigars....yet he is at the head of a great nation." An 1872 article accused President Grant and other cabinet members of smuggling 6000 Cuban cigars into the country to avoid paying duties on them. One positive article claimed Grant as President “In the management of the greatest problems of statesmanship involving the greatest interests of the country… smokes. Indeed, he smokes out corruption wherever it exists, and lays a heavy hand on wastefulness and extravagance, with a puff. He has smoked a hundred millions off the national debt, and off the expenses of the government some fifty millions a year and the habit seems to be growing on him.” In 1881 one paper stated “General Grant smokes ten cigars a day for which he pays twenty-two and a half cents apiece. And the Nation is asked to pension him because he is so poor.”

George W. Childs, a Philadelphia Publisher and one of Grant’s best friends for 20 years, remarked that Grant would smoke “about a dozen” cigars daily and they were of “very strong tobacco, and always… of a most expensive character.” He would go on to explain that Grant became an aficionado of good tobacco, “I have seen the statement published frequently that he did not know a bad cigar from a good one. That is not true… He was not at all slow in detecting good tobacco.” At a time when cheap cigars cost .5 cents the cost of Grant’s cigars was reported to be from .25-.50 cents each in various accounts. While traveling abroad Grant was treated to the very strong Turkish latakia tobacco by the Egyptian Khedive at his palace. Later in the trip, Jesse procured some fine cigars and was smoking one when he met up with his father at the Hotel Bristol in Paris. Grant recognized the quality immediately “You are smoking a good cigar, Jesse… Don’t you know, I haven’t smoked in weeks…The cigars in Italy were so bad that I finally gave them up altogether, and the French cigars are not much better.” Once Jesse gave him one of his good cigars he recalled that it “ended father’s abstinence.”

A newspaper article would later claim Grant helped successfully induce a tobacconist to import large quantities of finer American cigars to England. Towards the end of his life, Grant’s crooked business partner Ferdinand Ward alleged the General received a case of 5000 Mexican cigars that he claimed would be exceptional. As he and those around him smoked these cigars it became clear they were not. Grant stuck to his claim for some time but eventually admitted they were not as good as his typical Havana’s. Ward, who was a pathological liar and therefore not the most reliable source for information, also claimed that Grant smoked incessantly. He claimed that he had 25 cigars ready for him on his desk whenever he came into the office. He further claimed Grant went to bed with a “nightcap” cigar only to relight it in the morning. How Ward would have made this intimate observation makes it especially questionable.

Fred Grant explained his fathers’ habit stating “he never smoked as much as he seemed to smoke. He would light a cigar after breakfast and let it go out, and then light it again, and then again let it go out, and light it; so that the one cigar would last until lunch time…” and that “it was the fact that he almost constantly held a cigar between his fingers that made people describe him as a great smoker.” In one newspaper article, two associates of General Grant recalled him explaining his habit in a similar way. As they were having their meeting they noticed the General frequently let his cigar go out only to relight it multiple times. Grant said that one cigar would last him a good part of the day and that “I usually have a cigar in my mouth, but the greater part of the time it is unlighted.” He went on to explain he never smoked as much as people assumed even during the war for the same reason.

George Childs explained how the General exhibited self-control with his habit: “when he first began coming to my house… much as he liked his cigar, he would not smoke because I didn't. It was only after great persuasion that he consented to indulge in his favorite habit.” Newspaper accounts paint a different picture one in which Grant incessantly smoked even to the point of having to be asked to stop in certain locations. Multiple apocryphal tales describe him being stopped by sentinels and ordered not to smoke in locations where it was against orders. Grant’s brother-in-law Michael Cramer said that he was liberal with sharing cigars with those around him but he would not insist that they smoke. Cramer relates an amusing anecdote where Grant is passing out cigars to those around him including Cramer, when his sister Mary, Cramer’s wife, intervenes saying “’Ulys, don't lead my husband into temptation; for I married him as a non-smoking man.’ To which the general replied, in an amused way, ‘Mary, let Mr. Cramer smoke if he wants to; if he don't do anything worse he will get to heaven anyway.’" Grant's friend Mark Twain would make light of his habit reportedly stating "I never smoke to excess-that is, I smoke in moderation, only one cigar at a time." and "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world, I know because I've done it thousands of times."

Childs did not believe Grant “was a slave to that or any other habit… He had complete mastery of himself and his appetites. As soon as he found he was smoking too much he tapered off, using milder cigars and less of them. Finally he stopped altogether.” After his throat cancer was discovered Grant heeded his doctors’ recommendations and first scaled back on his cigars to one per day until he smoked his “last” cigar on November 20, 1884. Grant stated to those present on the occasion “Gentleman this is the last cigar I shall ever smoke. The doctors tell me that I will never live to finish [my memoirs] if I do not cease indulging in these fragrant weeds. It is hard to give up an old and cherished friend, that has been your comforter and solace through many weary nights and days. But [my memoirs] must be completed, for the sake of those that are near and dear to me…” The papers recognized the move as medically necessary with statements like “It was thought best not to irritate the throat with tobacco, but to say that nicotine has caused the cancer is going too far.” They praised his resolve with statements such as: “The General’s willpower in giving up his cigar, especially when he had been in the habit of smoking so many a day is remarkable.”

Months later in April however he would implore one of his physicians Dr. Shrady if he could have “one or two puffs” on a cigar. He took the opportunity only to have the reporters see his actions through a window and publish it with the headline “General Grant Smokes Again”. The headline nearly put him at odds with Julia who simply refuted the report and it was left at that. Although his struggle was often hidden, he confided to Dr. Shrady that it was extremely difficult to go without his cigars and he would permit others to smoke around him to enjoy the atmosphere. Others such as Childs and Mark Twain would recall that he sufficiently conquered the inclination to smoke in his final months. Most papers saw his smoking cessation as a necessary move but did not link it directly with his disease. Some newspaper articles did draw a link such as one in which Grant’s Washington DC cigar dealer claimed “the nicotine from the cigars thus retained in the mouth was the origin of the general’s disease.” Regardless of the cause of his affliction, Grant hoped the study of his struggle with the disease would provide some benefit to other sufferers.

The cancer from years of regular smoking would take his life on the morning of July 23, 1885. Dr. Shrady would conclude that his excessive habit of smoking “was destined to contribute in a measure, at least, to his death.” When fellow cigar smoker and friend Mark Twain (Samuel Clemons) pressed Grant’s physician Dr. Douglas on whether his smoking habit was the cause of his illness Douglas told him “Grant’s affliction could not be altogether to smoking, but far more to distress of the mind… [from] his financial disaster.” An 1893 newspaper article went so far as to state that “Some men smoke themselves to death; General Grant had a cigar in his mouth continually and was killed by smoking.” Another article claimed the connection itself was a deterrent to some, "The deadly illness of General Grant is ascribed to cancer and it is said the cancerous growth was caused by excessive smoking. The distinguished character of the patient has made the case conspicuous, and many veteran smokers have already discarded the use of tobacco." Unfortunately, even with the true harmful effects of smoking becoming more widely known in the middle of the 20th century, an estimated 480,000 Americans still die annually due to smoking-related causes. Grant’s smoking habit was a fascination of the public in his time and still tends to overshadow more meaningful aspects of his life and career. All this proves is that a celebrities’ persona is a powerful thing. While unwittingly Grant encouraged others in a habit that is now known to be unhealthy, maybe some of the more meaningful traits in his persona were and still are not emulated enough. If he had known the dangers of tobacco use, he would undoubtedly not have been a “champion of the weed” but instead displayed the willpower to resist. Smokers looking to honor Grant’s memory by working to overcome addiction just as Grant did in his final months can find resources available at www.smokefree.gov

Sources:

The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant
The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant
The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant
Grant’s Final Victory - by Charles B. Flood
Campaigning with Grant – by Horace Porter
Grant As His Son Saw Him - McClure’s Magazine 1894
In The Days of My Father General Grant – by Jesse R. Grant
Grant – by Ron Chernow
General Grant’s Last Days – by George F. Shrady M.D.
Grant’s Friend Speaks - Lowell Daily Currier 8/11/1885
Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity – by Brooks Simpson
Gen. Grant as a Tobacco User – The Caldwell Watchman 2/24/1911
The New York Herald – 7/16/1878
The Habit of Smoking – The Worthington Advance 12/21/1893
New Theory Regarding General Grant’s Disease – Springfield Globe Republic 4/13/1885
Civil War Times Illustrated – April 1965
General Grant As I Knew Him – New York Herald 12/19/1909
Men and Memories Vol. II – by John Russell Young
Medical Record Vol 10 (1875) – Edited by George F. Shrady M.D.
How Smoking a Cigar Brought Fame to U.S. Grant – The Salt Lake Tribune 11/3/1908
The Morning Appeal (Carson City, NV) – 12/29/1881
Weekly Graphic – 3/6/1885
Want Gen. Grant Statue Preserved - The Daily Gate City 11/23/1916
Mark Twain – A Biography -by Albert Paine
Ulysses S. Grant: His Life and Character – by Hamlin Garland
The Life of Ulysses S. Grant: General of the Armies of the United States – by J. Wilson/C. Dana
A Personal History of Ulysses S. Grant – by Albert D. Richardson
Ulysses S. Grant: Conversations and Unpublished Letters – by Michael Cramer
Your Guide to Cigar Sizes and Smoke Times on Alexanders Cigar Merchants
6 Surprising Facts About Cigar Smoking - by Terry Martin
Biomarkers of Exposure among U.S. Cigar Smokers by J. Chen, A. Kettermann, B. Rostron & H. Day
Cigar Smoking and Cancer – National Cancer Institute
What Overusing Exclamation Marks Says About You by Philip Cowell
Tobacco vs. Chivalry – The Pacific Commercial Advertiser 10/14/1882
The Man Who Smokes – The Freemont Weekly Journal 6/17/1870
Another Theory - The Indianapolis Sentinel 4/13/1885 The Yorkville Enquirer – 1/27/1881
What This Country Needs Is a Good Five-Cent Cigar – by Patricia A. Cooper
Smoking More Than Five Cigarettes A Day May Provoke Migraine Attacks - FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology.
Does it Pay to Smoke? – The Jackson Standard 2/13/1868
Wayne County Herald - 8/31/1865
A Hundred Thousand People - The Louisiana Democrat 8/5/1868
The Louisville Daily Democrat - 9/15/1867
The Louisville Journal - 11/7/1868
Advice to Smokers - The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer 4/23/1885
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - 1/21/1885
Cigarettes: The Rise and Decline - by D. Abrams, A. Glasser, A. Villanti, and R. Niaura
The Funny Side of Physic: or, The Mysteries of Medicine by A.D. Crabtree
Smuggling for the Administration - The Evening Courier & Republic 2/6/1872
Lewis County Democrat - 11/11/1874