Ulysses S. Grant is dying of throat cancer. The Civil War general and former U.S. president was robbed by a business partner in a scheme which has plunged him from apparent wealth into heavy debt.

Surrounded by family and friends, Grant attempts to write his memoirs in order to provide for his wife, Julia, who comforts him in his final days. His daughter Nellie, victim of a bad marriage, tries to heal the social wounds between an old friend, the Seneca Indian Ely Parker, and the Gilded Age world of Manhattan's elite. They and Grant's son Fred, Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Frank Herron, the author and publisher Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), and other family members and old comrades try to buttress Grant's strength, while reacting in various ways to the drama of his dying. Meanwhile, Grant's writing assistant, Adam Badeau, considers his own literary legacy and financial interests.

The Last Circle of Ulysses Grant is a spellbinding tale of an American hero trying to win one last battle. Set in the turbulent last quarter of the 19th century, in bustling Manhattan, the Hudson Valley and the Adirondack mountains, the characters deal with issues of politics, race, the Civil War, Reconstruction, religion, love, family, betrayal, friendship, and the life and legacy of Grant himself. Based upon original source materials, the story is an accurate depiction of who and what filled the mind and last days of the man who saved the Union.