In Popular Culture
John Steinbeck's East of Eden features several references to the Grand Army of the Republic. Despite having very little actual battle experience during his brief military career, cut short by the loss of his leg, Adam Trask's father Cyrus joins the GAR and assumes the stature of "a great man" through his involvement with the organization. At the height of the GAR's influence in Washington, he brags to his son:
| “ | I wonder if you know how much influence I really have. I can throw the Grand Army at any candidate like a sock. Even the President likes to know what I think about public matters. I can get senators defeated and I can pick appointments like apples. I can make men and I can destroy men. Do you know that? | ” |
Later in the book, references are made to the graves of GAR members in California in order to emphasize the passage of time.
Another Nobel Prize winning author, Sinclair Lewis, refers to the GAR in his acclaimed novel Main Street.
Charles Portis's classic novel, True Grit, makes reference to the GAR.
The GAR is briefly mentioned in William Faulkner's novel, The Sound and the Fury.
The GAR is also mentioned in the seldom sung second verse of the patriotic song You're a Grand Old Flag.
The GAR is referenced in John McCrae's poem He Is There! which was set to music in 1917 by Charles Ives as part of his cycle Three Songs of the War.
Read more about this topic: Grand Army Of The Republic
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“Cynicism makes things worse than they are in that it makes permanent the current condition, leaving us with no hope of transcending it. Idealism refuses to confront reality as it is but overlays it with sentimentality. What cynicism and idealism share in common is an acceptance of reality as it is but with a bad conscience.”
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