Both Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee were men of integrity, determination, passion, and great ability. This is where their similarities end as Lee's ideology of empowerment differed from that of Grant's aristocratic beliefs. Bruce Catton wrote about the two men in the essay "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts." Catton, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Civil War historian, provides a brief character analysis of both men in this essay. The beliefs Grant espoused as a frontiersman were more admirable than Lee's aristocratic ones, and more men and women today should understand and follow Grant's principles. Social inequality was one of the key differences between the two men. Lee was an aristocrat who believed in traditional chivalry. This belief had become historically antiquated because America had become the land of change. In America, aristocratic society was slowly being replaced by an industrious, forward-thinking society. (Catton 429) He also believed in establishing and maintaining a clear social order among each class of individuals. Catton wrote, “In such a country Lee advocated the sense that it was somehow advantageous to human society to have pronounced inequality in social structure” (429). In contrast, Grant believed that everyone had the opportunity to succeed in society and that everyone had the same opportunities. Catton wrote: “No man is born for anything, except perhaps for the chance to show how far he can rise. Life was a competition” (430). The social differences between the two men gave insight into how each perceived the states future. Lee believed that landowners played a key role in determining the country's success. He believed that this society...... middle of paper ......would be realized in the years to come, but that, in the end, he helped the two sections become one nation again. . . after a war whose bitterness might have seemed to make such a reunion entirely impossible” (431). While General Lee's passion and ambition were admirable, the forward-thinking vision espoused by General Grant is how society should live today. Visionaries with a passion to provide a better opportunity for us, as a nation, are a mindset that must be embraced by all. This foresight has been essential in the development of this nation and must become a priority for the men and women of today for our country to succeed further. Works Cited Catton, Bruce. “Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts.” Readings for writers. 13th edition. Jo Ray McCuen-Metherell and Anthony C. Winkler. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2011. 428-31. Press.