Winner of the Lincoln Prize Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Abraham Lincoln’s political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president. On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their … Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry.
Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was the result of a character that had been forged by experiences that raised him above his more privileged and accomplished rivals. He won because he possessed an extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires.
It was this capacity that enabled Lincoln as president to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union and winning the war.
We view the long, horrifying struggle from the vantage of the White House as Lincoln copes with incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and his raucous cabinet. He overcomes these obstacles by winning the respect of his former competitors, and in the case of Seward, finds a loyal and crucial friend to see him through.
This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln’s mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation’s history.
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Long but worth it
A masterpiece.
It’s Doris Kearns Goodwin…do I need to say a lot beyond that? She is a miracle and a national treasure.
One of the best books I have read about this time in history
worth reading
Though I don’t necessarily agree with all of the author’s conclusions of cause and effect in all of the events, I find the work was admirably researched, painstakingly presented and well written. All in all, a very good read.
Keep your friends near and your enemies closer…
I read “Team of Rivals” several years ago. Accordingly, I can only provide a global assessment and not one which is highly specific. Of the books I have read on Abraham “Lincoln Team” of Rivals was unique, at least for me, in that the individuals who rivaled Lincoln for the Presidency and joined his Cabinet as President were nearly as much the …
On my top five favorite books I’ve ever read. I actually felt at times I was in the room when the dialogue was taking place.
It was like reading five biographies in one. This is one of the best books I ever read and worth the read.
Required reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of the government Lincoln had to deal with. Doris hit another home run!
Definitely one of the best books ever written on Lincoln, we certainly could use him in today’s fiasco in Washington.
I found it extremely interesting and informative.
Kearns Goodwin provides astonishing detail of Lincoln’s administration and particularly him and his cabinet, in a truly interesting manner. Excellent read.
tells you a lot about Lincoln–that’s a good thing
Best biography I’ve ever read.
Wonderful book about our sixteenth president and the interactions with cabinet and Senate and Congress with the upheaval of the Civil Warand events leading up to war.
This is the first of Goodwin’s books that I read. With all the books written about our sixteenth president, it is hard to find a different slant on Lincoln’s presidency. However, of the biographies and other books that I have read on Lincoln, this truly gave me a better understanding of the workings of his cabinet.
The story of Abraham Lincoln and the team of his rivals that he gathered around him as his cabinet during the Civil War. Very well written, as is everything by Kearns Goodwin.
A great look into a history.