Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

published	September 26th 2006 by Simon & Schuster
binding	Paperback
isbn	0743270754 (isbn13: 9780743270755)
pages	944
literary awards	2005 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
description	The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books. Do we need another Lincoln biography? In Team of Rivals,...more [close] The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books. Do we need another Lincoln biography? In Team of Rivals, esteemed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin proves that we do. Though she can't help but cover some familiar territory, her perspective is focused enough to offer fresh insights into Lincoln's leadership style and his deep understanding of human behavior and motivation. Goodwin makes the case for Lincoln's political genius by examining his relationships with three men he selected for his cabinet, all of whom were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. These men, all accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer. Yet Lincoln not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's fine book is about. Had he not possessed the wisdom and confidence to select and work with the best people, she argues, he could not have led the nation through one of its darkest periods. Ten years in the making, this engaging work reveals why "Lincoln's road to success was longer, more tortuous, and far less likely" than the other men, and why, when opportunity beckoned, Lincoln was "the best prepared to answer the call." This multiple biography further provides valuable background and insights into the contributions and talents of Seward, Chase, and Bates. Lincoln may have been "the indispensable ingredient of the Civil War," but these three men were invaluable to Lincoln and they played key roles in keeping the nation intact. --Shawn Carkonen <p align=left> The Team of Rivals <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="4" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align=left> Team of Rivals doesn't just tell the story of Abraham Lincoln. It is a multiple biography of the entire team of personal and political competitors that he put together to lead the country through its greatest crisis. Here, Doris Kearns Goodwin profiles five of the key players in her book, four of whom contended for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination and all of whom later worked together in Lincoln's cabinet. </td> </tr> <tr> <td align=center> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%">1. Edwin M. Stanton Stanton treated Lincoln with utter contempt at their initial acquaintance when the two men were involved in a celebrated law case in the summer of 1855. Unimaginable as it might seem after Stanton's demeaning behavior, Lincoln offered him "the most powerful civilian post within his gift"--the post of secretary of war--at their next encounter six years later. On his first day in office as Simon Cameron's replacement, the energetic, hardworking Stanton instituted "an entirely new regime" in the War Department. After nearly a year of disappointment with Cameron, Lincoln had found in Stanton the leader the War Department desperately needed. Lincoln's choice of Stanton revealed his singular ability to transcend personal vendetta, humiliation, or bitterness. As for Stanton, despite his initial contempt for the man he once described as a "long armed Ape," he not only accepted the offer but came to respect and love Lincoln more than any person outside of his immediate family. He was beside himself with grief for weeks after the president's death. 2. Salmon P. Chase Chase, an Ohioan, had been both senator and governor, had played a central role in the formation of the national Republican Party, and had shown an unflagging commitment to the cause of the black man. No individual felt he deserved the presidency as a natural result of his past contributions more than Chase himself, but he refused to engage in the practical methods by which nominations are won. He had virtually no campaign and he failed to conciliate his many enemies in Ohio itself. As a result, he alone among the candidates came to the convention without the united support of his own state. Chase never ceased to underestimate Lincoln, nor to resent the fact that he had lost the presidency to a man he considered his inferior. His frustration with his position as secretary of the treasury was alleviated only by his his dogged hope that he, rather than Lincoln, would be the Republican nominee in 1864, and he steadfastly worked to that end. The president put up with Chase's machinations and haughty yet fundamentally insecure nature because he recognized his superlative accomplishments at treasury. Eventually, however, Chase threatened to split the Republican Party by continuing to fill key positions with partisans who supported his presidential hopes. When Lincoln stepped in, Chase tendered his resignation as he had three times before, but this time Lincoln stunned Chase by calling his bluff and accepting the offer. 3. Abraham Lincoln When Lincoln won the Republican presidential nomination in 1860 he seemed to have come from nowhere--a backwoods lawyer who had served one undistinguished term in the House of Representatives and lost two consecutive contests for the U.S. Senate. Contemporaries attributed his surprising nomination to chance, to his moderate position on slavery, and to the fact that he hailed from the battleground state of Illinois. But Lincoln's triumph, particularly when viewed against the efforts of his rivals, owed much to a remarkable, unsuspected political acuity and an emotional strength forged in the crucible of hardship and defeat. That Lincoln, after winning the presidency, made the unprecedented decision to incorporate his eminent rivals into his political family, the cabinet, was evidence of an uncanny self-confidence and an indication of what would prove to others a most unexpected greatness. 4. William H. Seward A celebrated senator from New York for more than a decade and governor of his state for two terms before going to Washington, Seward was certain he was going to receive his party's nomination for president in 1860. The weekend before the convention in Chicago opened he had already composed a first draft of the valedictory speech he expected to make to the Senate, assuming that he would resign his position as soon as the decision in Chicago was made. His mortification at not having received the nomination never fully abated, and when he was offered his cabinet post as secretary of state he intended to have a major role in choosing the remaining cabinet members, conferring upon himself a position in the new government more commanding than that of Lincoln himself. He quickly realized the futility of his plan to relegate the president to a figurehead role. Though the feisty New Yorker would continue to debate numerous issues with Lincoln in the years ahead, exactly as Lincoln had hoped and needed him to do, Seward would become his closest friend, advisor, and ally in the administration. More than any other cabinet member Seward appreciated Lincoln's peerless skill in balancing factions both within his administration and in the country at large. 5. Edward Bates A widely respected elder statesman, a delegate to the convention that framed the Missouri Constitution, and a former Missouri congressman whose opinions on national matters were still widely sought, Bates's ambitions for political success were gradually displaced by love for his wife and large family, and he withdrew from public life in the late 1840s. For the next 20 years he was asked repeatedly to run or once again accept high government posts but he consistently declined. However in early 1860, with letters and newspaper editorials advocating his candidacy crowding in upon him, he decided to try for the highest office in the land. After losing to Lincoln he vowed, in his diary, to decline a cabinet position if one were to be offered, but with the country "in trouble and danger" he felt it was his duty to accept when Lincoln asked him to be attorney general. Though Bates initially viewed Lincoln as a well-meaning but incompetent administrator, he eventually concluded that the president was an unmatched leader, "very near being a 'perfect man.'" </td> </tr> </table> <p align=left> The Essential Doris Kearns Goodwin <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td width="33%"> Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir</td> <td width="33%"> No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II</td> <td width="33%"> Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream</td> </tr> </table> <p align=left> More New Reading on the Civil War <table cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr class="tiny" valign="top" align="center"> <td width="33%"> Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk</td> <td width="33%"> Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War by Charles Bracelen Flood</td> <td width="33%"> The March: A Novel by E.L. Doctorow</td> </tr> </table> <p align=left> [close]
date added	10-13-06 edit book

find at: Amazon | Half.com | Barnes & Noble | Abebooks | more...

discuss this book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

groups with this book

friend reviews (0)

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

lists with this book

Best Books to Become an Informed Voter

18 books | 8 voters

Best Biography

88 books | 19 voters

More...

other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2782)

Marti is currently reading it

09/19/07

bookshelves: currently-reading

my father just sent me this book saying in a thick slow southern lilt, "what an incredibly inspirational and riveting book, you absolutely must read this". i have a goal this year to make my way through pulitzer prize winning authors, so doris goodwin has been added to the list. it is an unfortunately heavy book to hold when attempting to snuggle up with a dog and two cats.
it seems that reading such a large hardback historical book dictates that i sit in a straight backed chair,...more my father just sent me this book saying in a thick slow southern lilt, "what an incredibly inspirational and riveting book, you absolutely must read this". i have a goal this year to make my way through pulitzer prize winning authors, so doris goodwin has been added to the list. it is an unfortunately heavy book to hold when attempting to snuggle up with a dog and two cats.
it seems that reading such a large hardback historical book dictates that i sit in a straight backed chair, which of course is covered in an impossibly fine fabric, as an early autumn fire crackles at my back, the waving flames sending glances of light across the seemingly ancient wooden walls of the study. a snifter of port on a table near my elbow catches the light and throws a lavender blush onto the back of my bone white hand which hovers on the first page of the text as delicatly as a tiny bird pirching on a green summer sapling. at my feet a thinish faced hunting dog breathes slowly in sleep, its feet occasionally move in dream induced spasms that speak of wet grass, rabbits, crisp morning air and the blood pumping thrill of a chase.
instead, i turn the page of this, christ what an incredibly heavy book, and snag the top of the page with a ragged nail because last night, frustrated by the sudden disapperance of my nailclippers i finally bit the claw like daggers to a manageable length... god knows where my visiting father left the clippers, was it outside when he was soaking his feet in that roasting pan? i shift the weighty text and try not to get too many cracker crumbs in the bed, having once again completly blown the whole "i will not eat carbs" thing. the only answer seems to be; never have people over to visit or soak the left over food in dishwashing detergent when they leave (throw it outside, you might suggest, but then one of the many adolescent coyotes that skulk around my neighborhood at dusk might actually catch and eat my houdini like cat). to keep the crackers and bread at bay i might just never leave the house, my only choices then would be raw carrots, limp celery, asian condiments of every variety, or cooking some kind of grain which would make the house 115 degrees. better yet, i might get inspired to actually do that syrup pepper lemon fast thing, that supposedly gives you the energy of a child, instead of buying blueberries and pancake mix on which to pour shiny rivers of said delicious maple syrup. my 2 shedding long haired cats do not like sharing the bed with such a unweildy "Rival" so they make more little tears to my only pair of expensive sheets and knock the seemingly masonry encrusted flap of the book into my nose with their hips. this brings to my attention that frankie has a lovely wad of shit and kitty litter embedded into the base of her long white tail. my dingo looking mutt tracks muddy feet onto my wrinkled but previously white comforter. she turns round and around, bunching the sheet into a rosetta at my feet, as she looks for the softest, coolest spot. i'm certain that she secretly shares my hope for this heat breaks so that she, Beatrice - can once and for all shake her unrelenting summer fleas. i - non lily white handed smelling faintly of lavender and fresh yeast rolls - reader of this girthy book, long to remove the packing taped air conditioning vent from the sliding glass door and roll the unit into the corner of the disorganized basement...how long has all that broken glass been on the basement floor? time to lift the book again, the basement will have to wait....less

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comments

Ellis rated it:

02/25/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in February, 2008

I would have given this book more stars if I could have. I think I loved this book so much because Abraham Lincoln was such an absolutely amazing person. We are all taught that Lincoln was one of America's great presidents, and we know that he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, but he is so much greater of a man than I ever knew. Lincoln was super smart, wise, and incredibly compassionate and empathetic. While unsure of his own faith, Lincoln, through his own care for others, was so much ...more I would have given this book more stars if I could have. I think I loved this book so much because Abraham Lincoln was such an absolutely amazing person. We are all taught that Lincoln was one of America's great presidents, and we know that he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, but he is so much greater of a man than I ever knew. Lincoln was super smart, wise, and incredibly compassionate and empathetic. While unsure of his own faith, Lincoln, through his own care for others, was so much more of a Christ-like person than the overtly pious self-righteous Salmon Chase (Lincoln's former rival and Secretary of the Treasury who, while disparaging of others characters, allowed himself to be uncritical of his own unethical actions [much like our current president - in my opinion]).

This book showed Mary Lincoln in a better light than I had expected. I had always had the impression that Mary was a real stinker, and while she definitely had her faults that must have been caused real difficulties for the president, she also had many good qualities. One thing that impressed me is how she personally gave service to soldiers while not allowing any of her kind actions to be made known to the Washington social elite. While Mary may not have always been easy to live with, I felt kind of bad for her since she suffered from such severe migraines and depression. Who's to say for sure, but this book left me with the impression that Mary probably really tried to be a good gal despite her mental/physical problems.

I did like the point of view of this book. Telling the history of Lincoln's political and personal life inclusive with the lives of his opponents-turned-collaborators not only gave a more complete view of the times and happenings of the mid 1800s, but it demonstrated in a few cases what Lincoln did so widely, humbly, and deftly; turn those against him into believers and supporters of his work.

One interesting thing that Lincoln did that I loved about him, and can't stand about George W. Bush, is that Lincoln, while not being dishonest, again unlike our current president, used much political slide-of-hand to get things done. I guess the biggest difference between Lincoln and some of our modern politicians is that while this technique is used today to cover up wrongdoings or cheating, Lincoln used it to help bring unity back to the nation and freedom to all people.
...less

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

Ginnie rated it:

(review of isbn 0684824906)

05/26/08

bookshelves: biography, government, history

Goodwin, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in history for No Ordinary Time (1994), examines Abraham Lincoln as a practical politician, focusing on his conversion of rivals to allies.

Was Lincoln gay? It doesn't matter, though the question has exercised plenty of biographers recently. Goodwin, an old-fashioned pop historian of the Ambrose-McCullough vein, quotes from his law partner, William Herndon: "Lincoln had terribly strong passions for women-could scarcely keep his hands off them.&...more Goodwin, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in history for No Ordinary Time (1994), examines Abraham Lincoln as a practical politician, focusing on his conversion of rivals to allies.

Was Lincoln gay? It doesn't matter, though the question has exercised plenty of biographers recently. Goodwin, an old-fashioned pop historian of the Ambrose-McCullough vein, quotes from his law partner, William Herndon: "Lincoln had terribly strong passions for women-could scarcely keep his hands off them." End of discussion.

Lincoln was, if anything, melancholic-possibly as the result of abuse on the part of his father-and sometimes incapacitated by depression. Thus it was smart politicking to recruit erstwhile opponents Salmon Chase and William Seward, who had very different ideas on most things but who nonetheless served Lincoln loyally to the point of propping him up at times during the fraught Civil War years. Goodwin indicates that Lincoln knew that war was coming, and he knew why: He'd been vigorously opposed to slavery for his entire public career, and even if "many Northerners . . . were relatively indifferent to the issue" of slavery and the westward expansion of the slave states, Lincoln was determined to settle it, even at catastrophic cost. Chase, Seward and his other lieutenants did not always fall immediately into step with Lincoln, and some pressed for compromise; when he declared the Emancipation Proclamation, writes Goodwin, he assembled the Cabinet and said that while he recognized their differences, he "had not called them together to ask their advice." They acceded, though by the end of the first term, enough divisions obtained within and without the White House thatit looked as if Lincoln would not be reelected-whereupon he demanded that his secretaries sign a resolution "committing the administration to devote all its powers and energies to help bring the war to a successful conclusion," the idea being that only a Democrat would accept a negotiated peace.

Illuminating and well-written, as are all of Goodwin's presidential studies...less

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

Phillip rated it:

02/25/08

bookshelves: readrecommend

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: to anybody who cares about freedom

I cannot recommend this work highly enough. Goodwin's prose flows like non-fiction. It was almost a "page turner" for me, it was so engrossing. Having grown up in South Texas in the mid-20th century, I absorbed many notions just from my surroundings. Among those were that the Civil War was not fought primarily on the slavery issue but on the issue of states rights. Secondly, Lincoln was not a national hero, but an opportunist who used the slavery issue for political gain while not much...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Sydney rated it:

06/01/08

recommended to Sydney by: Book review

Biographies aren't always boring tomes. Doris Kearns Goodwin does a magnificent job of detailing how Abraham Lincoln, a lesser known and ill-positioned candidate captures the Republican party's nomination, goes on to get elected President, and leads America through the tumult of the Civil War.

While most of us know Lincoln as "honest Abe" and the President who emancipated slaves, Kearns-Goodwin offers a portrait of a man who took many of the men who'd he'd beaten out as the republ...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Rae rated it:

09/08/07

Read in May, 2007

recommends it for: Everyone

This is one of the best historical non-fiction books I've ever read. Doris Kearns Goodwin, who won the Pulitzer, tells the story of perhaps the most unlikely Presidential cabinet ever assembled: that of Abraham Lincoln. He not only brought his own political rivals into the Cabinet, he brought men who would never have willingly worked together (or even been on the same planet) under any other conditions but for the national emergency of the Civil War. I think the best thing for me in this work is...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

Carol rated it:

06/10/08

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Carol by: Patty Johnson

Team of Rivals was a big undertaking for me at over 750 pages. What a treasure of a book. I had the feeling that you get with a good piece of fiction where you hate for the book to end. I felt like I was there, that I knew Lincoln. What a marvelous man, a moral man, a patient man. There were lessons between the covers of this book I would feel comfortable including in a talk in church. I have read other books about Lincoln and other books about the civil war, but to see Lincoln through the eyes ...more

Like this review? yes

1 comments

Krista rated it:

08/26/07

Goodwin writes in a very engaging prose and gives even the most mundane happenings enough of a zing to get the reader on to the next thing.

She is pretty biased, however. We all know that Abe was a kick-ass guy. And that he fought battles against lesser men to bring the Union back together. But Goodwin often recasts his mis-steps with the 20/20 hindsight of history and boldly encourages the reader to believe that Lincoln, himself, was in possession of that hindsight. According to Goodwin, ...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Jimbo rated it:

09/06/07

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: Everyone

I recently finished this amazing book by Doris Goodwin. If you have not read about Lincoln before, then you must read this book. Lincoln, has been kind of an enigma to me. I have heard various accounts of events in his life and most people rate him as one of the greatest leaders ever. I finally decided to look into it.

What I enjoy about this book is the author approaches the story through five viewpoints, one from Lincoln and the other four from his cabinet members. There is so much to disc...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Diane rated it:

06/03/08

Read in June, 2008

I loved this book. At 749 pages, it is a daunting read, but well worth it.

Goodwin is a master of portraying history in a most engaging way. It's a true story - all the facts are already available to us, yet she still manages to make it a page turner.

I have a fascination for Lincoln and the Civil War. I thought I knew a lot of the basic facts. It turns out most of what I knew before reading this would have filled perhaps 25 pages of this book. It was wonderful to discover so much mo...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Chuck rated it:

05/09/08

Read in May, 2008

Team of Rivals is a first-rate and captivating narrative, which portrays Lincoln's humanity, warts and all. Although focusing on the Civil War period, this book does not provide any extensive battlefield accounts or descriptions of military strategy, but those accounts are available elsewhere. Rather, in this work the author shows how a relatively inexperienced "rail-splitter" Lincoln gradually attained the stature of a beloved and enormously impressive president. He did not ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

add a comment

Robert rated it:

03/13/08

Read in December, 2007

Without a doubt one of the best books on American history I've ever read. Doris Kearns Goodwin deserves every prize she's ever won. She is one of the best extant adherents to Barbara Tuchman's prime directive of historiography: The writer of history has got to make the reader want to "turn the page," or all his or her work is pointless.

Goodwin's decision to follow the presidency of Abraham Lincoln--surely one of the most written about subjects in American history--by writing esse...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Kent rated it:

07/15/08

Read in July, 2008

This Book should be on everyones must reed list. What a facinating jounery into the life and people surrounding Lincoln during his political life. To me this book read like a novel. Ms. Goodwin has great talent in bringing alive the events and times of this era. I have always known that Lincoln was considered a GREAT man but never did I realize what an absolute judge of human nature he was. Did the man make mistakes? Absolutely, but his abillity to put his own ego aside for the things that h...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Elizabeth rated it:

03/16/08

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: everyone and anyone!

I just finished this book,literally this minute, and wanted to review it right away. This is the best piece of non-fiction I have read in a long time. I really like Doris Kearns Goodwin's writing style - I ate this book up as if it were a novel (I prefer fiction to non-fiction most of the time).

Like most Americans, I love and respect Abraham Lincoln. This book has only added to these feelings. He was truly an amazing human being. Imagine that Barak Obama becomes President of the Unite...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Martha rated it:

03/21/08

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in November, 2007

Two things: I have been wanting to read about Lincoln and I've been wanting to read some Doris Kearns Goodwin, baseball fan-historian, for some time.
This book fills the bill. It's a tiny bit long winded - I mean, when you're covering a man about whom we know so much and about whom so much has already been written, there's just a ton of detail, perhaps more than I need.
But I must say, Goodwin did a fine job finding a niche within the volume of information about Lincoln. His cabinet was compose...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Matt rated it:

04/04/08

bookshelves: read-in-2007

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: anyone willing to be blown away by a 700+ page tome.

This is one of the most accomplished documents of US history I've ever read. Goodwin characterizes Lincoln's managerial skills and his utter selflessness through the lens of the more established men of consequence Lincoln beat out for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination. She really humanizes Lincoln (and Seward, Bates, Stanton and even that uber-ambitious SOB Salmon Chase) through deep background and insightful and humurous anecdotes.

Lincoln's character rises above all of this thoug...more

Like this review? yes

add a comment

Davie rated it:

05/24/07

bookshelves: finished

Read in November, 2006

'read' it on audiobook -- a mammoth two-part set of 34 CDs (great narrator, by the way) from the Mountain View Public Library (excellent selection of nonfiction audiobooks, incidentally). It's a great way to learn about the period and about Lincoln -- lots of villains (damn you, McClelland!) and unlikely heroes, and surprising transformations (e.g., of Stanton from a total asshole to Lincoln's most loyal and valuable friend and cabinet member.)

Warning: the whole time I was immersed in it, I...more