Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin

Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition

Pub. in: September, 2006

ISBN: 0743270754

Pages: 944

Measurements: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches

Origin of product: USA

Order code: BA00207

Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0743270755

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author, this book is the #1 New York Times Bestseller, and is one of the best biographies of Abraham Lincoln.

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.

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.'"

****

This is a fascinating book that does more than grab the reader into learning about Abraham Lincoln and his impact in changing the course of history for the better. It also is a well researched presentation of the important Cabinet advisors who not only helped shape the outcome of the Civil War and the end of slavery, but shows how Lincoln had the wisdom and foresight to sculpt outcomes he desired. Lincoln did this in a unique manner, knowing how to position himself while using his rivals to work towards his common aim, with Lincoln slyly in control.

If Lincoln's Presidency was an accident of fate, it was a fate that it turns out that Lincoln himself provided significant input. After all, he is the only one term Congressman who lost two races for the U.S. Senate to ever become President. Despite this seemingly lack of proper requisite for the job, Lincoln deliberately knew that by both eloquently and, importantly, honestly opposing the spread of slavery from a moral view, he would gain much respect as he toured the country in giving his thoughts on the idea. While the awkward looking man with the high pitched voice might have been overlooked as Presidential material, the rave reviews on his comments brought Lincoln to heightened public attention.

This book presents how Lincoln deliberately took what was then a moderate position on the slavery issue and, more important, avoided the code words that stirred the passions of the radicals yet would achieve the disapproval of the conservatives. This proved crucial, for while few Republican factions favored Lincoln for President, he was acceptable to the various factions. While Lincoln's availability for the President was known, he was essentially viewed as a favorite son candidate from Illinois with strong support in neighboring Indiana. Astute political observers would have noted those were two critical battleground states that Republicans needed to carry in order to win, which would assist in Republican delegates turning to a candidate that could carry those two states. Yet, initially, Lincoln's Presidential candidacy was not viewed as serious so Lincoln supporters were able to convince the Republicans to hold their 1860 nominating convention in the supposedly neutral city of Chicago, which allowed Illinois Republican to pack the audience with vocal Lincoln partisans to help convince delegates that Lincoln had great support.

The book provides a detailed portrait into the lives and thoughts not only of Lincoln's, but of his opponents for the 1860 Presidential nomination. William Seward, the champion of the more radical anti-slavery faction, was the front runner, yet was unable to gain the support of a majority of the delegates. The two other main candidates, Salmon Chase and Edward Bates, had their followings but their bitter enemies as well. Chase avoided the rhetoric of Seward in hopes of appearing more acceptable to a wider range of delegates, yet factionalism and opposition form within his home state of Ohio severely harmed his candidacy. Bates had a stronger political background than Lincoln and was helped by the support of New York newspaper publisher Horace Greeley, but he was from the relatively small state of Missouri that offered little political pull at the convention. Greeley did help block the nomination of fellow New Yorker and early front runner Seward. In the clash of these titans of their era, the delegates turned to the one candidate that a majority could agree upon, a candidate who had always been in the Republican center (unlike his rivals who tried to reposition themselves in that center) and that was Lincoln.

President Lincoln later made the unusual, but wise move, to incorporate these opponents into his Cabinet. It is important to note that while Lincoln valued their advice, Lincoln incorporated them more to subjugate these factions under his leadership. Lincoln proved to be a commanding leader, especially for one with such limited previous government experience, which became critical in ultimately holding the neutrality of the border states, emancipating slavery permanently, and leading the Northern states to win the Civil War.

This book provides an excellent portrait of the life of Lincoln and how that life helped shaped the man who would bring an end to slavery. This book uniquely is a Lincoln biography, biography of the people who influenced Lincoln and his times, and a history of those times including critical background leading to important events. This is an outstanding of analysis of various aspects of Lincoln and his era. These were times that included a war that cost more American lives than all other American wars combined, and what up until then were the largest military operations in world history. It provides insightful analysis from an author who views Lincoln as man of much empathy, rather than melancholy as many other biographers concluded, and how that honest concern for others drove his life's missions.

(From quoting Publisher and Leon Czikowsky, USA)

Target readers: Readers interested in American Civil War history, or Abraham Lincoln as an outstanding leader and a great human being, or qualities of a leader. Business and government leaders can learn a lot from this classic.

Better with The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World :

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