Harvard-educated Doris Kearns Goodwin has won acclaim for her works with several U.S. presidents, and has a Pulitzer Prize for her book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. She understands government and politics better than most of her contemporaries, and is a frequent guest on television shows.
Abraham Lincoln as few have Looked at Him
Lincoln’s early life is virtually legendary, and his rise from poverty to the nation’s highest office is all-too-often presented as a rags-to-riches story. Goodwin pretty much skims over the early life of Lincoln to paint a fresh portrait of the political mastermind from frontier America.
In Team of Rivals, one sees Lincoln as a leader with an almost psychic understanding of others. The qualities of kindness, honesty, and complexity that have been so often described remain intact, but a new Lincoln is revealed — a Lincoln with leadership abilities which have never been duplicated or so well described.
Goodwin’s research for her volume was impressive. Over 100 pages attest to the thousands of documents gleaned for details, many of which have not yet been widely shared in other accounts of the life of Lincoln.
Lincoln’s Rivals were and Unlikely Team
Salmon P. Chase, William H. Seward, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln all sought the nomination of the new Republication Party in 1860. Goodwin supplies the reader with brief, but clear, descriptive biographies of the men who would serve on Lincoln’s cabinet, including Edwin Stanton, who replaced Lincoln’s first appointment — Simon Cameron — in 1862.
The ultimate team thus evolved as Lincoln, Chase, Seward, and Stanton. These were the men who directed the Civil War. Clearly Lincoln’s choices were men of high intellectual ability. The book presents Lincoln almost as a character in a novel — physically awkward in appearance and initially perceived by his cabinet as inept.
The cabinet was frequently exasperated by Lincoln’s apparent lack of knowledge of procedural matters. Lincoln’s penchant for spinning yarns and telling corny jokes belies the genius that was Abraham Lincoln.
The new president frequently placed himself above the conflicts that might be expected among highly intelligent and opinionated men. He often annoyed the cabinet by making decisions without conferring with the men he selected to advise him, and he had an uncanny way of being right.
Lincoln Maintains Control of a Contentious Team Despite Distractions
Lincoln’s skills as a leader became increasingly apparent as the book progresses, as he led a country, contended with conflict and tragedy in his personal life, and managed his private feelings of inadequacy and depression.
Only William Seward developed a true friendship with Lincoln. Edwin Stanton repeatedly threatened to resign to force Lincoln’s hand in certain matters, but Lincoln managed to divert Stanton’s petulance finally accepting — to Stanton’s great surprise — his fourth request. Yet Lincoln seldom allowed personal grudges to cloud his judgment, and eventually appointed Stanton as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Rivals is not a Book About The Civil War
Those who are interested in an account of Civil War action will not find it in A Team of Rivals. The book is about the men who managed the war from the nation’s capitol. Of course, the various battles are necessarily included, but are not covered in detail. Every battle in the war has been detailed in hundreds of other books, and Goodwin wisely chose to stay to her main theme — Lincoln, the politician and leader.
The important military leaders are introduced in their various meetings with Lincoln. Using this approach the reader comes to know details about them in ways heretofore not included in previous Civil War accounts. Lincoln’s concern with the suffering soldier is clearly described as is his ability to put the preservation of the union before anything else.
A Team of Rivals the Movie
Steven Spielberg will produce — with Kathleen Kennedy — a film version of the book to be released in the fourth quarter on 2012. Academy Award winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis has been cast as Lincoln and Sally Fields will portray Mary Todd Lincoln.
Tony Award winner and Academy Award nominated writer Tony Kushner has written the screenplay for the movie to be released as Lincoln.
Team of Rivals is a well-documented account of the leadership genius of Abraham Lincoln. The book introduces readers to a fresh look at the nation's most revered president and his ability to make some of the most difficult decisions of any president. The book succeeds by comparing Lincoln's skills with those of his principle cabinet members — Seward, Chase, Stanton, and Bates. Readers are drawn into the drama of political decision-making. This drama has won the interest of Steven Spielberg and will be released as a movie in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 26, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0743270754
ISBN-13: 978-0743270755
Harvey Craft - I am a retired educator with diverse experience. I read anything science, education, and history. I write to share what I learn.
