Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham LincolnOne of the most influential books of the past fifty years, Team of Rivals is Pulitzer Prize–winning author and esteemed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s modern classic about the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, his unlikely presidency, and his cabinet of former political foes. Winner of the prestigious Lincoln Prize and the inspiration for the Oscar Award winning–film Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Tony Kushner. On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham 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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Page 22
... continued to consider Grape Hill their primary home. The judge's orderly life was steeped in solid rituals based on the seasons, the land, and his beloved family. He bathed in cold water every morning. A supper bell called him to eat ...
... continued to consider Grape Hill their primary home. The judge's orderly life was steeped in solid rituals based on the seasons, the land, and his beloved family. He bathed in cold water every morning. A supper bell called him to eat ...
Page 33
... continued traveling, but when his tuberculosis worsened, he booked his passage home, in “the hope that he might die in his native land.” The illness took his life before the ship reached New York. His body was buried at sea. Seward was ...
... continued traveling, but when his tuberculosis worsened, he booked his passage home, in “the hope that he might die in his native land.” The illness took his life before the ship reached New York. His body was buried at sea. Seward was ...
Page 40
... continued to believe that there was still hope, that if he could “once more resolve to struggle earnestly for the prize of well-doing,” he would succeed. As Seward had done, Chase compressed into two years the three-year course of study ...
... continued to believe that there was still hope, that if he could “once more resolve to struggle earnestly for the prize of well-doing,” he would succeed. As Seward had done, Chase compressed into two years the three-year course of study ...
Page 54
... continued, whether the reading be done in a small town or a large city, by oneself or in the company of others. “The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places. ...Always bear in mind that your own ...
... continued, whether the reading be done in a small town or a large city, by oneself or in the company of others. “The books, and your capacity for understanding them, are just the same in all places. ...Always bear in mind that your own ...
Page 58
... continued to do so in academies, boardinghouses, and overcrowded hotels. The room above Speed's store functioned as a sort of dormitory, with two other young men living there part of the time as well as Lincoln and Speed. The attorneys ...
... continued to do so in academies, boardinghouses, and overcrowded hotels. The room above Speed's store functioned as a sort of dormitory, with two other young men living there part of the time as well as Lincoln and Speed. The attorneys ...
Contents
2 | |
Political Map of the United States circa 1856 | 138 |
MASTER AMONG MEN | 321 |
CONTENTS | 330 |
Epilogue | 751 |
Notes | 759 |
Illustration Credits | 881 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abraham Lincoln antislavery April army August battle Blair Browning cabinet Cameron campaign Charles Charles Francis Adams Chase Papers Chicago Civil coln Confederate confidence Congress convention crowd Davis Democrats diary Douglas Douglass Edward Bates election emancipation Fanny father February field finally find first five floor Frances Frederick Douglass Frémont Grant ibid Illinois influence January John July June Kate later letter Lincoln Papers March Mary Mary Todd Lincoln Mary’s McClellan Missouri nation never Nicolay night nomination North NYTrib office officers official Ohio Orville Hickman Browning political president president’s proclamation radical rebel recalled reel Republican Party Salmon secretary Senate September Seward at Washington Seward Papers Simon Cameron slavery slaves soldiers South speech Sprague Springfield Stanton Sumner TEAM OF RIVALS Thurlow Weed tion told troops Union victory vote Whig White House William Henry Seward William Sprague wrote York young