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 61
... slavery in the original states applied to the newly acquired territories. An antislavery representative from New York introduced an amendment requiring Missouri first to agree to emancipate all children of slaves on their twenty-first ...
... slavery in the original states applied to the newly acquired territories. An antislavery representative from New York introduced an amendment requiring Missouri first to agree to emancipate all children of slaves on their twenty-first ...
Page 77
... Slavery trapped a large portion of the Southern population, preventing upward mobility. Illiteracy rates were high, access to education difficult. While a small planter aristocracy grew rich from holdings in land and slaves, the static ...
... Slavery trapped a large portion of the Southern population, preventing upward mobility. Illiteracy rates were high, access to education difficult. While a small planter aristocracy grew rich from holdings in land and slaves, the static ...
Page 78
... slavery, Frances responded to the human plight of the enslaved men, women, and children she encountered along the journey. “We are told that we see slavery here in its mildest form,” she wrote her sister. But “disguise thyself as thou ...
... slavery, Frances responded to the human plight of the enslaved men, women, and children she encountered along the journey. “We are told that we see slavery here in its mildest form,” she wrote her sister. But “disguise thyself as thou ...
Page 83
... slavery in the “Virginia Case” brought him into national prominence in the late 1830s and early 1840s. In September 1839, a vessel sailing from Norfolk, Virginia, to New York was found to have carried a fugitive slave. The slave was ...
... slavery in the “Virginia Case” brought him into national prominence in the late 1830s and early 1840s. In September 1839, a vessel sailing from Norfolk, Virginia, to New York was found to have carried a fugitive slave. The slave was ...
Page 84
... slaves actually escaped to the North each year—an estimated one or two hundred out of the millions held in bondage ... slavery as sinful and inhumane, advocating “all actions, even in defiance of the Constitution,” to bring an end to ...
... slaves actually escaped to the North each year—an estimated one or two hundred out of the millions held in bondage ... slavery as sinful and inhumane, advocating “all actions, even in defiance of the Constitution,” to bring an end to ...
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