Customer Reviews

Team of Rivals, the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Unabridged audiobook on 34 CDs)

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I feel I'm being somewhat presumptuous adding this, the 246th review to date of Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" but I have my two cents and aim to chuck it in. My perspective is not only that of an avid reader and student of US History, but as a teacher of it. From any standpoint I can most unequivocally add my endorsement of this masterful work.
I did not feel so much as I read about Abraham Lincoln as hung out with him and to a slightly lesser extent his cabinet. For one thing the book is long ( I was glad for every page and could have gladly read several dozen more) and for another it is rich with details of the time, events and mostly the people -- particularly, of course old Honest Abe himself.
I recently heard a professor of U.S. history with 20 years of service at a leading university and several books to her credit, assert that it is a misnomer to credit Lincoln with freeing the slaves. Granted, Lincoln did not walk unto plantations and swing open the gates, but his contributions to full emancipation are second to no other single person. Likewise it is he to whom the overwhelming credit must be granted for keeping the country whole in the face of secession and civil war.
And while there is little argument in my mind as to Lincoln's accomplishments as 16th president, there is absolutely no arguing about the manner in which he went about his duties. Finding a president who was more thoughtful or articulate a writer, more persuasive or eloquent a speaker or more compassionate a human being would be a futile task.
Rising from humble origins with nothing much to speak of in the way of a formal education, Lincoln managed to become a successful lawyer and a passionate well-regarded opponent of slavery. That he parlayed his speaking talents and a single brief term in public office to become the first successful Republican president is a remarkable story best told by Goodwin. Speaking of stories...Lincoln was a master at regaling audiences both large and small and Goodwin herself is superb at relating to the reader Lincoln's gift. This is a crucial gift in understanding Lincoln and his talent at governing.
In addition to a thorough Lincoln introduction, Goodwin presents for our consideration his rivals for the presidency who would, not coincidentally, later form his cabinet. William Seward of New York who became Lincoln's Secretary of State, was my personal favorite, while Ohio's Salmon Chase, Treasury Secretary, was someone I never warmed up to as he continued machinations against Lincoln until the end of his term. Readers will also become acquainted with secretaries Edwin Stanton and Edward Bates, along with other important government officials, various generals, Lincoln's family and friends.
The hook on which Goodwin hangs her account of the Lincoln presidency is his eager use of those rivals and how shrewd politically he was to make them the center of his governing circle. But this was not merely politically adroit, Lincoln also recognized he had brought in the most able minds of the time to serve him and thus the country at its most vulnerable point I (a far cry from recent political leaders who surround themselves with like-minded loyalists).
Readers can expect to have their understanding of Lincoln greatly enriched whether they agree or not with all aspects of Goodwin's interpretation of the man. They will also develop a keener appreciation for the era prior to the Civil War and the war itself. Mostly they will have the great pleasure of spending time in Lincoln's Springfield home and the White House of his tenure.
As a history teacher reading "Team of Rivals" has left me feeling better equipped to tell my students Lincoln's story and thus the story of our country at it's most decisive moments.

Ms. Goodwin has created a gem of a masterpiece with her most recent book on Lincoln. In the millions of pages already written on the subject, there are no books that I know of that do in essence, a character study on Lincoln and his cabinet members. The 754 page text is one of the best ever written regarding the true and underlying nature of those men who served with Lincoln in his cabinet.

While events and persons such as Antietam, Jefferson Davis, Fort Sumter, Maryland's secession attempt and many other events receive short shrift from Ms. Goodwin, this treatment is as it should be for her book concentrates on the personality and character of Lincoln and his cabinet.

While Lincoln never committed himself during the convention to any of his rivals in terms of cabinet positions, to gain votes for his eventual nomination; he voluntarily chose most of his cabinet from men who were his greatest rivals for the Presidency. He did this with clear and present knowledge that they were the best men for the jobs and the country at the time. The incredibly impressive exposition of the character of these men and especially that of Abraham Lincoln and his political and personal acumen in holding them together is given new life in this book.

Through careful reading and perusal of literally thousands of personal letters from cabinet members and from President Lincoln, Goodwin is able to put together a wonderfully clear and unique picture of the character of these men. In addition, she is able to paint a picture of each in words, and point out how their true character differed often from the public perception that abounded.

Ms. Goodwin should be noted for her fine and excruciating work in creating this book which will remain as a must read classic for Lincoln scholars of the present and the future. All of us who track the Lincoln Presidency, 140 years after its termination are grateful for her assiduous work in creating this wonderful book.

Doris Kearns Goodwin delivers and delivers well with "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln". The scope of her work is Lincoln's inner circle of Seward, Stanton, Chase and Bates but, more broadly, his ability to handle people and politics. Goodwin vividedly demonstrates Lincoln's uncanny timing regarding the implementation of emancipation and gives a fair assessment of his views regarding the "peculiar institution". This book is about Lincoln as a leader, a manager and a politician. It is also about his evolving vision about certain topics (i.e, how to handle slaves once freed) and his steadfast desire to hold the Union together, literally at all costs. His belief in the precepts of the Founding Fathers is at all times present.

For those wishing an expansive biography on Lincoln, try Lincoln by David Herbert Donald. For those wishing a broader view on the period and the Civil War, Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson. For those who would like a good but accurate piece of historical fiction, Lincoln by Gore Vidal or Freedom by William Safire.

This book is for those who want to see how Abe Lincoln led, managed, formulated stategy, handled very conflicting opinions, this is the book. A great read, if a bit choppy (perhaps a given with the nature of the subject matter).

Pulitzer winner Goodwin has long demonstrated a feel for biography as a gateway into the past. In Lincoln, one of our greatest presidents, she has found an ideal subject for her attention. He is the more interesting to study because, unlike most presidents, who have sought to surround themselves in their cabinets with safe men who think like they do on important matters, Lincoln chose to build a cabinet out of men whose relationship to the president was problematic, if not downright risky. In 1861, Lincoln persuaded three of his rivals for the Republican nomination -Seward, Chase and Banks-to sit in his cabinet. They owed Lincoln nothing. As a rule, they saw Lincoln as a man of low ability and little promise, president by the accident of geography. Furthermore, some were enemies who would barely talk to each other. Yet, the cabinet did not dissolve in warfare and Lincoln established firm control over executive decisions, much to the surprise of Seward in particular, who had assumed that he, and not the president, would lead this group and be the true decisionmaker in Washington. In short while, Seward and Banks became firm allies of Lincoln; indeed, Seward became Lincoln's fastest friend in the Washington power ranks. When Stanton joined the cabinet as secretary of war, he too was converted to allegiance to Lincoln although he had publicly slighted him years before. The only cabinet member whose loyalty remained suspect was Chase, whose lust for the presidency in 1864 blinded him to his own duplicity as he sought to undermine Lincoln and gain support for his own candidacy. Chase was not above political blackmail: three times, he submitted his resignation to Lincoln and three times Lincoln, who valued Chase's substantial ability to get things done in a key office and who would rather have Chase inside his tent than outside, persuaded him to remain. Chase proffered his resignation for the fourth time in 1864. This time, he had overplayed his hand: Lincoln, who by then had secured renomination by the Republican party, no longer needed Chase and didn't need to fear him, so he accepted his resignation without further discussing it with Chase. When Chase heard, he was shocked, even though he'd asked for it. Lincoln tempered the blow by dismissing Chase's rival in the Cabinet at the same time, maintaining a balance of interests in the group, and when an opening on the Supreme Court became available, he appointed Chase, an act of magnanimity unimaginable in any of Lincoln's successors.

Recently, I read a very interesting "moral biography" of Lincoln's early years (up to 1861), Lincoln's Virtues: An Ethical Biography, by William Lee Miller. Goodwin's fine biography made a good counterpoint to Miller's more limited and focused study. Both made the same point, that Lincoln succeeded as president, and excelled in the role, because he complemented his exceptional political talents and strong intellectual ability with a consistent ethical focus. There has never been another American president with such a strong moral compass as Lincoln and none who heeded it so consistently.

I just finished reading "Team of Rivals," and it is sensational. One would think "Why do we need another Abraham Lincoln biography?" Nobody would ask that question after reading this remarkable tome.
Goodwin found an ingenious way to unearth new primary sources on Lincoln---by studying the diaries and careers of his cabinet members. His exceptionally talented cabinet provided stunning insights into Lincoln, but no scholar has ever really collected and synthesized these viewpoints before in such a marvelous way.
My main impression of Lincoln from the book is simply that he was an incredibly good person---magnanimous, forgiving, shrewd, not quick to anger. I had forgotten that Lincoln appointed Chase to the Supreme Court of the U.S. Lincoln's forbearance and patience in keeping Chase in the cabinet----in spite of Chase's own presidential ambitions for 1864, are a marvel.
My father grew up in a small town of 200 people known as "Seward, Kansas." Of course, I knew the town was named after Secretary Seward, but I never knew what a good person Seward was until I read this book. It makes me even prouder to have roots in Seward, Kansas.
Most of the counties in Kansas (and many of the towns) are named after Civil War heroes. Getting to know Lincoln better, but also Seward, Stanton and the rest of the cabinet was a pleasure. This book is one of the two or three best non-fiction books I've ever read. God Bless Doris Kearns Goodwin.

If your wardrobe includes a significant amount of tweed (denoting a serious student of history) or a scratchy wool suit, either blue or gray, circa 1864 (denoting the true Civil War buff), then Doris Kearns Goodwin has published just the book for you. Team of Rivals tells the political story of the Civil War; its thesis, which is well argued throughout the tome, states that Abraham Lincoln was not the podunk rail splitter whose destiny was determined by chance, a decent man who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Instead, Goodwin argues that Lincoln masterfully pulled the strings of the entire Republican party in order to receive the nomination in 1860, and then he Lincoln's magnanimity allowed him to forgive his rivals/enemies, many of whose condescending words truly warranted not just a cold shoulder but pistols at dawn.

Instead, Lincoln chose to lead in the only way he knew how, by putting the country first, soothing everyone's ego but his own, and saving the US from a fate that could have changed the entire history of the twentieth century. In a feat that has been accomplished by few, if any other politicians, Lincoln was able to ignore the machinations of William Seward, the hubristic animosity of Edwin Stanton, and the muckraking self-aggrandizement of Salmon Chase in order to utilize their talents for the good of the Union. Seward and Stanton became not only an admirers of the president, they were converted into two of his closest friends, whose grief at their friend's death surprised even them. (Seward's grief is even more poignant when one realizes that he too was the target of the assassination plot.)

Goodwin has made a significant contribution to the already voluminous collection of Lincoln and Civil War studies. Impeccably researched, there are near 150 pages of notes, referring often to previously unknown primary resources. Though many will buy this monstrosity of a book because of all the buzz, the truth is, few will finish. Goodwin is no David McCullough; she is not a storyteller. She is an historian, and her writing is often stilted and overwhelming to the reader, two of the traditional hallmarks of historical writing.

One last complaint. Goodwin dedicates too much time and too much ink to her favorite tangents: Kate Chase and Mary Todd Lincoln. She could have significantly slimmed down this tome by removing the repetitious accounts of the Washington social scene during the war. Instead, Goodwin could have made a second contribution to the literature by writing a book on Kate Chase, Mary Todd Lincoln, and the women of the Civil War.

I am not expert in either Civil War history or Abraham Lincoln but was attracted to this multi-headed biography by the notion of the complexity of personalities Lincoln had to manage in order to draw together an effective Cabinet. Obtaining this end, effective government, was made infinitely more challenging by the fact several of these talented individuals had been pipped at the post by Lincoln whose drive and guile they underestimated in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination.

Equally, the challenge Kearns Goodwin set herself in attempting the many-faceted biography of several multi-faceted men should not be underestimated. Her acheivement in producing a work of this calibre is of the highest order. Kearns-Goodwin's capacity to layout and then integrate the background and personality of Lincoln and each of his "rivals" constantly surprised and delighted me both in terms of her insight into each person's strengths and foibles and her humanity in uncovering them. The tensions surrounding day to day government in wartime such as Cabinet meetings, raising funds, managing logistics and the frustrations and tragedies war are keenly described.

On a more day to day level I was profoundly moved by her capacity to convey the personal horror felt by Lincoln and his wife at the death of their son and the sometime spiteful treatment Washington society doled out to Mrs Lincoln perhaps as a surrogate for direct assault on the lowly backgound of the President himself.

As an Australian, I feel I am both a broader human being and, in a way, enobled through more deeply understanding Lincoln, his government, and this important period of American history.

Frankly, until reading this book, I did not fully understand the nature and extent of the circumstances in which Lincoln included in his cabinet those who, prior to his election, were his major political opponents and who, in addition, viewed him with contempt. Specifically, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, William H. Seward, and Edwin M. Stanton. He then worked effectively with each throughout the Civil War. Even more remarkable is the fact that, by the time of Lincoln's assassination, each of these four had grown to love as well as respect someone whom Stanton had once described as a "long armed Ape."

Senior-level executives can learn a number of important lessons in leadership by reading this book. They include:

1. Surround yourself with whatever talent the given enterprise requires.
2. Welcome, indeed strongly encourage principled dissent.
3. Timing is not everything but often the difference between success and failure.
4. Exercise selective hearing during a contentious group discussion.
5. Unless absolutely certain, be willing to grant benefit of the doubt.
6. Exhaust opponents by listening to them.
7. Appreciate effort but only reward performance.
8. Serve "with malice toward none, with charity for all"
9. And lead "with firmness in the right."
10. When dealing with forceful personalities, focus on common interests.

As Kearns quite correctly asserts, only a "political genius" could have assembled and then worked effectively with cabinet members such as Chase, Bates, Seward, and Stanton, all of whom were independent thinkers, had personal agendas, and (at least initially) considered themselves superior to Lincoln in all respects. With all due respect to Lincoln's leadership and management skills, however, it should also be noted that Bates eventually described Lincoln as "very near being a perfect man." His inherent decency and impeccable integrity informed and guided his leadership and management as president.

As I read Kearns's book, I realized that only by preserving the unity of his diverse cabinet could Lincoln have preserved the Union. Had he been able to complete his second term, his "political genius" would have enabled him to fulfill hopes he expressed in his second Inaugural Address: "to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Doris Kearns Goodwin has the unique ability to get inside her subjects and make her subjects come alive. I thought she could never top her work on No Ordinary Time but with Team of Rivals I believe she has.

I've read quite a number of biographies on Lincoln. Some of them quite excellent. But I've never read any that showed the entire landscape of Lincoln's life more vividly and with more understanding then what she has done. Sometimes biographies seem like a bunch of facts strung together. By letting us get to know Seward, Chase, and Bates as she has allows for the reader to have a much greater understanding of the times and challenges Lincoln faced. It also allows for a greater understanding of how truly amazing a human being he was.

His life saw many dark times. He wasn't perfect. The forces that he had to deal with would have compromised most men or women. The pressures were that intense. But he was a brilliant man who had the unique ability to understand other human beings. He also had the unique ability to understand the political forces he was dealing with. But most of all he was a caring human being and it was his understanding of and compassion for people that made him the great person that he was. No book better brings this out then this one.

This book is unique. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Lincoln or just in the complexities that make human beings what they are. Thank you Doris Kearns Goodwin for writing it.

Let me tell you .... Listening to these 36 (not 34 as stated above) CD's over a regular commute was a challenge, but a worthwhile one! Narrator Suzanne Toren is very effective and accents that fact that this was written by a woman, who, in researching and writing this excellent concurrent biography does a great job of capturing the nuances of relationship that are often missed in the drier more traditional forms.

Aside from an initial glimpse of Lincoln at the beginning of the book, it very much focuses at the beginning on the major players of the Republican Party and their ascent to power and influence. Steward, Chase Stanton and Bates are thoroughly examined and dissected before Lincoln himself assumes the central role much later into the book. While I found this a little frustrating at first, when Lincoln began to ease into the forefront of the book, it almost mirrors what must have been the feeling of the other protagonists as this "upstart" from Illinois assumed center stage much to their, and the nation's surprise.

In the more military examinations of the Civil War years, it is sometimes easy to forget that this war took place in real time over 4 years and in the midst of it, there were great rises and falls in emotion and political fortunes throughout. While this book does necessarily work within the military happenings, there is not a strong effort to reference every battle and rather it moves from major offensives and battles with much the broader overview that must have been true of Lincoln and his Cabinet as well as the rest of the North.

The only criticism I have, and it is mild and perhaps understandible in the context of the days and the importance of the Vice-Presidency, is the conspicuous absence of the Vice President from any of the daily interactions and Cabinet meetings. Surely there must have been some minimal involvement worth noting or parlance within the President's working. That would seem to be on par with the Cabinet in general and so despite the length of the overall work, which unabridged is almost 1,000 pages, a few could have been spared for the humble VP?

Beyond that, this is a definitive work that anyone who takes the time to read (or listen) should come away with an appreciation of Lincoln's genius in surrounding himself with the leading talent of his era. Further, an appreciation for the subtle machinations behind the scenes driving the proclamations and political moves of the times is there to be had with careful attention.

One of the best Lincoln works I have ever read. Worthy of your time and attention!