This is the best biography I've read to date. My colleague J Forrest told me this is the top book on leadership. My words that follow are more a report on Lincoln the leader than a critique of Doris Kearns Goodwin the author. That said, Goodwin has written a volume with the texture of a novel, filled with scenic details and perceptive insights into the complex interrelationships among Lincoln's family, friends, cabinet and generals. The 757 pages passed with ease. This is a great book.
Lincoln seems an improbable president. Born in poverty and confronted with multiple miseries, setbacks and failures, he came to reunite a divided nation. Using stealth and skill to engineer an upset Republican nomination, Lincoln persuaded the emotionally bruised rivals he bested (William Seward, Salmon Chase and Edward Bates) to take key cabinet positions after he won the election of 1860. He later placed Edwin Stanton, a man who humiliated Lincoln when he was an Illinois lawyer, into the key position of Secretary of War. These actions were misinterpreted by some Easterners as the folly of an inept Western rube, but in time the nation and his fractious cabinet came to see that Lincoln was the indispensable person.
Critics point out that Lincoln made political and military mistakes and openly displayed prejudice and racism during the Lincoln-Douglas debates in the 1850s. These counts are true. Lincoln also bent the truth at times. The author clearly idealizes Lincoln and gives short shrift to his faults. At the same time, a skilled historical biographer looks at a person within the context of their times and does not judge them through the lens of the current age. Additionally, all leaders make mistakes, particularly in times of crisis.
From what I read in this book, Lincoln seems to be a proto-pragmatists, the distinctive American philosophy that is well rendered in "The Metaphysical Club." Lincoln was able to balance Idealism with what could be done and what he knew at the time. As facts and conditions changed, Lincoln changed. His signature talent seemed to be an ability to learn, create and grow. His virtues were many, including: integrity, wisdom, empathy, forgiveness, friendliness, storytelling, logic and the long view.
The question of why Lincoln became such a great leader is the most intriguing issue in my mind. Team of Rivals gives hints. Overcoming traumatic early life can give some people the skills to deal with great difficulties later on, and Goodwin paints a bleak early life for Lincoln. He transformed himself through books, contemplation of higher ideals, work, friendship and humor. Lincoln's time as a lawyer riding the circuit seems important as well, providing experiences that displayed a full range of human nature. Lincoln's circuit riding days also put him in daily contact with the best and brightest in Illinois, attorneys he would argue against during the day and share stories, jokes and philosophies with at night. Lincoln abstained from tobacco and alcohol, indicating self control and independence of mind. The most interesting clue to his leadership ability was Lincoln's belief, contrary to the popular opinion of the times, that there is no afterlife, and that the only way a person can live on is through great deeds that earn the respect and memory of future generations. Lincoln sought a great struggle to give meaning and purpose to his life. The Civil War provided the great act he was seeking and it also ended his life. But Lincoln's memory lives on.
When I visited the Hart Senate Building in DC, a painting of Lincoln hung in then Senator Obama's reception area. History connects these two men. Team of Rivals also gives new meaning to my visits to Springfield, The Lincoln Memorial, Gettysburg, Jefferson's Monticello and the Southern White House in Richmond. The legacy of the Civil War still reverberates in American society and this book helps explain why.
Team Of Rivals is instructive and inspiring. It provides insight into America, democracy, politics, military strategy and the Civil War. Most of all Team Of Rivals illuminates the amazing leadership of Abraham Lincoln.
Here are some other biographical works I've enjoyed . . .
The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America
Edison - A Biography
Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company
Andrew Carnegie
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Team of Rivals-- more like, team of best friends.
Great book on how a leader can benefit from bringing in a diverse team.
Top reviews from other countries
patricia lewis
Fantastic overview of one of the most important times in American history
Reviewed in Canada on January 7, 2024
Gustavo Meurer
História inacreditável de Abraham Lincoln
Reviewed in Brazil on January 16, 2023MIHIR K MOITRA
AN OUTSTANDING WORK ON THE MOST CRITICAL PERIOD OF US AND WORLD HISTOY
Reviewed in India on August 30, 2023John M. Cruickshank Owen
Wonderful exploration of the Lincoln
Reviewed in Spain on February 6, 2021Robert PGF
Mal embalaje resulto en un producto dañado
Reviewed in Mexico on December 29, 2017
