Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Authors: Doris Kearns Goodwin
List Price: $35.00
Amazon Price: $22.05
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Reviews:
Summary: A Fresh Look
One would think, that after the mountains of books written about the American Civil War in general, and about Abraham Lincoln in particular, that there'd be little more to write. After all, the events she described took place only once. However, Doris Kearns Goodwin has come up with a fresh look at the Lincoln Administration. Few books before this -- e.g., Gore Vidal's fictional "Lincoln" -- told how Lincoln could turn a Cabinet full of rivals into near-apostles.
That is, of course, what the book jacket and the reviewers mention. The details she refreshes are worth a mention here as well; that's the charm of this book. When Lincoln had to get rid of an incompetent Secretary of War -- Simon Cameron -- we learn that Lincoln handled it so adroitly that Cameron himself was grateful to Lincoln when it was done.
We also see the other Cabinet members in more detail than usual. Books about Lincoln and his Cabinet tend to talk about the official lives, rather than personal backgrounds, of these people, and usually only during the war years. (Other than, sometimes, the soap opera with Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase and his daughter Kate). Ms. Kearns Goodwin gives us rich detail about the lives and background of other Cabinet officers like Edward Bates and William H. Seward -- going back to the days when they and Lincoln were young lawyers competing for big cases.
Perhaps that explains some of the undertakings that Lincoln and his Secretaries got into, notably the incident where Lincoln, Chase and Stanton personally guided an amphibious landing near the rebel naval base at Norfolk, Va. in 1862. We also see how his young aides John Nicolay and John Hay were key to Lincoln's official and personal support during darker periods of the war.
The author also gives us a more nuanced look at Mary Todd Lincoln. She was part of the official White House and it is interesting to see a treatment of the First Lady that isn't simplistic -- too many take the public or anecdotal figure at face value and leave her looking like a harpy. The author has shown Mary Todd Lincoln to be a far more complex -- and somewhat unexpectedly sympathetic -- figure than we've been led to believe.
It's a lively and very human story, as Ms. Kearns Goodwin tells it, but it's also newly vivid Civil War reading for anybody who thought they had read it all.
Summary: Everyone Has Rivals
Lincoln's greatest political rival to win the Presidential nomination was William H. Seward. Lincoln, through methods I will likely never be able to capably emulate or comprehend was able to make close friends out of some of his most significant rivals.
I will have to re-listen to this biography again and again to try and decipher more of Lincoln's methods and genius, because I'm not smart enough to have discerned many of them in the first listening.
Richard Thomas (The Waltons' John Boy) reads this biography extremely well.
Lincoln led our country through it's most contentious, violent and deadly historical period. Historians will probably always debate if his methods of change were too quick, creating too many unnecessary casualties. But the issues were so great and so consequential for human rights and for government by the people - I doubt I'll ever be able to form a decisive opinion of "what would have been better." Nevertheless, I will try.
For those of you who don't recall the history, when Lincoln was assassinated, the plan was to assassinate his Secretary of State Seward, and Vice President Johnson simultaneously (much like modern terrorism's trend to time multiple violent events simultaneously). Seward barely survived due to some freak circumstances. As Seward was recovering, for several days no one told him the President had been killed so that he did not have that concern during his intensive care recovery.
However, Seward looked outside his hospital window and saw the flag at half mast and said to the man attending him, "The President is dead." The man, following orders, tried to deny it. But Seward continued, "Because if he were not, he would have been the first to visit me." I cried uncontrollably upon hearing this (truthfully, I cried through most of the 2nd half of the final tape, and during the recounting of Lincoln's son's death). The book does an excellent job of reminding us of the fears we have of losing people we love.
I recommend this book on tape for it's replayability. Lincoln believed in reconciliation. He believed in not trampling on a defeated enemy. He had great compassion for the Confederate soldiers. He was a man of letters. He was a man who believed in the importance of well phrased writing. Somehow, through his constant humor and fitting anecdotes, he mades friends of enemies. I aspire to learn more of his wisdom, for he had skills I don't possess.
I recommend buying this book on tape. When you aren't using it, pass it around to your friends, family, and children.
Summary: Excellent narrative of Lincoln's life and times
When it seems that more and more books are being written with an ever narrowing focus - a battle, a speech, "A Day in the Life ..." - it's a pleasure to pick up an old fashioned well researched and well written history that one can sink his or her teeth into. Team of Rivals is just such a book. Although per se there is nothing "startling" or "new" in this biography, the author's perspective/premise - examining Lincoln's growth, evolution, his success(es) and failures in conjunction with the members of his Cabinet - does yield a fascinating look into the multi-faceted character/mind of Abraham Lincoln and proves that 140+ years after his untimely death there is still much to learn from this man. Because of this, Team of Rivals is a welcome and worthy addition to the ever growing catalog of Lincoln history. The only caveat I have in recommending this book would be to a reader who wanted to start here in understanding this complicated time in U.S. history. The amount of information and the number of topics covered might be overwhelming. (Starting with other Lincoln bios by Guelzo or Donald; Battle Cry of Freedom by McPherson on the US Civil War would provide background and are excellent books in their own right.)
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