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.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

FROM OUR EDITORS

Every new biographer of Abraham Lincoln must confront a century-old question: Why write a new book about the most exhaustively chronicled person in American history? Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin provides a persuasive answer to that challenge with this impressive life of the Great Emancipator. With a deep understanding of how power works, this former confidante of Lyndon Johnson couples the story of Lincoln's rise to the presidency with the stories of Lincoln's "team of rivals," the remarkable men he defeated and then drafted into his cabinet. Utilizing thousands of primary documents, Goodwin masterfully reveals the growth of Lincoln's political genius within the context of his times. This meticulously researched ten-year labor of love is a joy to read.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

On May 18, 1860, in the midst of the nominating battle at the Republican National Convention, four contenders–Lincoln, Seward, Chase and Bates–wait in their hometowns for the results of the balloting in Chicago. Seward, Chase and Bates were political visionaries whose national reputations towered over Lincoln's. When they vied with Lincoln for the presidential nomination and lost, each was astonished at his defeat to this relatively obscure and inexperienced prairie lawyer. Through the 1850s, the four had intertwined with the creation of a sectional Republican party. Each positioned himself to lead the nation. That Lincoln emerges to win the race is the result of character traits forged by life experiences that separated him from his rivals and provided him with advantages that were unrecognized at the time and would prove his political adroitness and eventual greatness. Part I makes clear that, in the array of political disputes that were dividing the country, slavery was the pre-emminent factor. War, therefore, was inevitable. Part Two opens on March 4, 1861, the day of Lincoln's inauguration. Summoning his talented and difficult rivals to assume the highest posts in his Cabinet, Lincoln proceeds to marshal their talents to winning the Civil War. The War is seen from the vantage of the White House, where Lincoln comes to exercise firm control over the powerful, often antagonistic, personalities of his Cabinet officers, managing to subordinate them to his purposes, winning their respect and loyalty. There is a rich correspondence among them, much of which has not been utilized in standard Lincoln biographies. There is, too, an extraordinary cast of female characters. Lincoln's rivals boasted wives and daughters, including Frances Seward, Fanny Seward, and Kate Chase, who, like Mary Lincoln, displayed striking intelligence, unconventional personalities, powerful ambition and a rare degree of political sophistication. Their histories not only provide an excellent opportunity to re-examine the Lincolns' marriage in a comparative light, but also inspire a positive reassessment of Mary Lincoln's much-maligned performance of the role of First Lady. With fresh insights into the dynamics of 19th-century Washington social life gleaned from the papers of women in the Seward and Chase families, as well as with new research on the First Lady's service as a volunteer in Washington hospitals and as a fund-raiser for fugitive slaves quartered in camps near the capital, it is possible to add nuance and perhaps some new truths to the current record of Mrs. Lincoln's time in Washington. In the end, however, since Lincoln was "married" more intimately to several of his Cabinet members during the war than he was to Mary, in terms of the time he spent with them during the day, the long, anxious hours at night waiting for the telegraph to report news from the battlefront, the moments of relaxation shared, the stories exchanged, the emotions expressed, this is ultimately a story of Abraham Lincoln's mastery of men. Goodwin's portrait of Lincoln is an important contribution to the Lincoln literature. Brilliantly described and dramatically narrated, it is a compelling read.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Pulitzer Prize-winner Goodwin (No Ordinary Time) seeks to illuminate what she interprets as a miraculous event: Lincoln's smooth (and, in her view, rather sudden) transition from underwhelming one-term congressman and prairie lawyer to robust chief executive during a time of crisis. Goodwin marvels at Lincoln's ability to co-opt three better-born, better-educated rivals-each of whom had challenged Lincoln for the 1860 Republican nomination. The three were New York senator William H. Seward, who became secretary of state; Ohio senator Salmon P. Chase, who signed on as secretary of the treasury and later was nominated by Lincoln to be chief justice of the Supreme Court; and Missouri's "distinguished elder statesman" Edward Bates, who served as attorney general. This is the "team of rivals" Goodwin's title refers to. The problem with this interpretation is that the metamorphosis of Lincoln to Machiavellian master of men that Goodwin presupposes did not in fact occur overnight only as he approached the grim reality of his presidency. The press had labeled candidate Lincoln "a fourth-rate lecturer, who cannot speak good grammar." But East Coast railroad executives, who had long employed Lincoln at huge prices to defend their interests as attorney and lobbyist, knew better. Lincoln was a shrewd political operator and insider long before he entered the White House-a fact Goodwin underplays. On another front, Goodwin's spotlighting of the president's three former rivals tends to undercut that Lincoln's most essential Cabinet-level contacts were not with Seward, Chase and Bates, but rather with secretaries of war Simon Cameron and Edwin Stanton, and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. These criticisms aside, Goodwin supplies capable biographies of the gentlemen on whom she has chosen to focus, and ably highlights the sometimes tangled dynamics of their "team" within the larger assemblage of Lincoln's full war cabinet. Agent, Amanda Urban. 400,000 first printing; BOMC, History Book Club main selection; film rights to Steven Spielberg/DreamWorld Entertainment. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In a multiple portrait that includes William Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates, Lincoln's rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, Goodwin limns the political genius that brought Lincoln to the Presidency. With at 16-city tour. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews