27 July 2010

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln -- Doris Kearns Goodwin (2005)

At 757 pages, this book took me about a year to read.  I am actually a pretty fast reader, but my reading was interrupted by other books that were not 3 inches thick and therefore more appropriate for taking on vacation or to court appearances.  This should not suggest that the book was boring; in fact, the opposite is true.

Although Lincoln is the character around whom this story is told, it is not really a story about Lincoln so much as his presidential cabinet.  The main players are Salmon Chase, Edwin Stanton, William Seward and Edward Bates, all of whom Lincoln defeated for the presidential nomination in 1860.  For the most part, these men thought Lincoln unqualfied for the presidency, but Lincoln somehow knew these political rivals were also the men he needed with him as the country headed towards the Civil War.  Their minds were changed regarding Lincoln's abilities over the course of the next several years leading up to Lincoln's assassination.

This book is heavy on politics, so the reader needs to be interested in politics to truly enjoy this book.  The casual Lincoln fan might find it tedious.  I do enjoy politics, and while I'd heard of these cabinet members, I knew little about them.  I thought this book was fantastic, I learned a lot, and I would definitely recommend it.

My ranking:  5 out of 5 stars

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