Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN

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.