Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, published in 2005, is an historical study of the events surrounding Abraham Lincoln’s nomination as the Republican candidate for US president in 1860 and his tenure in office from 1861 to his assassination in 1865. The sixth book by Pulitzer Prize winner Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals won the 2006 Lincoln Prize and the inaugural Book Prize for American History from the New York Historical Society. Stephen Spielberg used the book as the basis for his 2012 film Lincoln.

Plot Summary

Kearns Goodwin begins by setting the scene for Lincoln’s 1860 presidential campaign. She introduces Abraham Lincoln as well as his contemporary rivals for the Republication nomination. Although William Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates were much more well-known and established in public life than Abraham Lincoln was in the mid-19th century, Kearns Goodwin illuminates the faults that kept each of them from gaining the nomination.

The first of the book, titled “The Rivals,” also outlines the forces shaping American politics in the 19th century. Most notably, as the United States acquired new territory, it had to decide whether slavery would be legal in the new states. This issue played a crucial role in both Lincoln’s election and the South’s subsequent secession.

The second part, “Master Among Men,” describes Abraham Lincoln’s time as president, from his first act of forming a cabinet made up primarily of his rivals for the Republication nomination to his assassination following the Union victory in the Civil War and the establishment of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. Kearns Goodwin highlights how Lincoln’s skills as an orator, a politician, and a handler of men helped lead the United States through this tumultuous historical period. Lincoln understood the prevailing feelings both within his party and within the country, and he was able to adroitly position himself so that his policies would be met with the least amount of resistance while having the greatest possible positive effect.