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Team of Rivals
Much in the news recently for its purported influence on Barack Obama as he, like Lincoln, takes office in a time of national crisis. This is a study of a President overcoming his "lack of experience" through character, intelligence, shrewdness and empathy. For me the first third of the book was a trifle slow as Goodwin must introduce a large cast of characters and describe state level politics in the antebellum years. Perseverance is more than rewarded as the story becomes an absorbing drama during the war years. Under unimaginable pressure Lincoln suppresses his ego in service to his cause while also dealing with crushing sadness in his own household. The chapters describing his assassination, and the near fatal wounding of his former rival, now devoted follower, William Seward, Secretary of War, are heartbreaking. No need to read this searching for analogies; read it to feel yourself in the company of true greatness and genuine humanity.
Recommended by Zeke Zubrow.
