Team of Rivals

Doris Kearns Goodwin, 2005

Discover how Abraham Lincoln mastered political rivalry, uniting fierce opponents into an effective wartime cabinet through exceptional emotional intelligence, magnanimity, and moral steadfastness to preserve the Union and abolish slavery.

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7 parts, about 22 minutes to read.

Why read it

Shows how a self taught frontier lawyer won the presidency, then filled his cabinet with the rivals he had beaten
Lets you watch magnanimity work as strategy: absorbing slights, crediting others and turning jealous talent toward one purpose
Tells the Civil War through four intertwined lives and their private griefs, not only through battles and speeches

Who it is for

Leaders who must manage strong egos on their team
Readers who enjoy American political history told as drama
Anyone who has to work closely with a former rival

What the summary covers

Showdown in Chicago: The Rise of the Dark Horse3 min
The Longing to Rise: Four Men and a Shared Ambition3 min
An Intensified Crossword Puzzle: Building the Cabinet of Rivals3 min
Mastering the Cabinet: Seward, Sumter, and Stanton3 min
The Crucible of Loss, Emancipation, and the December Crisis4 min
The Turning of the Tide: 1863 to the 1864 Landslide3 min
A Sacred Effort: The Thirteenth Amendment, Peace, and Martyrdom3 min

Recommended by

Barack Obama44th President of the United States

About the author

Doris Kearns GoodwinAmerican biographer and historian; Pulitzer Prize winner for history
- Graduated magna cum laude from Colby College; doctorate in government from Harvard, where she taught government
- Selected as a White House Fellow at 24 and worked directly for President Lyndon Johnson, later helping him write his memoirs
- First book Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream became a national bestseller
- Team of Rivals won the Lincoln Prize and the inaugural Book Prize for American History
- Became the first historian awarded the Lincoln Leadership Prize in 2016