Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president.

On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry.

Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was the result of a character that had been forged by experiences that raised him above his more privileged and accomplished rivals. He won because he possessed an extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires.

It was this capacity that enabled Lincoln as president to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union and winning the war.

We view the long, horrifying struggle from the vantage of the White House as Lincoln copes with incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and his raucous cabinet. He overcomes these obstacles by winning the respect of his former competitors, and in the case of Seward, finds a loyal and crucial friend to see him through.

This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.

"Pulitzer Prize-winner Goodwin (No Ordinary Time) seeks to illuminate what she interprets as a miraculous event: Lincoln's smooth (and, in her view, rather sudden) transition from underwhelming one-term congressman and prairie lawyer to robust chief executive during a time of crisis. Goodwin marvels at Lincoln's ability to co-opt three better-born, better-educated rivals — each of whom had challenged Lincoln for the 1860 Republican nomination. The three were New York senator William H. Seward, who became secretary of state; Ohio senator Salmon P. Chase, who signed on as secretary of the treasury and later was nominated by Lincoln to be chief justice of the Supreme Court; and Missouri's 'distinguished elder statesman' Edward Bates, who served as attorney general. This is the 'team of rivals' Goodwin's title refers to. The problem with this interpretation is that the metamorphosis of Lincoln to Machiavellian master of men that Goodwin presupposes did not in fact occur overnight only as he approached the grim reality of his presidency. The press had labeled candidate Lincoln 'a fourth-rate lecturer, who cannot speak good grammar.' But East Coast railroad executives, who had long employed Lincoln at huge prices to defend their interests as attorney and lobbyist, knew better. Lincoln was a shrewd political operator and insider long before he entered the White House — a fact Goodwin underplays. On another front, Goodwin's spotlighting of the president's three former rivals tends to undercut that Lincoln's most essential Cabinet-level contacts were not with Seward, Chase and Bates, but rather with secretaries of war Simon Cameron and Edwin Stanton, and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. These criticisms aside, Goodwin supplies capable biographies of the gentlemen on whom she has chosen to focus, and ably highlights the sometimes tangled dynamics of their 'team' within the larger assemblage of Lincoln's full war cabinet. Agent, Amanda Urban. 400,000 first printing; BOMC, History Book Club main selection; film rights to Steven Spielberg/DreamWorld Entertainment. (Nov.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Illuminating and well-written, as are all of Goodwin's presidential studies; a welcome addition to Lincolniana." Kirkus Reviews

An acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian ("No Ordinary Time") illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman/prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become President. black-and-white photos.

Contents

Maps and Diagrams

Introduction

Part I THE RIVALS

1 Four Men Waiting

2 The "Longing to Rise"

3 The Lure of Politics

4 "PlunderandConquest"

5 The Turbulent Fifties

6 The Gathering Storm

7 Countdown to the Nomination

8 Showdown in Chicago

9 "A Man Knows His Own Name"

10 "An Intensified Crossword Puzzle"

11 "I Am Now Public Property"

Part II MASTER AMONG MEN

12 "Mystic Chords of Memory": Spring 1861

13 "The Ball Has Opened": Summer 1861

14 "I Do Not Intend to Be Sacrificed": Fall 1861

15 "My Boy Is Gone": Winter 1862

16 "He Was Simply Out-Generaled": Spring 1862

17 "We Are in the Depths": Summer 1862

18 "My Word Is Out": Fall 1862

19 "Fire in the Rear": Winter-Spring 1863

20 "The Tycoon Is in Fine Whack": Summer 1863

21 "I Feel Trouble in the Air": Summer-Fall 1863

22 "Still in Wild Water": Fall 1863

23 "There's a Man in It!": Winter-Spring 1864

24 "Atlanta Is Ours": Summer-Fall 1864

25 "A Sacred Effort": Winter 1864-1865

26 The Final Weeks: Spring 1865

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Notes

Illustration Credits

Index