Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This book was fantastic and accomplishes a fascinating analysis of Lincoln by analyzing not only his life but the lives of those he worked with politically, chiefly his three rivals for the Republican presidential nomination of 1860: William Seward (his Secretary of State), Salmon P. Chase (his first Secretary of the Treasure) and Edwards Bates (his Attorney General). A lot of really interesting things to learn about Lincoln…remember a little while ago when U.S. News came out with a cover page that said Lincoln was gay (or posed the question was he gay)? Goodwin does a wonderful job of explaining that basically, everybody in the 19th century was a homosexual. No they just weren’t as “inhibited” when it came to room and board. Sleeping in bed with another man was strictly that and nothing more. What else do we learn? Lincoln pulled the first John Kerry by not supporting the … Continue reading →