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The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Simon & Schuster
October 2006
On Sale: September 26, 2006
944 pages
ISBN: 0743270754
EAN: 9780743270755
Kindle: B000N2HBSO
Paperback / e-Book (reprint)
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Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin
Author Book List

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.