Civil War Book Club (Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin)

LabelInformation
  Dates & times
  • Sat, 01/13/2024 - 10:00am
  Category Adults

 

Team of Rivals January 2024 Civil War Book Club Title

 

Are you a history buff? Interested in the Civil War?

If so, please join us for our Civil War Book Club on Saturday, January 13, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

We will be discussing Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Pulitzer Prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin. Gene Huffman, member of the Cadot-Blessing Camp #126 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, will be the moderator for the discussion.

Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Abraham 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.

Winner of the prestigious Lincoln Prize and the inspiration for the Oscar Award-winning film Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Tony Kushner.

(description courtesy of Simon & Schuster)

Copies of Team of Rivals ( Regular Print, Large Print and Audio) are available for checkout at the Library. 

For e-book and digital audiobook copies please check Hoopla and the Ohio Digital Library.

If you are interested in attending or would like a copy of the book, please contact Lynn by stopping in at the Library, calling 740.446.7323 x 229, or e-mailing lpauley@bossardlibrary.org.

This event is free and open to all.

Light refreshments will be served.