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Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin. Lincoln's cabinet was filled with representatives of the different wings of northern and border state politics, all of whom became key figures in the fight against the CSA. Very lovely book about Lincoln's genius as a master of men and of personalities, of being downright kind and truly listening to the people.

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I did enjoy this tome too :) It's amazing how many well-researched and detailed biographies of US presidents are out there. The Rise of Theodor Roosevelt is another one, only managed to read the first book. What I find interesting is how the men behind the scenes have wielded much of the power even back then.

You also might want to read this:

https://harpers.org/archive/2013/02/team-america/

> Nor is the “team of rivals” concept an innovation of the early 1860s, though Goodwin assures us it is.

What an odd critique: Lincoln did this great thing, but he didn't invent it, so who cares?

Beyond that being an odd critique, I've read that book twice and although Goodwin highly praises Lincoln's leadership style, I don't recall her assuring us that that was an "innovation" at all. Of course, like most book critics, this writer spent more time on snark than citations.

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