Perfect companion book to Gore Vidal's Lincoln

Review of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns

Ever since I read Vidal's wonderful historical novel, which portrayed Lincoln as a person rather than an icon, I have wanted to find a scholarly treatment that would fill out the portrait with detail and corrections if necessary. Over the last 20 years, I have read a number of biographies and histories from the period, and never felt satisfied with their depth of coverage – that I could get closer to the person who did the remarkable things that Lincoln did, combining high principle with Machiavellian political tactics to perfect effect.

Well, with this volume, my search has at last ended. This book is a masterpiece of historical investigation. Not only are Lincoln's political skills explained with astonishing clarity in the context of America's greatest crisis, but who he was comes through with genuine warmth. This is by far the best single volume I have read on the period and surpasses Kearns' previous books by an order of magnitude. Every single page is fascinating, beautifully written, and densely informative.

Kearns explains how Lincoln – apparently poorly qualified and seeming to appear from nowhere – engineered a political career that enabled him to save the Union. He did so, we are informed, by an uncanny ability to find the right person for the right job, rising above any considerations for egoistic pride or personal slights from the past. In addition, with the powerful actors he chose – they are described in the Amazon blurb already – Lincoln understood what political currents in the country they represented, forces that he would have to contend with as it were, and which he could ignore only at his political peril. Apparently, none of his rivals understood this, and it is a key to his genius. Finally, Lincoln pioneered a new means of political communication, as exemplified by the simplicity and clarity of the Gettysburg address – reprinted verbatim in newspapers – and the timeless elegance of its sentiments.

This brief description cannot do justice to the political complexity that Kearns distills, such as the way that Lincoln presented himself as "second best choice" at the nominating convention, so that when the obvious candidates failed – as he suspected they would due to factional divisions – he was the only one who appeared capable of satisfying all Whig constituencies in a balancing act. But there are also the mechanics of his political maneuvering, such as the Cabinet crisis in which Chase tried to discredit him: Lincoln eventually embarrassed him into backing down by exposing his manipulations before his colleagues as well as Senator Sumner, Chase's secret ally. (This was portrayed as a single instant in Vidal's book – the novelist's indulgence – but in fact took an entire day of discussion and machination.) Thus, for the most devoted political junkie, this is the most delicious gourmet fare.

The personal dimensions of Lincoln and his colleagues are also covered in sensuous detail. The reader feels like he gets to know all of them in a near intimate way, which Kearns uses to explain their behavior and beliefs, as well as their wives and children. Lincoln comes off as a warm man of great humor and capable of remarkable friendships, who suffered from depression in certain periods that were due to the issues in his life as well as his temperament. She also interprets many current controversies in historical context, convincingly explaining and hence laying some rather anachronistic ones to rest, such as Lincoln's sexuality. One of the most interesting, if least likeable, figures here is Salmon P. Chase, the abolitionist whose presidential ambitions were cold and implacable. His popular daughter Kate sacrificed everything for him, ruining a life that had promised her own brilliant career.

If there is one thing that I would criticize about Kearns' approach, it is her tendency to seek the good in people. This is rather sentimental in my view. The reader knows whom she dislikes (Chase and McClellan) and likes (all the rest of the Cabinet) all too clearly. Moreover, with the exception of Chase, she is unwilling to consider the darker side of their search for power and fame. And so Mary Todd Lincoln is not portrayed as a shrew whose position corrupted and imbalanced her in a very public way – the more accepted view – but as a grief-stricken mother who feels neglected by the husband she loves.

Nonetheless, this is one of the best history books I have ever read. What is truly amazing is that Kearns has come up with something so fresh and new in a field that is so overcrowded.

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