Reddit reviews Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

If you haven't had a chance, read Team of Rivals, the book that the film's based upon. It paints a very nuanced - and human - portrait of the man.

Edit: If I remember correctly, I think the script for Spielberg's film was also written by one of the writers from Munich. Depending on what you thought of that film, that could be a good thing or a bad thing, I suppose.

Please please please please read a book before asking such questions. Here: https://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754

That will start to answer your questions, and it will then start make sense.

You can follow that up with: https://www.amazon.com/Path-Power-Years-Lyndon-Johnson/dp/0679729453/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1523289285&sr=1-1&keywords=path+to+power

That is the first of the LBJ series and describes in detail what changed and what Southern Democrats were.

There are other books in the LBJ series which will almost fully give you understanding.

You also read this one: https://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Life-John-Kennedy-1917-ebook/dp/B000Q67H36/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1523289385&sr=8-6&keywords=john+f+kennedy

After that you will know:

> How does this make any sense?

I don't really know what you mean by "jingoistic emancipation circlejerk" and I have to be honest that the particular phrasing you chose for that sort of sets me on edge (it's like asking for an FDR bio without the "jingoistic Pearl Harbor circlejerk", in that it was a crucial and formative moment of his presidency), but nonetheless, my two favorite Lincoln books are Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years and Team of Rivals. The former is much more of a straight up bio, but the latter provides a lot of fascinating context and also includes a good retelling of my favorite Lincoln story, about the barn fire and his son's horse.

No. Four slave states never declared a secession: Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri.

A large part of the struggle between Lincoln choosing between emancipation and slavery was the risk of losing support of these border states during the war. Many of his decisions leading up to emancipation reflected this consideration. One such example is The Confiscation Act, which allowed the North to consider slaves used by the southern war effort to be considered property that could be confiscated by the North.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_states_(American_Civil_War)

People have to remember that despite the popular opinion, this was a war about states rights. They forget that back then it was a system of government much more like the European Union today. States were nearly individual nations with a weak federal government. The southern states believed that the federal government was overstepping its constitutional authority and therefore seceded. But don't take that fact as discrediting 'The Slavery Question' as not also being a core issue.

The Southern Generals being torn down represent men that stood up to what at the time was believed to be an over reaching and oppressive federal government, which is exactly why we have the Right To Bear Arms.

Edit: And before you call me a racist: read a book, read a book, read a mother fucking book.

> Pretty much everybody hated Lincoln until he died

If you haven't get and read Team of Rivals. It's a great history book about his political rivals and making them part of his cabinet. Some became his closest allies...

Clearly we don’t see eye to eye.

Here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0743270754/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519088748&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=a+team+of+rivals+book&dpPl=1&dpID=51bpOR8qigL&ref=plSrch

One of my favorite books about him. It’s excellently sourced at the end of the book. It’s not whitewash, it’s factually accurate. He was an amazing guy. I’m pretty sure it will change your tune about his motivations and beliefs.

I'm not sure about everyone else, but I tend to gravitate more towards biographies of politicians and presidents. They don't weigh down every page with politics but give a grasp on historical politics as well as understanding the lives of these figures in history and why they did what they did.

1-The bully pulpit is an excellent read on Teddy
https://www.amazon.com/Bully-Pulpit-Theodore-Roosevelt-Journalism/dp/141654786X

2-Team of Rivals is one of the books that made Lincoln my favorite president of all time
https://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1497703799&sr=8-5&keywords=abraham+lincoln

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Goodwin.

Interpreting a part of Lincoln's greatness as being the ability to understand and mediate cooperation amongst different-minded people, the books is pretty relevant to today's partisan politics.

Plus, Doris Goodwin is the funny sweet lady Jon Stewart often has on his show for things related to American history. She's also a fantastic historian to boot.

http://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291129846&sr=8-1

> The book from which this quote originated from has never given a citation or proof that Lee every said this.

That's not true at all. One of the more recent books (page 350 & 813) that uses that quote is heavily cited, most from original sources. The source it lists for that quote is from 1866, when Lee was still alive. Here is another publication from the late 1800's that attributes that quote to Lee.

I mean, I guess you could say all those old publications were just lying, but they seem every bit as reputable as most quotation sources.

If she likes politics, a good presidential biography, such as Truman by McCullough, Team of Rivals by Goodwin, The General by Fenby or Edmund Morris' the Rise of Theodore Roosevelt are classic choices. Biographies are good choices, as they're like novels and are easy to read, whilst being intellectually stimulating.

Because he was the perfect blend of the idealist and the realist. He never compromised when he knew he was right, but he always acted in a way that would actually have a positive end effect. He had a way of understanding the whole of the situation, and doing what was best in the moment to achieve his goals. He was a great leader and one of the most underrated writers of all time. He treated everyone with an incredible amount of respect and patience.

When one of his generals decided to turn back after winning a massive battle, (a massive mistake considering had they kept attacking the confederates while they were retreating the Union could have conceivably ended the war years earlier than it eventually did end,) he wrote that general an incredibly vicious letter. He tore into him. After contemplating the letter for a while, he decided not to send it. It would only shatter moral.

He was a great speaker, he had a talent for explaining complex issues in incredibly clear and even funny ways. When asked why he didn't immediately fire the aforementioned general he responded "It is not best to swap horses while crossing the river." That's a small example, but Lincoln was full of chestnuts like that. I aspire to be as clear, direct and interesting of a communicator as he was.

The Gettysburgh address is his most famous speech, and rightfully so, but I've always found his conclusion to his first inaugural address to be his most satisfying piece of writing.

> I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

To summarize:
1.) Had moral and stuck to them
2.) Acted in ways that would realistically accomplish his goals. A political genius.
3.) An everflowing fountain of respect and human decency.
4.) A masterful writer and a severely underrated communicator and comedian.

>Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.

Team of Rivals is a wonderful book about the man, and I highly recommend that everyone and their dog should read it.

Oh, and by the way, he was an INTP.

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Like /u/Usili said, his cabinet appointments were made of people that opposed his candicacy.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

I enjoyed Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin about Abraham Lincoln's presidency.

https://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln is a personal fav. Focuses on the politics of the war and Lincoln, both of which are a good lens on the war and what came before/after.

I'm listening to Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, and I'm only in a few chapters. You really do come away with the feeling that things were simpler back then. Less corrupt? Idk. There's a lot more book left!

First I gotta say John McCain, he was actually the first political rally I ever attended in 2000 (during his early Republican Primary bid). However there was a few items that sorta pushed me to Barack Obama in the 2008 election, such as his vote against elevating MLK Day to a state holiday in Arizona (https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/apr/08/moveon/mccain-changed-position-on-mlk-day/) and the appointment of Sarah Palin as his running mate in that election cycle.

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Additionally, I've always been a big fan of Ike Eisenhower; I think he really pushed America to continue investing in its infrastructure, and not rest on the successes America achieved in WWII.

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And of course Lincoln is an interesting figure, sometime (sooner rather than later) I want to read the Doris Kearns Goodwin book, Team of Rivals, which was about Lincoln's cabinet. (https://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754)

Do you like history? I read the big Lincoln book, Team of Rivals. It took forever but man was it worth it. I learned so much and the book really humanized Lincoln for me. When I finished I decided to just read it again, I enjoyed it so much.

Team of Rivals is the story of Abraham Lincoln's political career, with great emphasis on the men in his cabinet and their influence on both his views and actions.
Its one of the best books I've ever read. I really cannot recommend it enough.

I'm a history major and my friends practically jerk off to this book. Should be a good start.

http://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0743270754

To be fair, Lincoln did it too: Team Of Rivals.

This is not a favorable comparison of Trump to Lincoln, however.