This book was had been in my bookshelf for over a decade. I bought it in 2012, when it was re-released as a movie tie-in when Lincoln came to theaters, as you can see from the picture above. Yet I’ve never read it before this year. Maybe I was just swept by the marketing behind the movie. Whatever the case may be, I’ve always been interested in the history of our southern neighbours. Lately, I’ve been reading more and more about some of their most influential presidents. And you can’t really get more important than Abraham Lincoln.

Whereas the movie focuses mostly on the last few months of president Lincoln’s life, the book itself goes back in time quite considerably. Furthermore, the book is not only about the president, but about the eponymous “team of rivals”, three political figures of the time, Edward Bates, Salmon Chase and William Seward. All three of them were running against Abraham Lincoln to win the Republican party’s nomination in 1860. When Lincoln won the nomination and the general election, he assigned important roles to each of them in his cabinet.

The author presents them as they were, rivals and colleagues during what is the deadliest conflict in American history, the Civil War. She focuses on their relationships in the White House as decision-makers, but also examines how other actors (wives, sons, daughters, in-laws) in those families played their part.

To say the book is richly detailed is a gigantic understatement. It’s nearly 750 pages plus an extra 150 pages of notes. I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of research Doris Kearns Goodwin had to do in order to share with the readers so many details. At times it felt overwhelming. I understand American politics quite well for a foreigner, but this goes well beyond what I expected.

She manages to illustrate how complex the situation was to deal with for the Lincoln administration. As much as Lincoln is idolized right now by most Americans, the Civil War was an extremely tough situation to deal with, much more than I even imagined. I had this idea that Lincoln was a savior and his popularity (at least in free Northern states) was solid during the war. As it turns out, he faces challenges from the inside as much as from outside, whether it was from the various generals leading the Union troops to the high-level bureaucrats inside the party.

What I really appreciated about the book is how the author portrays Lincoln as a highly principled and honest man. Someone with a big heart and profoundly human values. There are countless episodes where this tall, strong-looking fellow was hurt by various events in his personal and professional life, yet it seems he stayed true to his values and true self. What he lived through is tough enough to break the spirit of most and the stakes at the time were as high as ever in that country’s history. Him staying steadfast had incalculable impacts on following generations and up to this day.

I can’t say I recommend this book to everyone, it’s not an easy read. If you’re deeply interested in American history, then obviously go ahead. Otherwise I’d still highly suggest that you read up a bit more on Lincoln’s life and presidency, it’s incredibly interesting and awe-inspiring.