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Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Reviewed by Gary C. Shockley It is a story that has become part of our national myth: A poor boy born on the frontier, orphaned and self-educated, rises by dint of his own labors and native genius from prairie lawyer to the presidency, only to be martyred at his hour of triumph. It is a plot worthy of Shakespeare, and one mined by hundreds of historians and biographers down the years. In her latest work, Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin turns again to the story of Abraham Lincoln and his unlikely ascent. Focusing on his relations with his three rivals for the 1860 Republican nomination — William Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edwin Bates — Kearns argues that Lincoln’s “political genius” brought together a unique team capable of uniting the fractious loyalists and saving the Union. While much of Lincoln’s story is known by any child, Kearns manages to unearth unfamiliar stories as well. Of considerable interest to lawyers is her recounting of Lincoln’s involvement in the “Reaper Case.” See McCormick v. Talcott, 61 U.S. 402 (1857). When Cyrus McCormick sued a rival manufacturer for infringement of his patent for a mechanical reaper, the defendant hired a prominent Philadelphia patent lawyer. Since the case was originally filed in Chicago, he searched for local counsel in Illinois and settled on Lincoln, who had gained a substantial reputation in both law and politics by 1855. Lincoln, in turn, was thrilled at the prospect of involvement with prominent counsel in an important case. When the case was transferred to Cincinnati, however, lead counsel no longer had use for Lincoln’s services and hired prominent Washington lawyer Edwin Stanton, an Ohioan, to assist. Unfortunately, no one bothered to tell Lincoln, who continued to work on the case and traveled to Cincinnati for the trial. There, he was ignored by Stanton (who referred to him as “a long-armed ape”) and treated as little more than a rustic interloper. Turning aside the evident humiliation (perhaps familiar to some local counsel in the 21st century as well), Lincoln stayed to watch the proceedings and returned to Springfield with a new resolve to prepare for the advent of such college-educated lawyers in the west.[1] As Goodwin stresses, Lincoln’s ability to turn a stinging slight into an opportunity for improvement was characteristic. Equally telling is his appointment of the same Edwin Stanton as his secretary of war just a few years later, one of many instances of Lincoln overlooking personal disputes in the larger interest of saving the Union. Indeed, it is Lincoln’s magnanimity that shines through most clearly in his presidency. Time and again, a former rival or outright enemy is elevated to an important post on his merits and becomes an ally. All of Lincoln’s rivals in 1860 were given important posts in his cabinet: Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, Bates as attorney general. Seward became Lincoln’s closest confidant and helped avoid British and French recognition of the Confederacy. Chase helped to secure financing for the war and oversaw introduction of America’s first paper currency and income tax. When Chase mounted a not-so-secret campaign for the Republican nomination in 1864, Lincoln looked the other way and easily out-maneuvered him for the nomination. He later appointed Chase chief justice of the Supreme Court. Bates helped craft the legal basis for Lincoln’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and Emancipation Proclamation and served as an important link to conservatives and the border states. Even Stanton, who had once dismissed Lincoln as a backwoods buffoon, came to admire his homespun brilliance as president. It was Stanton who, at Lincoln’s death bed, muttered, “Now he belongs to the ages.” Goodwin’s book is lengthy and sometimes loses focus, moving from a detailed group biography of the four 1860 rivals, to Lincoln’s personal trials with Mary and his sons, to tangled political dealings with conservatives and radicals, to military matters. For those who have read other Lincoln biographies or are familiar with the Civil War period, much of the story will be well-worn. In her retelling of the 1860 convention, Lincoln’s reliance on his contacts from his days as a Springfield trial lawyer, and his uncanny ability to look beyond the jealousies and rivalries of the moment to the true interests of the nation, however, her story remains fresh and enthralling. If Lincoln’s life is part of our national myth — one of those stories we tell ourselves about ourselves — it is a story well worth hearing again. • • • Note
• • • Gary C. Shockley is a shareholder with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkwitz PC in Nashville. Tennessee Bar Journal
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