Goodwin takes the really interesting tack of studying other people in addition to Lincoln in order to give greater insights into Lincoln's personality and achievements, including the men who were his rivals for the Republican nomination for President and who later were members of his cabinet--Seward, Chase, and Bates. The first half of the book talks about each of these men and their histories and their ambitions to become President, all the way up to the election in 1860. I really enjoyed reading about the different men and their different personalities, and seeing how Goodwin compared them at different points. The second half of the book follows (very closely, in much detail) Lincoln's presidency and how he brought together all of these men, and many other people with differing skills and opinions in order to succeed through the Civil War.
Goodwin views Lincoln as a "political genius" (as the subtitle says) and after reading all of her commentary and the evidence she quotes to back it up, it definitely seems like it. Lincoln was incredibly skilled at reading public opinion and waiting until the exact opportune moment to present his opinions or make a move when it was most likely to succeed (like with how he decided to present the Emancipation Proclamation when and how he did). He knew how to use the members of his cabinet to the best of their ability and to ignore their petty faults to focus on the good they were doing in their positions, and he could universally ignore the personal attacks made on him by anyone in order to utilize their skills to save the Union and support him. That was the most amazing thing about Lincoln that came through this book--what an amazing, charitable, "magnanimous" (Goodwin used this word to describe him or his actions about twenty times; she used the word "indefatigable" to describe Seward about thirty-five times) human being Lincoln was. He was incredibly forgiving towards everyone--people that he knew personally who hurt or offended him, soldiers who deserted the Union who he pardoned, and the South as a whole during the plans for Reconstruction. He was welcoming and kind to everyone who came to him as President and he was patient to a ridiculous point with everyone around him. Everyone (at least, everyone who wasn't crazy) who got to know him and worked with him on a close basis became his lasting and loyal friend because of his generosity.
I loved the emphasis Goodwin placed on his storytelling habits and abilities, and on his literary/writing skills. He told stories almost constantly in his conversation to defuse situations, amuse his listeners, and make a point--it was funny because it seemed like no matter where he went, and no matter what age he was, he was always surrounded by a crowd of people listening to his stories. He started telling stories to his friends when he was a kid, entertained young men around the fire in his friend's shop before he was even a lawyer in Springfield, and would lighten the mood while waiting for telegrams with his aides during the War. Also, Goodwin called him "our only poet-president"--can you believe if our leaders wrote their own speeches today? Everyone wrote their own speeches then; men had to be accomplished orators to be successful as politicians.
He definitely wasn't perfect, but it definitely seems like he was the ONLY person who could have helped the nation weather the storms it went through at that time period, and he was the only person who could have gathered the people around him who helped to solve the problems. He definitely seems like probably the only person who could have responded to so many unfair and ill-willed situations with such graciousness and, yes, magnanimity. It's interesting because one reason he is such a huge public figure is because of his assassination, making him a martyr and instantly preserving him as this larger-than-life person, but he really was an incredibly capable and charitable person beyond just his presidency during the Civil War and his assassination.
I tend to have a very cynical opinion about politics and politicians, but this book helped me to see a little bit about what politicians do (or at least what they DID, but I am sure that some of it transfers still, in generalities) and why it is valuable and why it takes skill. I guess if all politicians were like Lincoln, things wouldn't be so bad in this country.
A few other random notes about this book: I was really touched by Goodwin's description of Seward and Lincoln's friendship and Seward's reaction to finding out that Lincoln had been killed. I loved Stanton and hated Chase--he drove me crazy with his lack of responsibility and obnoxiousness. I feel so sorry for Mary Lincoln, even with all of her craziness--I could never go through all of those trials that she went through without partially losing my mind either.
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