Best Book I've Read in a Long Time

There are so many Civil War experts in this country, and I don't pretend to be one of them. I majored in Political Science in college; our History major friends constantly reminded us that "Political Science is just History without bothering to read about the real events."

So, I'm no expert. But Lincoln has always fascinated me, and this book is so well written by Doris Kearns Goodwin, that I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But we have zoning laws, so I'm posting it here: "Team of Rivals"

It's a story of a man with no real track record in politics, no political machines behind him, and not a single suit of clothes that fit him.

His election to the White House was a longshot akin to sinking a 200 foot putt. When he was elected, nobody thought he was the right man for the job. His first order of business was to hire all of his competitors, who fought with each other, and in some cases, thought Lincoln would be a figurehead, and the Cabinet would run the country.

I didn't know how many times he went to the battle front, I didn't know he snuck behind enemy lines. I didn't know what a forgiving man he was-- Republicans, Democrats, Abolitionists, Copperheads, they each, repeatedly, set out to destroy him politically, and but instead tied themselves up in scandals, only to have Lincoln come forward and restore their reputations, and often give them jobs.

Perhaps the best treat of the book is the development of the "Team of Rivals" idea itself-- with so many stories about the New York genius, Secretary of State William H. Seward, who was also brutally attacked the same day Lincoln was shot; Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, who, if he were alive today, he'd still be running for President, claiming to be better than Lincoln; and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the unstoppable workaholic so vital to the Union cause.

And that's just a taste of what's in there. Plenty of the jokes Lincoln told, either to illustrate a point, or just to be playful.

A couple other books I can recommend dealing with that era, are Gore Vidal's historical novel, "Lincoln,"

and Jane Singer's compelling account, about terrorism plotted during the Civil War.