Simon & Schuster, 2005 $35

Given the way Washington operates today, it is difficult to identify the administration of Abraham Lincoln as representative of the politics of this nation. Winning the nomination for president of the early Republican Party in May 1860 as a compromise candidate over several national figures who didn’t even consider this frontier politician a viable opponent, Lincoln went on to win the election as the Southern states prepared to leave the union. Then Lincoln did something quite extraordinary; he chose his rivals in the primary as his senior cabinet members: William Seward as Secretary of State, Salmon Chase as Secretary of the Treasury and Edward Bates as Attorney General. He also brought a mix of former Whigs and former Democrats, abolitionists and anti-abolitionists into the cabinet. Almost all of these appointees felt that they would control this back-woods storyteller. How they failed to do this is the story Ms. Goodwin tells in this lengthy but interesting narrative. Most would come to respect Lincoln highly. For example, one who did not hold Lincoln in high regard early on, Edwin Stanton, for months after Lincoln’s assassination broke down at the mention of his name. The one exception to this loyalty, Chase, comes across as a back-stabber who finally left the cabinet. Despite fully understanding this conduct, this remarkable president appointed him as Supreme Court Chief Justice. Highly recommended.