Team of Rivals Chapter 10-11: "The country was tearing itself apart"

Hi there readers!

I wanted to start by quickly saying how much I’m enjoying everyone’s comments in the weekly discussion threads. I haven’t been able to participate in those discussions as much as I’d like (summer with three kids aged ~9, 6, and 3 is bonkers), but I’ve loved following along.

This week was a shorter assignment in terms of page count, but the drama was high nonetheless. Post-election, the cracks in America’s veneer finally began to splinter after decades of tension. Lincoln not only had to build his cabinet and prepare to be president — a tough enough job in any situation — but he also had to figure out how to deal with Southern secession. Let’s explore a bit further below!

Next week, I’ll recap Chapters 12-14.

Four of America’s most turbulent months

Jefferson Davis

America’s 15th president, James Buchanan, has long been considered one of the nation’s worst chief executives. Throughout the slavery crisis of the late 1850s, he basically acceded to all the demands made of him (particularly from the South), and did nothing to actively protect the country or the constitution.

Once Lincoln was elected in late 1860, the country was facing four long months of a lame-duck administration. In late December that year, South Carolina sparked a wave of Southern states to declare themselves part of the Confederacy. This would later be known as the Great Secession Winter. From the Lincoln camp, there was “mounting anxiety and frustration” that Buchanan and company weren’t doing anything. Even as Confederates started taking federal property as their own — namely Ft. Moultrie and and Ft. Sumter — the current president didn’t lift a finger.

The North had to tread especially carefully; they couldn’t be the aggressor, or the messaging would’ve been a disaster from the very start. But Buchanan could’ve done more than sit on his hands and claim he had no agency in the evolving situation. (We’ll come to see just how true this was; once Lincoln was inaugurated, events began to move much quicker and much more decisively.)

Our nation has seen a lot of turbulent periods. Presidential transitions are often among them: Harrison to Tyler (Harrison was the first president to die in office, which sparked a constitutional crisis); FDR to Truman as WWII was ending; Trump to Biden during COVID and general civil unrest. This 1860-1861 transition from our worst president to our best could’ve ended much worse had it been someone other than Lincoln at the helm.

A confident President-elect

What stood out most to me from Goodwin’s descriptions this week was just how confident Abraham Lincoln was, from the moment he was declared the winner of the 1860 election. Yes he was perhaps moody and melancholic, but also obviously had the same massive ego that anyone in that position needs in order to be successful.

There was no imposter syndrome in Lincoln; he was in charge, he made sure everyone else knew he was in charge, and he didn’t hesitate to make bold decisions. Finally, he had the chance to truly “accomplish important deeds that would benefit his fellows.” 

Putting together his cabinet was a crucial piece of moving forward. He wisely knew he needed a lot of help: “I began at once to feel that I needed support . . . others to share with me the burden.”

Reading about this cabinet-building process was fascinating, but to me what was almost more surprising was just how much the President-elect took charge throughout the entire process:

“Lincoln wanted it known that the ultimate decisions would emanate from Springfield and would be his alone.”  

The great king-making Thurlow Weed also had some incredible words about Lincoln:

“his mind is at once philosophical and practical. He sees all who go there, hears all they have to say, talks freely with everybody, reads whatever is written to him; but thinks and acts by himself and for himself.”

There was clearly something magnetic about Lincoln; he couldn’t help but leave a deep impression on those around him. It’s so clear that Abraham was a master of psychology and human nature; he could read what each man most desired and then found ways to exploit those desires for the sake of the country. Simply remarkable. As Goodwin noted near the end of Chapter 11:

“A less confident man might have surrounded himself with personal supporters who would never question his authority.”

We can all think of examples of these “less confident” people, even within the presidency. The greatest leaders, however, have never been afraid to surround themselves with other great leaders (George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and FDR, to name just a few from the U.S. presidency).