Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

L'autor, Doris Kearns Goodwin, est en meilleur forme avec cet livre importante. Super book!

How to Win Friends & Influence People でLincoln大統領について触れられていたため以前から興味を持っていました。 映画 http://www.foxmovies.jp/lincoln-movie/ も見ましたが、あの時間でLincolnの人となりを理解するのは不可能でした。 そんなわけで本書を手に取りました。 米国の歴史や地理 自分の知識が非常に乏しいため、すべてを理解できたわけではありませんが、映画では描かれていなかった部分で理解が深まった気がします。 かなり長いので、読むのに時間がかかりましたが、それに見合う価値のある作品だと思います。

This book was elaborately researched and featured insight on Lincoln and the wide cast of people who surrounded him. The biggest takeaway for me was Lincoln's understanding of societal momentum. Lincoln wasn't the most radical politician. There were many others who should be credited with being on the forefront of the emancipation movement, but they wanted to push ahead with aggression rather than broad acceptance by society. In other words, Lincoln understood the pulse of the North and knew when to move forward with transformational change like his Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, etc and garner buy-in from the masses. It sometimes wasnt fast enough, but it did mean achieving the end of slavery whilst delicately balancing the Union's war with the Confederates in a political tightrope unheard of since. Another main premise in the book is Lincoln's steady and confident leadership. By surrounding himself with his rivals who happened to be the brightest men in the North and leading with a flexible yet self-assured hand, Lincoln's cabinet guided the US through one of it's darkest periods. Today, it's impossible a leader in politics or business taking Lincoln's route, which is why Lincoln is so revered the world over.

Molto interessante il libro. Nonostante usato era in buono stato tranne qualche pagina. La vita di un presidente come se foste lì a vederlo.

This is a challenging book mainly because it is full of information about the men vying for top jobs in the Union: a great deal to take in. It is useful if one wants to learn about American History, the American constitution and how it often changed. As I have not yet finished reading it, I will have more to say when I have read it through. Lincoln was an amazing man, full of empathy, tact, wisdom and political common sense. I am enjoying some of his famous words as in “ no man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar” He used the most talented men of his time even though they were not always ‘for’ him. He saw them as benefitting the Union and his country even though they were not necessarily ‘yes’ men. This is not the way most leaders behave as they choose those who align most closely with them.