Mike Cuthbert talks with author Doris Kearns Goodwin
December 1, 2008... Ever since the election -- or even further back, when Barack Obama chose former rival Joe Biden as his running mate -- the blogosphere and the punditocracy have been comparing the president-elect to another senator from Illinois.
That talk reached fever pitch in November, with word that Mr. Obama could offer the job of Secretary of State to his main primary opponent, Hillary Clinton. On December 1, he proposed her name for that position.
From Time Magazine to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, comparisons to Abraham Lincoln's "Team of Rivals" as described by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, continue to flood the airwaves and the nation's newspapers. ( a search on Google News for "team rivals obama lincoln" brings up 286,000 hits).
Mike Cuthbert talked with Goodwin about her book when it first came out in 2005. Use our audio player at left to listen to excerpts from their conversation, or listen to the whole program, with the player below.
Goodwin talks about how she came upon the idea to write a book on Lincoln with this focus (Beginnings). She describes his first pick, of William H. Seward to be his Secretary of State (The Cabinet). And she goes into some detail about how he balanced the cabinet with friends and foes, always striving to pick the best man for the job (Balancing).
Even his Supreme Court pick of Salmon P. Chase was a bold move involving a former rival.
Listen also to Goodwin on Lincoln's Jokes, his gratitude and pride at winning the Soldiers' Vote, his political considerations about the timing of Emancipation, his deep respect for abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and her view of the personality that allowed him to accomplish the great things he did (Lincoln's Genius).
Finally, hear the tribute paid by his former enemy Seward upon learning of Lincoln's death.
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Background on Team of Rivals, and a link to the first chapter at The New York Times.