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http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-pinsker18-2008nov18,0,1022347.story
Lincoln and the myth of 'Team of Rivals'
President Lincoln's Cabinet was far more dysfunctional than Doris Kearns Goodwin's book would have us believe.
By Matthew Pinsker
November 18, 2008People love Doris Kearns Goodwin's book on the Lincoln presidency, "Team of Rivals."
[...] "Lincoln basically pulled in all the people who had been running against him into his Cabinet," is the way Obama has summarized Goodwin's thesis, adding, "Whatever personal feelings there were, the issue was how can we get this country through this time of crisis."
That's true enough, but the problem is, it didn't work that well for Lincoln. [...]
[...] Lincoln's Cabinet was no team. His rivals proved to be uneven as subordinates. Some were capable despite their personal disloyalty, yet others were simply disastrous.
Lincoln was a political genius, but his model for Cabinet-building should stand more as a cautionary tale than as a leadership manual.
- - Matthew Pinsker, author of "Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home," teaches Civil War history at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-pinsker18-2008nov18,0,1022347.story
