Running for the nomination in the newly formed Republican Party, he was a definite dark horse. “It was the only office he hadn’t lost at the time,” Goodwin quipped. It was this unusual determination that caused him to run, usually unsuccessfully, for public office and undeterred by failure in 1860 for the biggest prize of all, the U.S. “It wasn’t office or power, it was the desire to leave the world a better place,” Goodwin said.
One of Lincoln’s outstanding qualities was his desire to accomplish something. “There is no one whose leadership style is more relevant to us.”
“No one is more fascinating than Lincoln,” she said of the president. “Team of Rivals” was also at the core of the La Salle lecture, which was just fine with Kearns’ audience. Her “Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” earned her the Pulitzer, and the section of the book on his leadership during the fight for the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery was the inspiration for Steven Spielberg’s recent film, “Lincoln.” Goodwin has a career that has virtually centered on presidential biographies, including Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, Lincoln of course and upcoming, a two-for one: Teddy Roosevelt and his portly protégé and successor, William Howard Taft and their on again, off again, on again relationship.Ĭlearly, Lincoln is her favorite. “He said he never had a political feeling that night that did not spring from the Declaration, the idea that a new nation promised hope to the world - giving promise that all should have an equal chance, that artificial weight should be lifted from all men.” “He was almost overwhelmed by emotion speaking where the Declaration of Independence had been adopted,” Goodwin said. Also Lincoln stopped in Philadelphia on his way to his inauguration to speak at Independence Hall. Philadelphia produced two Union commanding generals – George McClellan and George Meade. Goodwin’s topic was supposed to be Philadelphia during the Civil War, and she did give passing reference to it - for example 100,000 Philadelphians saw service in the war and about 20,000 were killed. The hook was La Salle was founded in 1863, the year of Lincoln’s most notable triumphs: the Emancipation Proclamation, which was the prelude to the total abolition of slavery later in his administration the battle of Gettysburg, which helped turn the tide of the Civil War and his crowning oratorical achievement, the Gettysburg Address. ( See related story: Kearns Goodwin recalls growing up Catholic in Brooklyn, with a peculiar penance: praying for the Dodgers) The university was La Salle University, the lecturer on March 21 was historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and the subject was Abraham Lincoln, generally considered America’s greatest president.
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