Doris Kearns Goodwin's masterpiece is a multiple biography that sheds vivid and revealing light on the key personal and political relationships that helped shape one of the most important periods in all of American history. The book covers the life of Lincoln from his formative years as a young self-taught lawyer in Springfield, Illinois through his leadership of the United States during the Civil War. Goodwin weaves a fascinating account of Lincoln based on extensive research of primary resources.

In a political upset, Lincoln secures the nomination of the Republican Party in 1860 despite the all but assured nomination of Senator William Seward of New York. Other rivals for the nomination include Salmon P. Chase of Ohio and Edward Bates of Missouri. As would be true of others during Lincoln's presidency, his rivals underestimated Lincoln's political skills.

As Lincoln assumes office of a divided nation on the brink of southern secession and civil war, he appoints the very men who all sought the nomination of his party to serve as key members of his cabinet. William Seward serves Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase as Secretary of the Treasury; and Edward Bates as Attorney General. Adding to this diverse cabinet is Edwin Stanton who in 1862 replaces Lincoln's first Secretary of War.

All these men held very strong and diverse opinions of the important questions facing the nation in 1861. Chase would be a constant irritant to Lincoln, while Seward unexpectedly, given his loss of the nomination, becomes, along with Stanton, become Lincoln's closest confidants and friends.

Lincoln had to deal with a Congress composed of radical Republicans who wanted to punish the South for the war and immediately end slavery. Meanwhile, the divided northern Democratic Party in Congress is split over ending the war early even if it meant slavery would continue.

It was Lincoln's political skills honed as the "prairie lawyer" and candidate for Congress and the Senate that served him well as President. Lincoln’s ability to relate a humorous story in order to make a critical point would serve as an important arsenal in his ability to disarm critics and win over rivals. Always the master of anticipating the public readiness for significant new policies, such as the Emancipation Proclamation or permitting freed slaves to join the Union Army, Lincoln was able maneuver his cabinet members, critics in Congress, and the press as he brilliantly manages to keep his governing coalition and the Union together.

In the early years of the war incompetent generals intensified the pressures on Lincoln in managing the war while political rivals, Congress, office seekers all added to the unbearable burdens that weighed heavily on Lincoln. The large scale loss of life on both sides plus Lincoln's own personal loss of his youngest son contributed to his weariness of the war. It is Lincoln's personal and political traits that enable him to overcome these troubles and lead the nation to victory. By the time of his assassination in April 1865, all of Lincoln's opponents had already come to realize the political genius of the "prairie lawyer."